Search

This article interrogates Nigeria's interventionist role in Africa over more than half century of independence by examining the interplay between Nigeria's Afrocentric foreign policy drive and its conflict interventionist role in Africa. The article further reviews the essential ingredients embedded in Nigeria's foreign policy articulation, including its 'much publicized' shift to citizen diplomacy. And, it argues that, having being a major force for/of peace and stability in Africa, Nigeria should strive for a balance between its commitment to Afrocentrism, and the country's homegrown challenges; particularly, in the light of its declining socio-economic realities and the seemingly unending Boko Haram insurgency., Introduction Nigeria represents a major regional force in Africa, not only because of its size, but also because of its political and economic role on the continent. Apart from being [...]

Abstract Afrocentricity seems to be emerging as one of the potent critical tools that could be used to re-establish and qualify African cultural identity through literary study among others. The [...]

An Afrocentric examination of the prospects and possibilities of presidential power in the U.S. in the event of Barack Obama's election is presented. Findings suggest that Obama would face enormous social and political hurdles institutionalized as Caucasian racial hegemony, which would complicate his presidency.

The author analyzes the Africana critical theory or African-American existential philosophy and concludes that it critically reviews in life of Africana peoples and confirms their freeing from subjugation and their empowerment in the world.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, charismatic and savvy in his command of Black rhetoric, speaks to a variety of audiences and is consistent in his discourse of promoting a pluralistic view. An objective comparable to that of Afrocentricity, this research examines four of Jackson's speech texts to discover if his present rhetoric indeed reflects the criteria proposed by Asante (1987) to qualify it as Afrocentric discourse.

The postmodern Blackness phenomenon that seeks primacy in African American thought is examined. An Afrocentric analytical approach centered on the axis of culture and history of African Americans is used to argue that the postmodern Blackness phenomenon is an unfortunate and precarious turn away from relevance.

The way in which the African oral element of nommo is present in 'Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry' is described revealing how the concept of nommo is manifested in 'Def Poetry' and how it becomes an effective element in this genre. 'Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry' is a cable phenomenon bringing the art of performance poetry into the homes of millions of television viewers.

Male Badarian crania are analyzed using the generalized distance of Mahalanobis in a comparative analysis with other African and European series from the Howell's database. The Badarians reveal a greater affinity to indigenous Africans while not being identical and this suggests that the Badarians are more affiliated with local and an indigenous African population than with Europeans.

The article opens with an overview of major Africana paradigms of the late 20th. century--from Black Aestheticism of the seering 60s and 70s, to Afrocentricity of the 80s, to Africana Womanism of the late 80s and into the 21st. century, and more. It begs for a recall of the marriage between thought and action, the ultimate paradigm shift as a means of successfully reuniting these two poles., Introduction As we approach the last hour leading up to the next millennium, I can not stress enough the critical need today for Africana scholars throughout the world to create [...]

Afrocentrism and feminism, ideologies born from resistance to racist and sexist oppression, spawned psychological theories that identify emotional and behavioral patterns of African Americans and women. Afrocentric psychology and feminist psychologies, however, have presented theoretical frameworks limited in their applicability to African American women. Problems include dualistic notions of race and gender, implicit norms for 'correct' behavior and assumptions of universality in regard to personality traits. In this article, these problems and their impact on African American women are explored. Recent Black feminist, or 'womanist' models, offering integrative approaches to working with African American women are discussed and implications for psychotherapy are considered.

Afro-centrism can be viewed as an attempt to organize to true black self-consciousness and to create a world where blacks can see themselves through the own vision. It can also be a way to integrate the identities of being an American and a Negro. The Afrocentric mood is analogous to the act of African American memory, which is a way to look into and outside oneself and at the same time to through the understanding of the invasive power of memory as form of humanity.

It is the contention of this writer that the historical struggle of African peoples has heretofore been analyzed within a Eurocentric, dysfunctional, ahistorical, and divisive context, thus culminating in the [...]

Europeans have divided Africans geographically, politically and economically. They are now poised to create cultural divisions among blacks and to promote division among the latter by giving them different names, such as 'Algerians' or 'Egyptians.' Africans should resist these efforts by calling themselves Africans and should fight to eliminate divisions within their race. In addition, discussions about Africans should cover those living all over the world.

This essay analyzes the works of some 18 African-American scholars and the ways in which they have impacted our way of thinking. A close examination reveals a sizeable number of theoretical approaches ranging from the 'Aesthetic Continuum' of Patricia Liggins-Hill to the Racialized Bioethics of Maria Mootry., African-American theorists need to develop their own paradigms and critical theories for better interpretation of black studies in order to maintain their originality, accuracy, and value. African-American communities need their own theorists, not those who merely duplicate works of others to analyze African texts.

This essay responds to a theory that has been aggressively promoted as fact by an influential group of Afrocentrists in recent years - that New World civilizations were created or were influenced by African visitors at key points in the centuries that preceded the European discovery of the Americas. As discussed in this essay, the theory is shown to have no support in the evidence that has been analyzed by specialists in various fields. The essay focuses on the methodological approaches employed by Afrocentrists in their study of linguistics, terracotta figurines, technological development, and monumental sculpture. A concluding section briefly discusses the repercussions of this theory on ethnic relations in schools, on college campuses, and in North American society as a whole.

Feminist and Afrocentrist scholars have criticized Anglo-American 'realist' based theories of world politics for the latter's androcentrism and racism, respectively. Although the Eurocentric model has provided scientific standards of political and scholarly analyses, a combination of the realist and Afrocentric traditions will give rise to more vital insights. On the other hand, Afrocentricity must strive to be rigorous in its conceptual and methodological approaches to avoid being labelled as mere ideology.

Sidney Lemelle's essay, 'The Politics of Cultural existence,' is an effort to place Afrocentricity amidst the struggle against oppression. However, he fails to address the African experiences which inspire this struggle. His suggestion that only the African Americans consider other Africans in the context of their history amounts to rejection of the multicultural aspect of the Afrocentric idea. This idea is also dismissed by his contention that Afrocentricity has a masculine nature. Such claims show that Lemelle is unaware of the history of Afrocentricity.

Alternative forms of a self-report measure of Africentrism were tested through four studies. Psychometric analyses demonstrated that the measure's reliability was significantly above a minimum criterion for group comparisons. Moreover, evidence of the measure's construct validity and known-groups validity was found. A 15-item version of the measure was recommended for future testing.

Several contemporary thinkers view Afrocentrism is the latest kind of a long historical line of cultural chauvinism. Afrocentrism in their opinion is a reaction against the centuries of European assault on persons of African origin. One group of people can never claim to be the center for all the humans. Humanity cannot claim to be at the centre of the universe and so no group can claim a central position for the entire humanity. But due to the pilfered histories of African peoples and the diaspora, Afrocentrism requires a center in its name.

The late Cheikh Anta Diop fiercely opposed racism in historical scholarship. But his own work and objectives have often been the subject of misinterpretation. The ramifications of Diop's opinion have been investigated by a team from the Universities of Michigan and Washington. This team's analysis of the work of Diop especially in relating classical Egyptian culture to the rest of Africa, is examined in an an attempt to understand the true sense of what Diop said.

Ngugi Wa Thiong'o's stand on the importance of African laguages in the Afrocentric quest is discussed. Ngugi defines language as both a means to communicate and a representation of culture. He believes that African languages play an important role in history and has been undermined by colonial education. Ngugi is also compared to one of the pioneers of the Afrocentric quest, Cheikh Anta Diop.

Resistance to Afrocentrism as a valid frame of reference for African ideas and ideals, which has increased due to the resistors' theories that there is no proof of an African base to Greek civilization and that Egyptians and Kushites belong to two different races, has been proved baseless. Afrocentrism is a valid theory and teachers should try to integrate it in their local curricula. The glory of African civilization should not be forgotten even though it has been attacked by several Eurocentric scholars.

Afrocentricity is a synthetic model resulting from intellectual and popular movements, aiming to preserve African intellectual thought and to empower African people. Afrocentricity rejects hegemonic centrism and encourages creativity and independence to find solution to problems. The study of Ethiopic Writing Systems, a system of philosophy, confirms the centrality of synthesis in African thought.

The overwhelming focus on Afrocentricity in some schools and colleges is bothersome because it teaches students to see themselves as different from outside society. While pride in racial identity is necessary, it is a sensitive issue and the kind of Afrocentricity advocated currently seems to overemphasize certain aspects of African-American identity at the cost of others. On the issue of teachers serving as role models, it is difficult to take a definite stance. However, most minority academics agree that role modeling has to be a part of their job.

Anthony Kwame Appiah's 'In My Father's House,' argues for a Enrocentric explanation of African Society, and examines belief in ideas such as African civilization and philosophy. An Afrocentric analysis of the work indicates his belief in European colonialism as a civilizing influence and his lack of faith in the concept of a historical African heritage. The work contains unsupported declarations and exhibits an incorrect understanding of racial relations.

Afrocentrism, which has followers who are often bigoted, fanatical and intolerant, is evident in Jon Michael Spencer's defense of multiculturalism. Spencer argues for an exclusive black identity which leads to racist hatred and intolerance. Spencer, however, is unable to prove the existence of any conspiracy among the whites to destroy multiculturalism.

The veracity of several concepts that form the foundation of Afrocentrism are questioned, leading to the conclusion that it is merely Eurocentrism adapted to blacks' culture. Among the myths of Afrocentrism that are called into question is the claim that ancient Egypt was a black civilization. Another fallacy is the supposedly unified cultural identity of Africa. The tools and categories used by proponents of Afrocentrism are western in concept and cannot provide solutions to the problems faced by blacks.

A study was conducted to identify the philosophical infrastructure of Afrocentrism. The study made use of the previous works of experts in Afro-American communities to justify how Afrocentrism affect the analysis of the psychological, socio-economic, and cultural conditions of Afro-Americans. Results show that Afrocentric orientation influence Afro-Americans' pursuit of freedom and literacy and theirperception of time and logic.

Radical Afrocentrism seeks to empower blacks by proclaiming their cultural superiority over whites, who are portrayed as victimizers, through irrational, baseless ideologies. Radical Afrocentrism gains support due to the hostility, isolation and inequality blacks continue to confront in a society which under values their culture. A white professor, whose classes on black history were disrupted by radical Afrocentrists opposed to whites teaching black history, feels the best way to combat indiscipline and unjust actions by the radicals is to adhere to university.