Advertisement
Afrocentricity Theory: Understanding the African Centered Perspective
Introduction:
Are you intrigued by alternative perspectives on history, culture, and identity? Do you want to understand a framework that prioritizes African agency and perspectives in shaping global narratives? Then this comprehensive guide to Afrocentricity theory is for you. We’ll delve deep into its core tenets, explore its criticisms, and analyze its impact on various fields. This post will unravel the complexities of Afrocentricity, providing a nuanced understanding of this influential intellectual movement. We will examine its historical context, key proponents, and ongoing debates surrounding its application. Prepare to engage with a perspective that challenges dominant narratives and celebrates the richness of African civilization.
What is Afrocentricity Theory?
Afrocentricity, at its core, is a theoretical framework that centers the African experience, knowledge, and perspective as the primary lens for understanding the world. It's not simply about studying African history and culture; it's about re-examining global narratives through an African-centered worldview. This involves challenging Eurocentric perspectives, which have historically marginalized or misrepresented African contributions to civilization. Afrocentricity argues that understanding African history and culture is crucial for understanding the global landscape. It seeks to reclaim and revalue African achievements and experiences often overlooked or distorted by Western narratives. It posits that a proper understanding of the global order requires acknowledging the significant role played by Africa and the African diaspora.
Key Tenets of Afrocentricity:
Prioritizing African Agency: Afrocentricity emphasizes the agency and self-determination of African peoples throughout history. It challenges narratives that depict Africa solely as a passive recipient of external influences.
Reclaiming African Knowledge Systems: It highlights the rich and diverse intellectual traditions of Africa, including indigenous knowledge systems, philosophies, and artistic expressions, often overlooked in Western academic discourse.
Challenging Eurocentric Bias: This involves critically examining the biases and limitations of Eurocentric perspectives, which often serve to justify colonialism, racism, and other forms of oppression.
Understanding the African Diaspora: Afrocentricity examines the experiences and contributions of people of African descent across the globe, connecting their histories and cultures to their African origins.
Promoting Pan-Africanism: The theory often aligns with Pan-Africanist ideals, emphasizing solidarity and cooperation among people of African descent worldwide.
Key Proponents and their Contributions:
Several scholars and thinkers have significantly contributed to the development and dissemination of Afrocentricity. These include:
Molefi Kete Asante: Widely considered the leading figure in Afrocentric thought, Asante's work has been instrumental in defining and articulating the key principles of Afrocentricity.
Cheikh Anta Diop: A Senegalese anthropologist, historian, and physicist, Diop's work profoundly impacted Afrocentric thought through his research on ancient Egyptian civilization and its connection to Africa.
Ivan Van Sertima: A Guyanese historian known for his research on pre-Columbian transatlantic contacts and the contributions of Africans to various civilizations.
Criticisms of Afrocentricity:
While influential, Afrocentricity has also faced criticism. Some critics argue that:
It can lead to essentialism: The idea of a monolithic "African" identity ignores the diversity of cultures and experiences within the African continent.
It can be overly reactive: Focusing solely on countering Eurocentrism may lead to neglecting other important perspectives and critical analyses.
It may lack rigorous methodology: Some critics question the methodological rigor employed in some Afrocentric scholarship.
It can promote exclusion: By prioritizing an African-centered perspective, some argue it may unintentionally exclude or marginalize other perspectives.
Afrocentricity in Practice:
Afrocentricity's influence extends across various disciplines:
Education: Afrocentric education aims to empower African-American students by providing them with a curriculum that reflects their history and culture.
Psychology: Afrocentric psychology focuses on understanding the unique psychological experiences of African Americans and promoting their mental well-being.
Political Science: Afrocentric perspectives in political science analyze political issues and power dynamics through an African-centered lens.
The Ongoing Debate and Future of Afrocentricity:
The ongoing debate surrounding Afrocentricity highlights its complexity and challenges. Discussions involve addressing its limitations, refining its methodology, and fostering greater dialogue with other perspectives. The future of Afrocentricity likely involves a more nuanced and inclusive approach, recognizing the diversity of African experiences while maintaining its commitment to empowering African peoples and challenging dominant narratives.
Book Outline: "Reframing the Narrative: An Introduction to Afrocentricity"
Introduction: Defining Afrocentricity, its historical context, and its significance.
Chapter 1: Key Tenets and Principles: Exploring the core beliefs and methodologies of Afrocentric thought.
Chapter 2: Prominent Figures and their Contributions: A detailed look at the major figures shaping Afrocentric discourse.
Chapter 3: Afrocentricity in Practice: Examining its applications in education, psychology, and political science.
Chapter 4: Critiques and Counterarguments: A critical analysis of the criticisms leveled against Afrocentricity.
Chapter 5: Afrocentricity and the Future: Exploring the ongoing debates and future directions of the theory.
Conclusion: Summarizing the main points and highlighting the enduring relevance of Afrocentricity.
(The following sections would elaborate on each chapter of the outlined book, providing detailed explanations and examples. Due to the word limit, this expansion is omitted here but would be included in the full article.)
FAQs:
1. Is Afrocentricity a form of reverse racism? No, Afrocentricity aims to correct historical imbalances and empower marginalized communities; it doesn't advocate for the oppression of others.
2. How does Afrocentricity differ from Pan-Africanism? While related, Afrocentricity is a theoretical framework, while Pan-Africanism is a political and social movement.
3. What are some examples of Afrocentric scholarship? Works by Molefi Kete Asante, Cheikh Anta Diop, and Ivan Van Sertima are prime examples.
4. Is Afrocentricity relevant beyond Africa and the African diaspora? Yes, its critique of Eurocentrism and its emphasis on diverse perspectives have global implications.
5. How can Afrocentricity be applied in education? By incorporating African history, culture, and perspectives into the curriculum.
6. What are the limitations of an Afrocentric worldview? It can risk essentialism, overlook internal diversity within Africa, and potentially lead to exclusion of other viewpoints.
7. How does Afrocentricity challenge Western historical narratives? By highlighting the contributions and agency of African civilizations often omitted or misrepresented in Western accounts.
8. Are there any ethical concerns related to the application of Afrocentricity? Potential concerns exist regarding essentialism, the potential for exclusion, and the need for rigorous methodology.
9. What is the relationship between Afrocentricity and Black Liberation Theology? Both share a commitment to social justice and empowerment but approach the issues from different theoretical angles.
Related Articles:
1. The Legacy of Cheikh Anta Diop: Exploring the impact of Diop's work on Afrocentric thought.
2. Afrocentric Psychology and Mental Health: Examining the unique challenges and approaches within Afrocentric psychology.
3. Afrocentric Education: A Critical Analysis: Evaluating the successes and challenges of Afrocentric educational models.
4. The Contributions of Ancient Egypt to African Civilization: Debunking misconceptions and showcasing the connection to ancient Egyptian heritage.
5. Pan-Africanism and its Relevance Today: Examining the ongoing relevance and impact of Pan-Africanist ideals.
6. Critiques of Afrocentricity: A Balanced Perspective: Presenting a fair and balanced assessment of the criticisms leveled against Afrocentricity.
7. Afrocentricity and the African Diaspora: Exploring the connections and experiences of the African diaspora through an Afrocentric lens.
8. Afrocentricity and Global Politics: Analyzing the impact of Afrocentric perspectives on international relations and global power dynamics.
9. Molefi Kete Asante and the Development of Afrocentric Thought: A biographical exploration of Asante’s contributions to Afrocentric theory.
| afrocentricity theory: Afrocentricity Molefi Kete Asante, 1988 A groundbreaking effort, this book offers a philosophical inquiry into the future of the Afrocentric perspective. |
| afrocentricity theory: An Afrocentric Manifesto Molefi Kete Asante, 2007-12-17 Molefi Kete Asante's Afrocentric philosophy has become one of the most persistent influences in the social sciences and humanities over the past three decades. It strives to create new forms of discourse about Africa and the African Diaspora, impact on education through expanding curricula to be more inclusive, change the language of social institutions to reflect a more holistic universe, and revitalize conversations in Africa, Europe, and America, about an African renaissance based on commitment to fundamental ideas of agency, centeredness, and cultural location. In An Afrocentric Manifesto, Molefi Kete Asante examines and explores the cultural perspective closest to the existential reality of African people in order to present an innovative interpretation on the modern issues confronting contemporary society. Thus, this book engages the major critiques of Afrocentricity, defends the necessity for African people to view themselves as agents instead of as objects on the fringes of Europe, and proposes a more democratic framework for human relationships. An Afrocentric Manifesto completes Asante's quartet on Afrocentric theory. It is at the cutting edge of this new paradigm with implications for all disciplines and fields of study. It will be essential reading for urban studies, philosophy, African and African American Studies, social work, sociology, political science, and communication. |
| afrocentricity theory: Afrocentricity and the Academy James L. Conyers, Jr., 2003-06-02 Afrocentricity is a philosophical and theoretical perspective that emphasizes the study of Africans as subjects, not as objects, and is opposed to perspectives that attempt to marginalize African thought and experience. Afrocentricity became popular in the l980s as scores of African American and African scholars adopted an Afrocentric orientation to information. The editor of this collection argues that as scholars embark upon the 21st century, they can no longer be myopic in their perceptions and analyses of race. The seventeen essays examine a wide range of variations on the Afrocentric paradigm in the areas of history, literature, political science, philosophy, economics, women's studies, cultural studies, ethnic studies and social policy. The essays, written by professors, librarians, students and others in higher education who have embraced the Afrocentric perspective, are divided into four sections: Pedagogy and Implementation, Theoretical Assessment, Critical Analysis, and Pan Africanist Thought. |
| afrocentricity theory: The Afrocentric Paradigm Ama Mazama, 2003 |
| afrocentricity theory: Kemet, Afrocentricity, and Knowledge Molefi Kete Asante, 1990 A profound statement of the Afrocentric perspective. |
| afrocentricity theory: Critical Pedagogy and Race Zeus Leonardo, 2009-02-09 Critical Pedagogy and Race argues that a rigorous engagement with race is a priority for educators concerned with equality in schools and in society. A landmark collection arguing that engaging with race at both conceptual and practical levels is a priority for educators. Builds a stronger engagement of race-based analysis in the field of critical pedagogy. Brings together a melange of theories on race, such as Afro-centric, Latino-based, and postcolonial perspectives. Includes historical studies, and social justice ideas on activism in education. Questions popular concepts, such as white privilege, color-blind perspectives, and race-neutral pedagogies. |
| afrocentricity theory: The Demise of the Inhuman Ana Monteiro-Ferreira, 2014-05-29 Employs a critical Afrocentric reading of Western constructions of knowledge so as to overcome the dehumanizing tendencies of modernity. Afrocentricity is the most intellectually dominant idea in the African world, one that is having a growing impact on social science discourse. This paradigm, philosophically rooted in African cultures and values, fundamentally challenges major epistemological traditions in Western thought, such as modernism and postmodernism, Marxism, existentialism, feminism, and postcolonialism. In The Demise of the Inhuman, Ana Monteiro-Ferreira reviews what Molefi Kete Asante has called the infrastructures of dominance and privilege, arguing that Western concepts such as individualism, colonialism, race and ethnicity, universalism, and progress, are insufficient to overcome various forms of oppression. Afrocentricity, she argues, can help lead us beyond Western structures of thought that have held sway since the early |
| afrocentricity theory: Africentric Social Work Delores V. Mullings, 2021-05-31T00:00:00Z This edited collection focuses on Africentric social work practice, providing invaluable assistance to undergraduate students in developing foundational skills and knowledge to further their understanding of how to initiate and maintain best practices with African Canadians. In social work education and field practice, students will benefit from the depth and breadth of this book’s discussions of social, health and educational concerns related to Black people across Canada. The book’s contributors present a broad spectrum of personal and professional experiences as African Canadian social work practitioners, students and educators. They address issues that African Canadians confront daily, which social work educators and potential practitioners need to understand to provide racially and culturally relevant services. The book presents students with an invaluable opportunity to develop their practical skills through case studies and critical thinking exercises, with recommendations for how to ethically and culturally engage in African-centred service provision. |
| afrocentricity theory: African Pyramids of Knowledge Molefi Kete Asante, 2015 The Afrocentric method seeks to transform human reality by ushering in a human openness to cultural pluralism that cannot exist without the unlocking of our minds for acceptance of an expansion of consciousness. I seek to overthrow parochialism, provincialism, and narrow Wotanic visions of the world by demonstrating the usefulness of an Afrocentric approach, based on beginning with ancient Kemet, to questions of knowledge. Without a plausible ideology we can never march in the same direction; Afrocentricity is essential for the collective vision. I must alert you to the overpowering value of realizing an Africa truth that has been staring us in the face for thousands of years: the permanence of the pyramids.There is nothing profound in such a pronouncement, there have been similar pronouncements by various other writers, but what is different, I hope, is the identification of the principal cause of the failure in those other formulations. In the West there have been theories and critiques that are fraught with problems whether you call them by the names of existentialism, phenomenology, structuralism, post-colonialism, or deconstruction. What we have come to know is that the proponents of these views have hedged their bets in a European worldview that is moribund when it comes to looking at the outside world. They cannot truly grasp the significance of a revolutionary idea that would challenge the Eurocentric projection of its method as universal. However, the time has come for a total re-evaluation of both intellectual privilege and the assertion of European dominance in knowledge. |
| afrocentricity theory: The Afrocentric Idea Molefi Kete Asante, 1987 This new edition of The Afrocentric Idea boldly confronts the contemporary challenges that have been launched against Molefi Kete Asante's philosophical, social, and cultural theory. Expanding on his core ideas, Asante recasts his original ideas in the tradition of provocative critiques of the established social order. 256 p. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved. |
| afrocentricity theory: Facing South to Africa Molefi Kete Asante, 2014-08-20 Facing South to Africa is a bold synthesis of the ideas that have made Afrocentric theorists the leading voices of the African renaissance. Written from the vantage point of the philosophical and political discourse that emerged over the past twenty-five years, this is a highly readable and accessible introduction to African social and cultural criticism. Molefi Kete Asante engages in the practice of critical thinking by raising fundamental questions about how Africans view themselves and the world. Tackling the themes of culture, education, social sciences, the university, politics, African unity, and the prospects for peace in Africa, Facing South to Africa is a fresh, daring, and popularizing synthesis of the best critical thought on the issues of modern knowledge. Asante’s plan is to reorient our thinking on Africa by asking questions of Africa and Africans rather than imposing preconceived, external ideas on African issues. |
| afrocentricity theory: Afrocentrism Stephen Howe, 1998 In this provocative study, Stephen Howe traces the sources and ancestries of the movement, and closely analyses the writings of its leading proponents including Molefi Asante and the legendary Senegalese historian Cheikh Anta Diop. Martin Bernals contribution is also assessed. Hard-hitting yet subtle and scholarly in its appraisal of Afrocentric ideas, and based on wide-ranging research in the histories both of Afro-America and of Africa itself, Afrocentrism not only demolishes the mythical history taught by black ultra-nationalists but suggests paths towards a true historical consciousness of Africa and its diaspora. |
| afrocentricity theory: Black/Africana Communication Theory Kehbuma Langmia, 2018-05-02 Most Western-driven theories do not have a place in Black communicative experience, especially in Africa. Many scholars interested in articulating and interrogating Black communication scholarship are therefore at the crossroads of either having to use Western-driven theory to explain a Black communication dynamic, or have to use hypothetical rules to achieve their objectives, since they cannot find compelling Black communication theories to use as reference. Colonization and the African slave trade brought with it assimilationist tendencies that have dealt a serious blow on the cognition of most Blacks on the continent and abroad. As a result, their interpersonal as well as in-group dialogic communication had witnessed dramatic shifts. Black/Africana Communication Theory assembles skilled communicologists who propose uniquely Black-driven theories that stand the test of time. Throughout the volume’s fifteen chapters theories including but not limited to Afrocentricity, Afro-Cultural Mulatto, Venerative Speech Theory, Africana Symbolic Contextualism Theory, HaramBuntu-Government-Diaspora Communications Theory, Consciencist Communication Theory and Racial Democracy Effect Theory are introduced and discussed. |
| afrocentricity theory: Issues Around Aligning Theory, Research and Practice in Social Work Education Allucia L. Shokane, Jabulani C. Makhubele, Lisa V. Blitz, 2018-12-01 Issues Around Aligning Theory, Research and Practice in Social Work Education provides a reflection on social work education with a slant towards an Afrocentric approach, aiming to facilitate strong reflective thinking and to address local realities about social work education on the African continent as well as in broader global contexts. This volume focuses on issues around aligning theory, research and practice in social work education. A significant contribution is made here to the scholarly understanding of opportunities to sustain the academic discourse on social work education. Social work as a profession and a social science discipline is dynamic, and it ought to meet the challenges of the realities of the societies in which it serves, given the history of the changing society of South Africa from apartheid to democracy. Over the years, social work education and training has undergone tremendous curricular changes with the enactment of the White Paper for Social Welfare and the national review, respectively, by the South African Council for Social Services Professions (SACSSP) and the Council on Higher Education (CHE) for the re-accreditation of all Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) programmes in South Africa fulfilling the prescripts of the Higher Education Act (No. 101 of 1997, as amended) and Social Service Professions Act (No. 110 of 1978). It is worth mentioning that the curricular changes will also continue with the current reviewing of Social Service Professions Act (No. 110 of 1978), as amended, which is underway in South Africa. This book is really ground-breaking! The Afrocentric perspective on social work practice contributes to the current discourse on decolonisation of social work teaching and practice. From a methodological perspective, the book is premised on multi-, inter- and trans-disciplining in social sciences. It covers aspects of social work education and practice through research (narrative, qualitative, African methodology, secondary data analysis, etc.), engendering values and ethics, report writing, supervision in fieldwork as well as exchange programmes and international service-learning, addressing a number of concepts such as cultural competency, cultural awareness and sensitivity are addressed. |
| afrocentricity theory: The Invention of Africa V. Y. Mudimbe, 1988 What is the meaning of Africa and of being African? What is and what is not African philosophy? Is philosophy part of Africanism? These are the kind of fundamental questions which this book addresses. North America: Indiana U Press |
| afrocentricity theory: The Afrocentric Praxis of Teaching for Freedom Joyce E. King, Ellen E. Swartz, 2015-08-27 The Afrocentric Praxis of Teaching for Freedom explains and illustrates how an African worldview, as a platform for culture-based teaching and learning, helps educators to retrieve African heritage and cultural knowledge which have been historically discounted and decoupled from teaching and learning. The book has three objectives: To exemplify how each of the emancipatory pedagogies it delineates and demonstrates is supported by African worldview concepts and parallel knowledge, general understandings, values, and claims that are produced by that worldview To make African Diasporan cultural connections visible in the curriculum through numerous examples of cultural continuities––seen in the actions of Diasporan groups and individuals––that consistently exhibit an African worldview or cultural framework To provide teachers with content drawn from Africa’s legacy to humanity as a model for locating all students––and the cultures and groups they represent––as subjects in the curriculum and pedagogy of schooling This book expands the Afrocentric praxis presented in the authors’ Re-membering History in Teacher and Student Learning by combining re-membered (democratized) historical content with emancipatory pedagogies that are connected to an African cultural platform. |
| afrocentricity theory: Marxist Theory, Black/African Specificities, and Racism Babacar Camara, 2008 This book sheds a radical light on the issue of race, showing that social and racist discourses are ideological and political mystifications masking exploitation. It deals with substantive issues that have the potential to enhance our understanding how Marxist theory can be qu... |
| afrocentricity theory: The International Encyclopedia of Communication Theory and Philosophy, 4 Volume Set Jefferson D. Pooley, Eric W. Rothenbuhler, 2016-10-31 The International Encyclopedia of Communication Theory and Philosophy is the definitive single-source reference work on the subject, with state-of-the-art and in-depth scholarly reflection on key issues from leading international experts. It is available both online and in print. A state-of-the-art and in-depth scholarly reflection on the key issues raised by communication, covering the history, systematics, and practical potential of communication theory Articles by leading experts offer an unprecedented level of accuracy and balance Provides comprehensive, clear entries which are both cross-national and cross-disciplinary in nature The Encyclopedia presents a truly international perspective with authors and positions representing not just Europe and North America, but also Latin America and Asia Published both online and in print Part of The Wiley Blackwell-ICA International Encyclopedias of Communication series, published in conjunction with the International Communication Association. Online version available at www.wileyicaencyclopedia.com |
| afrocentricity theory: Afrocentricity Molefi K. Asante, 1980 |
| afrocentricity theory: An Afrocentric Manifesto Molefi Kete Asante, 2013-05-08 Molefi Kete Asante's Afrocentric philosophy has become one of the most persistent influences in the social sciences and humanities over the past three decades. It strives to create new forms of discourse about Africa and the African Diaspora, impact on education through expanding curricula to be more inclusive, change the language of social institutions to reflect a more holistic universe, and revitalize conversations in Africa, Europe, and America, about an African renaissance based on commitment to fundamental ideas of agency, centeredness, and cultural location. In An Afrocentric Manifesto, Molefi Kete Asante examines and explores the cultural perspective closest to the existential reality of African people in order to present an innovative interpretation on the modern issues confronting contemporary society. Thus, this book engages the major critiques of Afrocentricity, defends the necessity for African people to view themselves as agents instead of as objects on the fringes of Europe, and proposes a more democratic framework for human relationships. An Afrocentric Manifesto completes Asante's quartet on Afrocentric theory. It is at the cutting edge of this new paradigm with implications for all disciplines and fields of study. It will be essential reading for urban studies, philosophy, African and African American Studies, social work, sociology, political science, and communication. |
| afrocentricity theory: Encyclopedia of Black Studies Molefi Kete Asante, Ama Mazama, 2005 In the 1960s Black Studies emerged as both an academic field and a radical new ideological paradigm. Editors Molefi Kete Asante and Ama Mazama (Black Studies, Temple U.), both influential and renowned scholars, have compiled an encyclopedia for students, high school and beyond, and general readers. It presents analysis of key individuals, events, a |
| afrocentricity theory: African-Centered Education Kmt G. Shockley, Kofi Lomotey, 2020-07-31 This volume brings together leading scholars and practitioners to address the theory and practice of African-centered education. The contributors provide (1) perspectives on the history, methods, successes and challenges of African-centered education, (2) discussions of the efforts that are being made to counter the miseducation of Black children, and (3) prescriptions for—and analyses of—the way forward for Black children and Black communities. The authors argue that Black children need an education that moves them toward leading and taking agency within their own communities. They address several areas that capture the essence of what African-centered education is, how it works, and why it is a critical imperative at this moment. Those areas include historical analyses of African-centered education; parental perspectives; strategies for working with Black children; African-centered culture, science and STEM; culturally responsive curriculum and instruction; and culturally responsive resources for teachers and school leaders. |
| afrocentricity theory: Afrocentric Visions Janice D. Hamlet, 1998-09-14 Afrocentricityùthe placement of African values and ideals at the center of the discussion surrounding African culture, discourse, and behaviorùis an important framework that has emerged over the past decade. In this timely volume, editor Janice D. Hamlet has chosen essays that illuminate various aspects of African American culture, refracted through the lens of Afrocentric thought. In Part I, the basics of Afrocentric ideology and methodology are examined. Part II focuses on Afrocentric approaches to the dynamics of communication. The Afrocentric influence on the black aesthetic is covered in Part III, with an examination of language, literature, oral tradition, movies, and television. Part IV provides a glimpse into the future of Afrocentric visions. |
| afrocentricity theory: Encyclopedia of Communication Theory Stephen W. Littlejohn, Karen A. Foss, 2009-08-18 With more than 300 entries, these two volumes provide a one-stop source for a comprehensive overview of communication theory, offering current descriptions of theories as well as the background issues and concepts that comprise these theories. This is the first resource to summarize, in one place, the diversity of theory in the communication field. Key Themes Applications and Contexts Critical Orientations Cultural Orientations Cybernetic and Systems Orientations Feminist Orientations Group and Organizational Concepts Information, Media, and Communication Technology International and Global Concepts Interpersonal Concepts Non-Western Orientations Paradigms, Traditions, and Schools Philosophical Orientations Psycho-Cognitive Orientations Rhetorical Orientations Semiotic, Linguistic, and Discursive Orientations Social/Interactional Orientations Theory, Metatheory, Methodology, and Inquiry |
| afrocentricity theory: The Mis-education of the Negro Carter Godwin Woodson, 1969 |
| afrocentricity theory: Branches of Asanteism Abdul Karim Bangura, 2019-10-03 Branches of Asanteism explores the epistemologies and research methodologies that have sprung from Mwalimu Molefi Kete Asante’s treatises on Afrocentricity. The book identifies and analyzes thirteen such epistemologies and methodologies while defining and explicating the various “branches” of Asante’s idea of Afrocentricity. |
| afrocentricity theory: The Afrocentric School [a Blueprint] Nah Dove, 2021-05-03 The Afrocentric School, a Blueprint is a handbook that guides the prospective educationist, parent, student, and reader to understand African cultural history from an Afrocentric theoretical perspective. Africa is placed in the center of the African experience from the ancient times until now. Who were we? This book endeavors to answer that question. This handbook humbly offers some ideas based on ancient African principles that relate to the critical role of teaching our children. Grounded in the love of African humanity-women, men, girls, and boys, this handbook counters anti-African and anti-Black beliefs that have been propounded over centuries. This work expresses the recognition that there exists a range of African cultural values, beliefs, and behaviors just as there is amongst the different peoples who conquered Africa. In this work, the cultural legacy and heritage of Africa is embraced with the aim of providing adequate knowledge to achieve a reawakening of the cultural memory. The handbook provides a foundational curriculum for children aged 3-15 years, and its standards are based upon expectations developed from a baseline study on child development and education. The curriculum can be particularly helpful for those interested in or who are already teaching children of African descent; it can appeal to those who have established Afrocentric schools, those who are endeavoring to do so, those who wish to amplify an existing curriculum, those who want to teach their children, or those who simply wish to expand their knowledge. |
| afrocentricity theory: The Handbook of Global Interventions in Communication Theory Yoshitaka Miike, Jing Yin, 2022-03-11 Moving beyond the U.S.-Eurocentric paradigm of communication theory, this handbook broadens the intellectual horizons of the discipline by highlighting underrepresented, especially non-Western, theorists and theories, and identifies key issues and challenges for future scholarship. Showcasing diverse perspectives, the handbook facilitates active engagement in different cultural traditions and theoretical orientations that are global in scope but local in effect. It begins by exploring past efforts to diversify the field, continuing on to examine theoretical concepts, models, and principles rooted in local cumulative wisdom. It does not limit itself to the mass-interpersonal communication divide, but rather seeks to frame theory as global and inclusive in scope. The book is intended for communication researchers and advanced students, with relevance to scholars with an interest in theory within information science, library science, social and cross-cultural psychology, multicultural education, social justice and social ethics, international relations, development studies, and political science. |
| afrocentricity theory: Africana Critical Theory Reiland Rabaka, 2009-01-16 Building on and going far beyond W.E.B. Du Bois and the Problems of the Twenty-First Century and Du Bois's Dialectics, Reiland Rabaka's Africana Critical Theory innovatively identifies and analyzes continental and diasporan African contributions to classical and contemporary critical theory. This book represents a climatic critical theoretical clincher that cogently demonstrates how Du Bois's rarely discussed dialectical thought, interdisciplinarity, intellectual history-making radical political activism, and world-historical multiple liberation movement leadership helped to inaugurate a distinct Africana tradition of critical theory. With chapters on W.E.B. Du Bois, C.L.R. James, Negritude (Aime Cesaire and Leopold Senghor), Frantz Fanon and Amilcar Cabral, Africana Critical Theory endeavors to accessibly offer contemporary critical theorists an intellectual archaeology of the Africana tradition of critical theory and a much-needed dialectical deconstruction and reconstruction of black radical politics. These six seminal figures' collective thought and texts clearly cuts across several disciplines and, therefore, closes the chasm between Africana Studies and critical theory, constantly demanding that intellectuals not simply think deep thoughts, develop new theories, and theoretically support radical politics, but be and constantly become political activists, social organizers and cultural workers - that is, folk the Italian critical theorist Antonio Gramsci referred to as 'organic intellectuals.' In this sense, then, the series of studies gathered in Africana Critical Theory contribute not only to African Studies, African American Studies, Caribbean Studies, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, and Postcolonial Studies, but also to contemporary critical theoretical discourse across an amazingly wide-range of 'traditional' disciplines, and radical political activism outside of (and, in many instances, absolutely against) Europe's ivory towers and the absurdities of the American academy. |
| afrocentricity theory: Critical Research Methodologies , 2021-02-08 This book is a resurrection of local knowledges steeped in creative and imaginative reflexive methodologies that come to reorient how we come to know what we know, the values and realities that mark what we know and the how of knowledge production. It centres subjugated voices and knowledges as fundamental in production of knowledge. |
| afrocentricity theory: Black Male Violence in Perspective P. Tony Jackson, 2016-11-15 Black Male Violence in Perspective examines the psychosocial dynamic of violence relative to African-American men, as it is inextricably tied to the history of violence in America including colonialism, expansionism, and concepts of manifest destiny. Tony Jackson articulates the need for intervention models based in African cultural paradigms. |
| afrocentricity theory: The Palgrave Handbook of African Philosophy Adeshina Afolayan, Toyin Falola, 2017-11-17 This handbook investigates the current state and future possibilities of African Philosophy, as a discipline and as a practice, vis-à-vis the challenge of African development and Africa’s place in a globalized, neoliberal capitalist economy. The volume offers a comprehensive survey of the philosophical enterprise in Africa, especially with reference to current discourses, arguments and new issues—feminism and gender, terrorism and fundamentalism, sexuality, development, identity, pedagogy and multidisciplinarity, etc.—that are significant for understanding how Africa can resume its arrested march towards decolonization and liberation. |
| afrocentricity theory: Contemporary Critical Thought in Africology and Africana Studies Molefi Kete Asante, Clyde Ledbetter, 2015-12-30 Although traditional academic circles rarely celebrate the work of African or African American thinkers because performers and political figures were more acceptable to narrating histories, this work projects the ideas of several writers with the confidence that Africology, the Afrocentric study of African phenomena, represents an oasis of innovation in progressive venues. The book brings together some of the most discussed theorists and intellectuals in the field of Africology (Africana Studies) for the purpose of sparking further debate, critical interpretations and extensions, and to reform and reformulate the way we approach our critical thought. The contributors' Afrocentric approach offers new interpretations and analysis, and challenges the predominant frameworks in diverse areas such as philosophy, social justice, literature, and history. |
| afrocentricity theory: Encyclopedia of Identity Ronald L. Jackson, Michael A. Hogg, 2010-06-29 Alphabetically arranged entries offer a comprehensive overview of the definitions, politics, manifestations, concepts, and ideas related to identity. |
| afrocentricity theory: Understanding African American Rhetoric Ronald L. Jackson II, Elaine B. Richardson, 2014-05-22 This is an extraordinarily well-balanced collection of essays focused on varied expressions of African American Rhetoric; it also is a critical antidote to a preoccupation with Western Rhetoric as the arbiter of what counts for effective rhetoric. Rather than impose Western terminology on African and African American rhetoric, the essays in this volume seek to illumine rhetoric from within its own cultural expression, thereby creating an understanding grounded in the culture's values. The consequence is a richly detailed and well-researched set of essays. The contribution of African American rhetoric can no longer be rendered invisible through neglect of its tradition. The essays in this volume neither seek to displace Western Rhetoric, nor function as an uncritical paen to Afrocentricity and Africology. This volume is both timely and essential; timely in advancing a better understanding of the richly textured history that is expressed through African American discourse, and essential as a counterpoint to the hegemonic influence of Greek and Roman rhetoric as the origin of rhetorical theory and practice. Written in the spirit of a critical rhetoric, this collection eschews traditional focus on public address and instead offers a rich array of texts, in musical and other forms, that address publics. |
| afrocentricity theory: In Pursuit of an African Traditional Dance Thomas Jing, 2022-02-28 Africa is rich in (neo) traditional dances; yet, not much exists in the form of written literature on the subject. Even worse, existing documents date back to the colonial period and are often disparaging. Dance to Africans is what martial arts are to Asians. Embedded in them are some of the solutions to many of the problems wracking the African diaspora: gang violence, drug addiction, and high school dropout rates, etc. When Guinea's Ballets Africains first bursts on the international scene in the late fifties and sixties, the black revolution in the US was in full swing. The troupe's emancipatory message enkindled in African Americans a new sense of cultural pride and a return to their African roots. For once, dance became something else other than the ballet. With that burst of enthusiasm came the need to introduce African dances in the academia. Most of the research, however, focused mainly on dances which use drums (djembe). Departing from that tradition, in this detailed and richly choreographed ethnography on the Buum Oku Dance Yaounde, Thomas Jing's investigation into a xylophone-based dance opens up new research avenues and exposes the challenges involved. An Afrocentric theoretical framework to the research counters imperialist notions of African dances, thus setting them up as a tool for emancipation. |
| afrocentricity theory: Encyclopedia of Feminist Theories Lorraine Code, 2002-06-01 The path-breaking Encyclopedia of Feminist Theories is an accessible, multidisciplinary insight into the complex field of feminist thought. The Encyclopedia contains over 500 authoritative entries commissioned from an international team of contributors and includes clear, concise and provocative explanations of key themes and ideas. Each entry contains cross references and a bibliographic guide to further reading; over 50 biographical entries provide readers with a sense of how the theories they encounter have developed out of the lives and situations of their authors. |
| afrocentricity theory: Culture and Difference Antonia Darder, 1995-12-30 The yearning to remember who we are is not easily detected in the qualitative dimensions of focus groups and ethnographic research methods; nor is it easily measured in standard quantified scientific inquiry. It is deeply rooted, obscured by layer upon layer of human efforts to survive the impact of historical amnesia induced by the dominant policies and practices of advanced capitalism and postmodern culture. Darder's introduction sets the tone by describing the formation of Warriors for Gringostroika and The New Mestizas. In the words of Anzaldua, those who cross over, pass over . . . the confines of the `normal.' Critical essays follow by Mexicanas, poets, activists, and educators of all colors and persuasions. The collection coming out of the good work of the Southern California University system relates to all locales and spectrums of the human condition and will no doubt inspire excellent creativity of knowing and remembering among all who chance to read any part thereof. |
| afrocentricity theory: Encyclopedia of Identity Ronald L. Jackson II, 2010-06-29 The two volumes of this encyclopedia seek to explore myriad ways in which we define ourselves in our daily lives. Comprising 300 entries, the Encyclopedia of Identity offers readers an opportunity to understand identity as a socially constructed phenomenon - a dynamic process both public and private, shaped by past experiences and present circumstances, and evolving over time. Offering a broad, comprehensive overview of the definitions, politics, manifestations, concepts, and ideas related to identity, the entries include short biographies of major thinkers and leaders, as well as discussions of events, personalities, and concepts. The Encyclopedia of Identity is designed for readers to grasp the nature and breadth of identity as a psychological, social, anthropological, and popular idea. Key ThemesArtClassDeveloping IdentitiesGender, Sex, and SexualityIdentities in ConflictLanguage and DiscourseLiving EthicallyMedia and Popular CultureNationality Protecting IdentityRace, Culture, and EthnicityRelating Across CulturesReligionRepresentations of IdentityTheories of Identity |
| afrocentricity theory: Encyclopedia of Africa Anthony Appiah, Henry Louis Gates (Jr.), 2010 The Encyclopedia of Africa presents the most up-to-date and thorough reference on this region of ever-growing importance in world history, politics, and culture. Its core is comprised of the entries focusing on African history and culture from 2005's acclaimed five-volume Africana - nearly two-thirds of these 1,300 entries have been updated, revised, and expanded to reflect the most recent scholarship. Organized in an A-Z format, the articles cover prominent individuals, events, trends, places, political movements, art forms, business and trade, religions, ethnic groups, organizations, and countries throughout Africa. There are articles on contemporary nations of sub-Saharan Africa, ethnic groups from various regions of Africa, and European colonial powers. Other examples include Congo River, Ivory trade, Mau Mau rebellion, and Pastoralism. The Encyclopedia of Africa is sure to become the essential resource in the field. |
