Since 1619, when the first documented enslaved and kidnapped Africans were brought to the shores of America, they struggled to find a sense of belonging (Branch & Young, 2006; Smith et al., 2011). Today, their ancestors, African Americans, continue a search for belongingness while faced with structural and institutional racism in significant ways (Oyserman et al., 2007). African American identity is widely studied among American Scholars. However, what seems to be missing from most contemporary literature is an understanding of African American identity development and processes beyond an American experience (Cokley, 2005; Cross, 1971; Parham & Helms, Marks et al., 1981; Phinney & Onwughalu, 1996; Sellers et al., 1998). For example, most African Americans recognize that their ancestors are from Africa, but there is not much discussion of the African historical, cultural, and geographical links that possibly facilitate positive African American identity development (Jackson & Cothran, 2003). A more global understanding of African American identity can inform the development of interventions that seek to foster positive African Americans' identity development, but most importantly can help them increase their psychological well-being, sense of belonging, self-esteem, and increase resiliency in the midst of racism (Brown et. al, 2011; Settles et al., 2010; Smith et al., 2011; Stubbins, 2016). To contribute to the literature and further such an understanding, I examined daily reflection questions provided by participants in Sankofa 360, a program of diasporic cultural immersion to Ghana, West Africa. Participants were a purposive sample of 12 African American college and professional men and women. My analysis was guided by Miles, Huberman and Saldana's (2014) First and Second Cycle qualitative approach examining participants' written reflections for days 2, 4, 6, and 7 of the Sankofa program. Goals of the research study included: 1. An examination of the manner in which participants' daily written reflections during diasporic cultural immersion in Ghana, West Africa describe changes in African American identity and African Self-Consciousness and 2. An examination of whether these described changes align with Cross' theory of racial identity. I identified 24 themes and grouped them into 3 analytical categories linked to three higher-order program components: General experiences of being in Africa (Ghana, West Africa), Ghanaian Community Immersion, and The Influence of Learning One's Own (African) history. I discuss the way these findings describe the experience of African American men and women and the influence the perceived experiences have on participants' racial/ethnic identity. I discuss, also, the implications of my findings for the development of African American identity through diasporic cultural immersion experiences.
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