I am fucking proud of being African," declares Nakhane Touré. What else would one expect the musician and author whose creative last name was inspired by one of Africa's greatest musicians - Ali Farka Touré - to say? "So much work has been done to ensure that I am not proud, to make sure that I understand that I am not a human being, that everything that was created by my mothers and fathers was sub-par," he continues."I've always said that if someone puts that much effort to make sure you feel degraded, then there has to be something great about you."Does Touré think that there's been a re-emergence of African pride over the past few years? No, he says, because the pride has always been there - it's just more pronounced lately."We have technology now to make sure that people's thoughts, protests, fights and work aren't forgotten, muted or muzzled. The pride has been there since we had to fight for it."The formation of the African Union in 1963 (which Africa Day celebrates) was an important act in restoring African unity lost through colonisation, said Touré. "That concept is important. Human beings forget. This is why they have created holy days (holidays) in order to be reminded of things that are important. Signing that charter - if I may be slightly emotional about it - was to join what was divided by Europe."An important element of African culture and storytelling is music (which is fitting that this year's Africa Day theme is African Music Celebration). When the Alice, Eastern Cape, musician first came across the Malian blues guitarist Farka Touré's music, he says it was "the best thing I had heard in my life"."The music was hypnotic, it was complex, yet sounded so approachable. It really was a tectonic shift in me," he says. "I also like the tradition of younger artists naming themselves after their heroes, or in literature, when an author takes a phrase out of an older work and almost re-appropriates it, giving it new life to name the new work."Touré's list of favourite African creatives is vast: it ranges from musicians (Busi Mhlongo, Thandiswa Mazwai, Fela Kuti) and filmmakers/photographers (Ousmane Sembene, Malick Sidibe, Zanele Muholi) to writers (Nat Nakasa, Bessie Head, Chinua Achebe) and even a fashion designer (Rich Mnisi)."There is a wealth of culture that I was taught to not care about, and every day, as I unlearn, I learn about this culture, I learn about our greatness," he says.What brought about his process of unlearning?"I started reading literature by African authors and they taught me so much about myself. It was organic and slow and painful. I heard Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade, Busi Mhlongo. These artists showed me that there was as much to mine in my culture as there was elsewhere."What does it mean to be African? "Most of my DNA belongs here. My ancestors are from here. I am from here. It is a geographical and a metaphysical thing. Belonging is such a difficult topic to discuss, because there is the somewhat tangible, and then there's the other, which is so difficult to pin down. The more one thinks about it, the more complex it becomes."The complexity lends itself to the recent online debate about cultural appropriation - and particularly, the idea that African-Americans who wear African-inspired clothing are appropriating rather than celebrating African culture.Touré couldn't disagree more."Black Americans cannot appropriate African culture. They are African," he says. "When we look at what cultural appropriation is, black Americans do not tick those boxes. One of those boxes is using elements of someone's culture for your benefit, gaining economically, without acknowledging it."All the times that I've seen black Americans in so-called African garb, there is always an acknowledgement: 'This is something I was taken from. This is what it is. This is where it belongs. This is who I am.' It is not their fault that they were stolen."The clash between African spiritual practices and Christianity (and other religions which did not originate on the continent) has been a hot topic for a long time.Spirituality is something that Touré has explored on a personal level.He says: "Ever since we got colonised we had to balance that dichotomy. Others followed the Bible, others rejected it completely, and others were syncretic, sometimes secretly. I've participated in all three. At this point in my life, I lean towards a slightly more atavistic approach."Touré believes that once we know and understand the history of African spirituality, we'll also know more about ourselves as Africans."It matters a great deal who we were before, before everything became violent towards us, before our entire spirituality was deemed demonic."Africa Day will be celebrated on May 25..