Africanisms in America are a topic much studied by the black community. Joseph E. Holloway describes Africanisms as “those elements of culture present in the New World which are traceable to an African origin” (Holloway 2). I believe Africanisms are the cultural traditions and behaviors of African Americans that resemble some of the same African traditions and cultures. Which makes you think about what current elements our culture uses that connect to Africa. That in fact there are different Africanisms that still exist. African Americans have preserved the essence of Africa in their way of speaking, hair care, clothing, food preparation and music after centuries of separation from the black continent. The word is an Africanism that is very influenced in America. A word commonly used today by all races in America is the word "okay", a Mande and Wolf term meaning "that's all" (Holloway 57). Ebonics is often linked to the African roots of the West African language. Both lack final sounds and consonant clusters (e.g. past tense), and substitution or simplification of these occurs in both US Ebony and the West African English varieties spoken in Nigeria and Ghana. Furthermore, they argue that the distinction made between completed actions ("He done walkin") and habitual actions ("We be walkin") in the Ebonics verbal aspect system reflects their prevalence in West African linguistic systems and that this applies to other aspects of Ebonics sentence structure. Hair grooming is another popular Africanism present in America for African Americans. It is quite common for African American women to opt for a natural hairstyle. Dating back to pre-colonial Africa, a natural Afro hair style defined status and identity. Different styles indicated certain qualities…half of paper…and appreciated their ancestors for creating such important and valuable things that are commonly used. Because without them many of these things wouldn't be here. Works Cited Brown, Ernest Douglas. “Africanisms in American Culture.” JSTOR. University of Illinois Press, nd Web. 06 March 2014. "Music - Timeline of Black Music History | NOW Magazine." Music - Black Music History Timeline | NOW magazine. Np, nd Web. March 06, 2014."Nike.com." Nike.com. Nike and Web. 06 March 2014."Post navigation." Black girl with long hair. Long-Haired Black Girl, October 5, 2011. Web. March 6, 2014.Rickford, John R. “What is Ebonics (African American English).” What is Ebonics (African American English)? Linguistic Society of America, nd Web. 05 March 2014.""Soul Food" a brief history." Welcome to The Black Box, personal narratives in high definition. Np, nd Web. 03 March. 2014