African American Christmas Ornament
If you're searching for an authentic African American Christmas ornament, you might have to search far and wide to find an item that lives up to your expectations. There may be lots of African American Christmas decorations available, but the majority of them are really not very appealing. In reality, they are just regular Christmas tree ornaments repackaged to serve as African American Christmas ornaments. I have actually seen plain glass bulbs sold as an African American Christmas ornament set simply because they were in red, yellow and green. Well, that takes care of Ethiopia, but what about the rest of the African nations. Where's the black—as in the unofficial Pan-African flag.
Also, a common practice is to repackage an African Christmas ornament as a 'so-called' African American Christmas ornament, to appeal to folks who are trying to display an awareness of their black heritage. For instance, many vendors will sell a small wooden sculpture of some savannah animal as an African American Christmas ornament on the premise that the animal comes from Africa. More contemptuously, they'll sell stylized African masks and figurines as African American ornaments. Is that perpetuating stereotypes? What do you think?
In my humble opinion, the realistic way to obtain an African American Christmas ornament is to craft one yourself. Period. Consider what it means to be an African descendant in the United States and instill that into your holiday projects. Use your deepest feelings to make the best African American Christmas ornament that you possibly can—I'm sure that you will come up with something meaningful and creative. And, in fact, Christmas tree ornaments are always nicer if you make them yourself. Your African American decorations will be no different. If it came from your hands and heart, it's a sure bet that visitors to your home will see that it's not just another commercial Christmas decoration.
Of course, if you decide to make your own African American Christmas ornament, you'll probably need some ideas on how to do arts and crafts. There are paper crafts, cross-stitch embroidery and much more! There are fun and easy kits available too—like the Bucilla Christmas stocking kits. The possibilities are endless.