Excellent piec Allison! As Greg Robinson said in his comment some time ago, "I've been alive long enough to be all of these things and Colored as well."

I was born a "Negro" in Charleson, SC 65 years ago come this Saturday. I am a Black Ameican woman of African descent. I never use the term African-American to describe myself because I believe in self-determination. And because it'd take up too much space here, I'd like to share a piece I wrote about this exact, same topic back in January 2010 on my personal blog to explain why:

https://lets-be-clear.blogspot.com/2010/01/whats-difference-between-colored-negro.html

I still feel the same way...