What Makes An African American ?

The other day I was thinking about what makes us who we are ? Yes we are descendants of African King and Queens sold in to slavery by our own people then brought to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619! Yes its also true that we were stripped of our names, religion ( Islam ) and language, but what I am talking about is our unique way on how we see our selves ? I found out that many of our African Brothers and Sisters from other countries look at us as spoiled people who does not take advantage of opportunities we have in America ? And truly, I believe in some ways they are right but I remind those Brothers and Sisters, that if it was not for us, they also would not be able to have those rights. Since 1619 to 1865 us slaves contribute a minimum of 22 Trillion dollars of free labor to our country and if we ever got paid back, we would be the richest so call minority community in America ! My point is that we have come a long way and we have a long way to go, so let's celebrate our collective achievements instead of focusing on what is still wrong !  We have many problems still but " Keep Your Head Up " because know one can judge us collectively, until they lived our " History " !