DOCSLIB.ORG

Exploring the African Centered Paradigm: Discourse and Innovation in African World Community Studies

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Exploring the African Centered Paradigm: Discourse and Innovation in African World Community Studies Exploring the African Centered Paradigm: Discourse and Innovation in African World Community Studies March 2018 Revised Edition by Itibari M. Zulu Foreword by Salim Faraji, Ph.D. The following is a revised edition of Exploring the African Centered Paradigm: Discourse and Innovation in African World Community Studies. Copyright © 1999 by Itibari M. Zulu with all rights reserved relevant to an open-access publication, originally published in the U.S.A. by Amen-Ra Theological Seminary Press, a division of Amen-Ra Theological Seminary and Amen- Ra Community Assembly of California, Inc. ISBN: 0-9674226-0-4. Library of Congress Catalog Number: 99-63077, printed in the U.S.A. No part of this book (document) may be reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the author or publisher except in the case of quotations embodied in review articles. In 1999 this work was submitted and accepted by the faculty of Amen-Ra Theological Seminary in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Th.D. degree. The illustration on the first edition (not entered here) are from Ancient Egyptian Designs for Artist and Craftspeople by Eva Wilson (New York: Dover Publications, 1986). This open- access electronic edition is available via Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies (P.O. Box 20443, Long Beach, California 90801) in association with NationTime Press. 1 Exploring the African Centered Paradigm: Discourse and Innovation in African World Community Studies (Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies e-book) New in this volume is “African Centered Text (1990-2000): A Decade of Protracted Engagement” which previously appeared in The Journal of Pan African Studies, vol.3, no.10, September 2010, a version of “The Ancient Kemetic Roots of Library and Information Science” originally appeared in Culture Keepers: Enlightening and Empowering Our Communities of the First National Conference of African American Librarians (September 4-6, 1992) edited by Dr. Stanton F. Biddle (Newark, NJ: Black Caucus of the American Library Association, 1995, pp. 246-266); and “Thinking Digital and Acting Responsibly: Notes of an Activist Librarian” is a revised version of an article in the Handbook of Black Librarianship (Scarecrow Press, 1999), edited by the late Dr. E.J. Josey. Contents Answering the Critics 3 Acknowledgements and Dedication 4 Foreword by Salim Faraji 6 Preface 9 Introduction: The African Centered Paradigm 10 The Ancient Kemetic Roots of Library and Information Science 16 Thinking Digital and Acting Responsibly: Notes of an Activist Librarian 44 Constructing an African Centered Theological Seminary 54 The Nuts and Bolts: Degree Programs and Course Descriptions 60 Temple of Maat 67 Rise Like Ra: The Papyrus of Hu-nefer and the Hymn to Amen-Ra, A Modern Rendition for a New Millennium 70 Reading African Centered Text: Ancient Tradition Empowering a New Consciousness (A Selected Annotated Bibliography Exploring African Religion, Philosophy and Spirituality) 76 African Centered Text (1990-2000): A Decade of Protracted Engagement 96 Conclusion: Defining, Defending and Developing 115 About the Author 123 2 Exploring the African Centered Paradigm: Discourse and Innovation in African World Community Studies (Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies e-book) Answering the Critics There has been very few reviews of this book, however Liegh C. McInnis has offered "Stretch Your Wings: Famous Black Quotations for Teens/Exploring the African Centered Paradigm: Discourse and Innovation in African World Community Studies" in MultiCultural Review (1058- 9236), 9 (2), 77; Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe Jr. contributed “Afrocentricity and Ideological Irredentism” in the New York Amsterdam News (November 9, 2000, vol. 91, issue 45; and Iain S. Maclean (Department of Philosophy and Religion, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia) provided a review in H-Africa (a unit of H-Net, an international interdisciplinary organization of scholars and teachers dedicated to developing the enormous educational potential of the Internet and the World Wide Web) in May of 2003. The most critical was by Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr. (Nassau Community College of the State University of New York, Garden City), thus I will answer his criticism first, and then move to Maclean’s critique. In the first line of his review, Okoampa-Ahoofe digs deep by referring to the foreword by Salim Faraji as ‘rather pontifical’. Thus from the start he places at least part of the text as pompously dogmatic, self-important or pretentious. Next he injects his take on history, stating that “much Afrocentric discourse which pretends to conscientize global African people is purely academic and theoretical”. And after an exercise in letting readers know that he is knowable of African history, he say the book is “particularly for the disciplinary neophyte or novitiate” and that the book is also “woefully dated in critical parts”. He gives no details on how the book is for the ‘disciplinary neophyte or novitiate’, except to suggest that there is no ongoing debate concerning the phenotype (i.e., a set of observable characteristics of an individual resulting from the interaction of its genotype with the environment) of the ancient Egyptians or that the debate is dated. Last, he says that he finds it ‘quite amusing’ that I would mention the work of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in reference to the ancient archives at Timbuktu when Ali A. Mazrui had done “The Africans: A Triple Heritage” before Gates did “Wonders of the African World”. I don’t think there is or was a race between them, what should matter is the quality of their presentations and how it can or should advance the knowledge and understanding of African history and culture. Maclean like Okoampa-Ahoofe starts with a bang; in the first sentence based on the table of contents he says “this unusual little book seeks to cover a surprising amount of territory, both historical and intellectual, in a brief and somewhat strange conjunction of material”. To refer to the book as an ‘unusual little book’ is a bit flipped, but it can ‘stand the heat’. However his statement “… there is no one central controlling thesis in the text, apart from perhaps offering the Amen-Ra Seminary as a paradigm” is false. 3 Exploring the African Centered Paradigm: Discourse and Innovation in African World Community Studies (Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies e-book) The main central controlling thesis of the book is that the African centered paradigm (among other things) involves exploring the African roots of library and information science, the building of an African centered theological seminary (Amen-Ra Theological Seminary), applied Afrocentricity via The Temple of Maat, a guide recourse to books on the African centered paradigm, an example of ancient Egyptian literature based on the Papyrus of Hu-nefer and the Hymn to Amen-Ra, and of course personal insight. Thus, as I said in the conclusion to the book (p.149), this work articulates the “… nature, dynamics, and innovations of the African centered paradigm. Maclean terms the book a ‘call to action’ book, which is acceptable, but in a more detailed way, it is a call to critical thinking about the depth of the African centered paradigm, and thus, how it is linked to all aspects of human life. Second, he would has rather liked a philosophical explanation of the African centered paradigm that would dig into underlying values and ethical positions, and a religious thesis on why there is a need for an African centered theological seminary. Perhaps since 1999 those kinds of issues have been answered. Especially since the publication of The Afrocentric Paradigm (Africa World Press, 2002) edited by Ama Mazama that positioned the paradigm as the affective/cognitive/conative, structural, and the functional with contributors by Molefi Kete Asante, Danjuma Sinue Modupe, Maulana Karenga, Norman Harris, Linda James Myers, Na’im Akbar, Clenora Hudson-Weems, Nah Dove, Jerome H. Schiele, editor Ama Mazama, Karimu Welsh-Asante, Mwalimu J. Shujaa, and Asa G. Hillard. Since I seemingly overlooked this approach, I am certain The Afrocentric Paradigm has, with much success. Continuing, Maclean suggests that I labeled dissenting voices as racist. I am puzzled by this observation because as I page through the book I don’t see where I called anyone a racist. But in a closer analysis, I see he has returned to the question of race in ancient Egypt (Kemet), suggesting that “… there could be other historical explanations” to the origins of Kemet, leading to the idea that the African centered paradigm is rushing to claim to claim Kemet, although there may be ‘other historical explanations’. I am amazed by the logic. Or should I just call him a racist and been done? No, there must be other explanations (imperialistic cognation)? These reviews offer some idea of what readers may have said or thought about this book, but in the final analysis it important to know if it served its purpose and mission in advancing discussion around the question of an African centered paradigm in the context of African world community studies. 4 Exploring the African Centered Paradigm: Discourse and Innovation in African World Community Studies (Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies e-book) Acknowledgements Stanley J. Price Jr., Stanton F. Biddle, Malik Simba, Firpo W. Carr, Joseph D. Atkinson III, Agrippa ‘EZ’ Ezozo, Erebka L. Henry, Goldie L. Montgomery, Phillip McAbee, Alicia A. Randolph, R.I. Mutope A-Alkebu-Lan (editorial assistance), Camille Killens (editorial assistance), Arthur J. Graham (editorial assistance), Clyde Woods (1957-2011), Kofi Lomotey, Molefi Kete Asante, Salim Faraji, Delaney E. Smith, M.D., Zeb Sanders III; Tony McCully, Madeleine Tatton, Debo Kotun, the UCLA Afrocentric Book Forum, and Simone Niongbo Koivogui Zulu. Dedication Mrs. Willa M. Price (mother), Stanley J. Price, Jr. (brother), Aurelia D. Price (sister), Huruma S. Zulu (brother), Simone Niongbo Koivogui Zulu (former wife), Akiba K.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • NGOLO: (Re)Membering the African American Child As a Normative for Self-Healing Power
    NGOLO: (Re)membering the African American Child as a Normative for Self-Healing Power Patricia Nunley ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3437-8135 Abstract In response to the need to clarify the ongoing experience of historical and contemporary trauma by African American people in the USA, Dr. Wade Nobles, co-founder and past President of the ABPsi introduced the concept of ‘Psychic Terrorism’ which he defined as the systematic use of terror to immobilize and/or destabilize a person’s fundamental sense of security and safety by assaulting his or her consciousness and identity (2015: 4). The USA’s practice of psychic terrorism demands that special attention be given to African American children’s identity development. In this regard, the unconstrained, western research’s dominance continues to function as a hindrance to the understanding of Black children’s positive identity development and resultant well-being. In this context the African child’s double invisibility (Jonsson 2009; Nsamenang 2007), obscurity and under-publication, and the African American child’s double visibility, pathologies and over-publication (Jackson & Moore 2008; Kunjufu1992), inhibits an appreciation of Black children’s substantive self-identity knowledge. The consequence of this for the African Child is unrecognition of their normativity as the universal original child. For the African American child, this unrecognition also impairs their connection to their generative African essence or Ngolo. Ngolo, as defined by Fu-Kiau, means in Kikongo, the ‘energy of self-healing power’. By employing the child development discipline, this article will problematize the minimization of the African child as the norm while illuminating the critical need for African American children to function in wholeness and wellness.
    [Show full text]
  • Kwame Nkrumah and the Pan- African Vision: Between Acceptance and Rebuttal
    Austral: Brazilian Journal of Strategy & International Relations e-ISSN 2238-6912 | ISSN 2238-6262| v.5, n.9, Jan./Jun. 2016 | p.141-164 KWAME NKRUMAH AND THE PAN- AFRICAN VISION: BETWEEN ACCEPTANCE AND REBUTTAL Henry Kam Kah1 Introduction The Pan-African vision of a United of States of Africa was and is still being expressed (dis)similarly by Africans on the continent and those of Afri- can descent scattered all over the world. Its humble origins and spread is at- tributed to several people based on their experiences over time. Among some of the advocates were Henry Sylvester Williams, Marcus Garvey and George Padmore of the diaspora and Peter Abrahams, Jomo Kenyatta, Sekou Toure, Julius Nyerere and Kwame Nkrumah of South Africa, Kenya, Guinea, Tanza- nia and Ghana respectively. The different pan-African views on the African continent notwithstanding, Kwame Nkrumah is arguably in a class of his own and perhaps comparable only to Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. Pan-Africanism became the cornerstone of his struggle for the independence of Ghana, other African countries and the political unity of the continent. To transform this vision into reality, Nkrumah mobilised the Ghanaian masses through a pop- ular appeal. Apart from his eloquent speeches, he also engaged in persuasive writings. These writings have survived him and are as appealing today as they were in the past. Kwame Nkrumah ceased every opportunity to persuasively articulate for a Union Government for all of Africa. Due to his unswerving vision for a Union Government for Africa, the visionary Kwame Nkrumah created a microcosm of African Union through the Ghana-Guinea and then Ghana-Guinea-Mali Union.
    [Show full text]
  • Kwame Nkrumah, His Afro-American Network and the Pursuit of an African Personality
    Illinois State University ISU ReD: Research and eData Theses and Dissertations 3-22-2019 Kwame Nkrumah, His Afro-American Network and the Pursuit of an African Personality Emmanuella Amoh Illinois State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/etd Part of the African American Studies Commons, and the African History Commons Recommended Citation Amoh, Emmanuella, "Kwame Nkrumah, His Afro-American Network and the Pursuit of an African Personality" (2019). Theses and Dissertations. 1067. https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/etd/1067 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ISU ReD: Research and eData. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ISU ReD: Research and eData. For more information, please contact [email protected]. KWAME NKRUMAH, HIS AFRO-AMERICAN NETWORK AND THE PURSUIT OF AN AFRICAN PERSONALITY EMMANUELLA AMOH 105 Pages This thesis explores the pursuit of a new African personality in post-colonial Ghana by President Nkrumah and his African American network. I argue that Nkrumah’s engagement with African Americans in the pursuit of an African Personality transformed diaspora relations with Africa. It also seeks to explore Black women in this transnational history. Women are not perceived to be as mobile as men in transnationalism thereby underscoring their inputs in the construction of certain historical events. But through examining the lived experiences of Shirley Graham Du Bois and to an extent Maya Angelou and Pauli Murray in Ghana, the African American woman’s role in the building of Nkrumah’s Ghana will be explored in this thesis.
    [Show full text]
  • Program for the 23Rd Conference
    rd 23 Annual Cheikh Anta Diop International Conference “Fundamentals and Innovations in Afrocentric Research: Mapping Core and Continuing Knowledge of African Civilizations” October 7-8, 2011 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7 Registration 7:30am-5:00pm Drum Call 8:15am-8:30am Opening Ceremony and Presentation of Program 8:30am-9:00am Panel 1 - Education Primers and Educational Formats for Proficiency in African Culture 9:00am-10:10am 1) Dr. Daphne Chandler “Martin Luther King, Jr. Ain’t All We Got”: Achieving and Maintaining Cultural Equilibrium in 21st Century Western-Centered Schools 2) Dr. Nosakare Griffin-El Trans-Defining Educational Philosophy for People of Africana Descent: Towards the Transconceptual Ideal of Education 3) Dr. George Dei African Indigenous Proverbs and the Instructional and Pedagogic Relevance for Youth Education Locating Contemporary Media and Social Portrayals of African Agency 10:15am-11:25am 1) Dr. Ibram Rogers A Social Movement of Social Movements: Conceptualizing a New Historical Framework for the Black Power Movement 2) Dr. Marquita Pellerin Challenging Media Generated Portrayal of African Womanhood: Utilizing an Afrocentric Agency Driven Approach to Define Humanity 3) Dr. Martell Teasley Barrack Obama and the Politics of Race: The Myth of Post-racism in America Keynote Address Where Myth and Theater Meet: Re-Imaging the Tragedy of Isis and Osiris 11:30am-12:15pm Dr. Kimmika Williams‐Witherspoon Lunch 12:15pm-1:45pm Philosophy and Practice of Resurgence and Renaissance 1:45pm-3:00pm 1)Abena Walker Ancient African Imperatives to Facilitate a Conscious Disconnect from the Fanatical Tyranny of Imperialism: The Development of Wholesome African Objective for Today’s Africans 2) Kwasi Densu Omenala (Actions in Accordance With the Earth): Towards the Development of an African Centered Environmental Philosophy and Its Implications for Africana Studies 3) Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Africology 101: an Interview with Scholar Activist Molefi Kete Asante
    Africology 101: An Interview with Scholar Activist Molefi Kete Asante by Itibari M. Zulu, Th.D. Editor, The Journal of Pan African Studies Molefi Kete Asante (http://www.asante.net) is Professor of African American Studies in the Department of African American Studies at Temple University. He is considered one of the most distinguished contemporary scholars, and has published 66 books, among the most recent being An Afrocentric Manifesto: Toward an African Renaissance and The History of Africa: The Quest for Eternal Harmony. He has published more scholarly books than any contemporary African author and has been recognized as one of the ten most widely cited African Americans. Dr. Asante completed his M.A. at Pepperdine University, received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles at the age of 26 and was appointed a full professor at the age of 30 at the State University of New York at Buffalo; and notwithstanding, at Temple University he created the first Ph.D. program in African American Studies in 1987; he has directed more than 125 Ph.D. dissertations; written more than 300 articles for journals and magazines; he is the founding editor of The Journal of Black Studies (1969); the founder of the theory of Afrocentricity, and in 1995 he was made a traditional king, Nana Okru Asante Peasah, Kyldomhene of Tafo, Akyem, Ghana. Itibari M. Zulu ([email protected]) is the editor-in-chief of The Journal of Pan African Studies, author of Exploring the African Centered Paradigm: Discourse and Innovation in African World Community Studies, editor of Authentic Voices: Quotations and Axioms from the African World Community, editor of the forthcoming book Africology: A Concise Dictionary, provost of Amen-Ra Theological Seminary, and vice president of the African Diaspora Foundation.
    [Show full text]
  • Africathlète Août 2004
    Partenaires Officiels de la CAA Official AAC Partners 2 • africathlete - août 2004 Sommaire Contents Edito Citius, altius, fortius Jeux olympiques d’Athènes 2004 Que brillent les “ Etoiles “ d’Afrique ! Athens 2004 : Let african’s stars shine at athens olympic games ! 14e Championnat d’Afrique à Brazzaville L’Afrique du Sud en force, les performances au rendez-vous 14th African Championship in Brazzaville Performances galore as Shouth Africans rule the roost 15e championnat d’Afrique Rendez-vous à Maurice en 2006 African senior championships See you in Mauririus 2006 Circuit Africain des meetings Un véritable coup d’éclat African meet circuit : Is a remarkable feat Championnats du monde Juniors Les promesses de la jeune sève World junio championships : Africa’s promising young talents La confejes et la CAA à l’air du temp Confejes and CAA keep up with progress août 2004 - africathlete • 3 Editorial Citius, altius, fortius ’Afrique qui gagne, c’est bel et bien l’athlétisme. Vainqueur des quatre dernières éditions de la L Par/by Hamad Kalkaba Malboum Coupe du monde des Confédérations, l’Afrique peut Président de la CAA / AAC President aussi exhiber avec fierté ses multiples champions du monde, détenteurs de records du monde et cham- pions olympiques. Aucune discipline sportive, sur le continent, ne peut encore étaler un pareil palmarès. Et Citius, altius, fortius cerise sur le gâteau, les deux meilleurs athlètes du monde en 2003, en l’occurrence la Sud-Africaine frica is winning through athletics. In addition to win- Hestrie Cloete et le Marocain Hicham El Guerrouj, Aning the last four editions of the Confederations sont des fils de l’Afrique.
    [Show full text]
  • The Case Against Afrocentrism. by Tunde Adeleke
    50 The Case Against Afrocentrism. By Tunde Adeleke. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2009. 224 pp. Since the loosening of Europe’s visible political and social clutch on the continent of Africa, conversations underlining common experiences and links between Black Africans and Blacks throughout the Diaspora have amplified and found merit in the Black intellectual community. Afrocentrist, such as Molefi Asante, Marimba Ani, and Maulana Karenga, have used Africa as a source of all Black identity, formulating a monolithic, essentialist worldview that underscores existing fundamentally shared values and suggests a unification of all Blacks under one shared ideology for racial uplift and advancement. In the past decade, however, counterarguments for such a construction have found their way into current discourses, challenging the idea of a worldwide, mutual Black experience that is foundational to Afrocentric thought. In The Case Against Afrocentrism, Tunde Adeleke engages in a deconstruction and reconceptualization of the various significant paradigms that have shaped the Afrocentric essentialist perspective. Adeleke’s text has obvious emphasis on the difficulty of utilizing Africa in the construction of Black American identity. A clear supporter of the more “realistic” Du Boisian concept of double-consciousness in the Black American experience, Adeleke challenges Afrocentrists’, mainly Molefi Asante’s, rejection of the existence of American identity within a Black body. He argues against the “flawed” perception that Black Americans remain essentially African despite centuries of separation in slavery. According to Adeleke, to suggest that Blacks retain distinct Africanisms undermines the brutality and calculating essence of the slave system that served as a process of “unmasking and remaking of a people’s consciousness of self” (32).
    [Show full text]
  • Diggin History Assessment An
    A Sign Of The Times of the Carolinas 2015 - Diggin’ History Through Music and Dance I. Pre / Post Assessment (Before presentation ) (After presentation ) Diggin’ History Questions? Answers Answers 1. 2. 3. II. Kwanzaa / Black History - Suggested Reading List Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family Community and Culture MaulanaKarenga The African American Holiday of Kwanzaa MaulanaKarenga Selections From the Husia MaulanaKarenga Million Man March Day of Absence: Mission Statement MaulanaKarenga Reconstructing Kemetic Culture MaulanaKarenga Maat The Moral Idea of Ancient Egypt MaulanaKarenga To Your Journey (http://www.creative-interchange.com/about/) Ahmad Daniels The Signs & Symbols of Primordial Man Albert Churchward Blues People Amiri Baraka Blueprint for Black Power Amos N. Wilson Black-on-Black Violence Amos Wilson The Falsification of Afrikan Consciousness Amos Wilson The Development Psychology of the Black Child Amos Wilson The Maroon Within Us Asa G. Hilliard III African Power Asa G. Hilliard III SBA:The Reawakening of the African Mind Asa G. Hilliard III Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization Anthony T. Browder Psychopathic Racial Personality Bobby Wright The Ruins of Empires C.F. Volney The Mis-Education of the Negro Carter G. Woodson The Destruction of Black Civilization Chancellor Williams The Rebirth of African Civilization Chancellor Williams Echoes of the Old Darkland Charles Finch The Star Of Deep Beginnings Charles Finch Introduction To African Civilization: Myth or Reality Cheikh Anta Diop Civilization or Barbarism Cheikh Anta Diop Precolonial Black Africa Cheikh Anta Diop Cultural Unity of Africa Cheikh Anta Diop Towards African Renaissance Cheikh Anta Diop David Walker’s Appeal David Walker "Wonderful Ethiopians of the Cushite Empire" Drusilla Dunjee Houston From Columbus to Castro Eric Williams The Isis Papers Frances Cress Welsing Stolen Legacy George James Claiming Earth Haki R.
    [Show full text]
  • Black Ideologies, Black Utopias: Afrocentricity in Historical Perspective John H
    Contributions in Black Studies A Journal of African and Afro-American Studies Volume 12 Ethnicity, Gender, Culture, & Cuba Article 13 (Special Section) 1994 Black Ideologies, Black Utopias: Afrocentricity in Historical Perspective John H. Bracey Jr. University of Massachusetts Amherst August Meier Kent State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cibs Recommended Citation Bracey, John H. Jr. and Meier, August (1994) "Black Ideologies, Black Utopias: Afrocentricity in Historical Perspective," Contributions in Black Studies: Vol. 12 , Article 13. Available at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cibs/vol12/iss1/13 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Afro-American Studies at ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Contributions in Black Studies by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Bracey and Meier: Black Ideologies, Black Utopias John H. Bracey, Jr. andAugust Meier BLACK IDEOLOGIES, BLACK UTOPIAS: AFROCENTRICITY IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE LACK NATIONALIST IDEOLOGIES have existed throughout the history of African Americans. But the exact content and the way in which their intensity and B popularity has waxed and waned can be best understood by examining the specific historical contexts in which the ideas were embedded. Suchan analysis has been completely lacking in the current furor over "Afrocentricity" in its varied forms. Many oftheideas which are now consideredAfrocentric- though they were notlabeled a such at the time - also flourished at the turn of the nineteenth century during what appropriately has been described as the "nadir" of the Black experience in post-Civil War America.
    [Show full text]
  • Black Nfl Draft Prospects' Conceptions of Manhood
    DRAFTING INTO MANHOOD: BLACK NFL DRAFT PROSPECTS’ CONCEPTIONS OF MANHOOD AND IDEAS OF PLAYING IN THE NFL A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by Andrew D. Brown May 2015 Examining Committee Members: Molefi K. Asante, Advisory Chair, African American Studies Heather A. Thompson, African American Studies James Earl Davis, College of Education James L. Conyers, Jr., External Member, University of Houston © Copyright 2015 by Andrew Brown All Rights Reserved ii ABSTRACT This dissertation examines how manhood is conceptualized by Black National Football League (NFL) prospects and explores how their characterizations of manhood are associated with their desire to become NFL players. This mixed-method study uses data collected by interviewing and surveying fifteen Black NFL draft prospects who were or would be eligible for the NFL draft between 2005-2016. The data are supplemented with existing literature and analyzed using the “Utamaduni Bwana” table of African cultural manhood in order to (1) culturally locate participants’ conceptions of manhood, (2) identify the African elements within their conceptions of manhood, and (3) highlight the agency within their responses. In essence, this dissertation explores the significance of the NFL draft and the influence of colonization on Black NFL prospects’ conceptions of manhood. This study found that Black NFL prospects’ desire to reach the NFL is heavily associated with their attempt to reach manhood. The characteristics most commonly found in the participants’ conceptions of manhood are strength, independence, and financial success; and their perceptions of NFL players contain hyper-expressions of these same characteristics.
    [Show full text]
  • Mau Mau) Struggle for Kenya's Independence
    Syracuse University SURFACE Pan African Studies - Theses College of Arts and Sciences 5-2013 "Thaai thathaiyai Ngai thaai": Narratives of Rituals, Agency, and Resistance in the KLFA (Mau Mau) Struggle for Kenya's Independence Henry Muoki Mbunga Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/panaf_theis Part of the African History Commons, and the African Studies Commons Recommended Citation Mbunga, Henry Muoki, ""Thaai thathaiyai Ngai thaai": Narratives of Rituals, Agency, and Resistance in the KLFA (Mau Mau) Struggle for Kenya's Independence" (2013). Pan African Studies - Theses. 4. https://surface.syr.edu/panaf_theis/4 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Arts and Sciences at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pan African Studies - Theses by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract The purpose of this project is to examine the role of rituals in the Mau Mau struggle for Kenya’s independence. Traditionally, research on the Mau Mau has focused on the political and socio-economic aspects of Kenya’s anti-colonial struggle. As a result, the place of spirituality and, in particular, the role of rituals in the Mau Mau struggle has largely been ignored in existing literature. Initially, when KLFA rituals were studied at the height of the Mau Mau struggle, the task was undertaken by colonial anthropologists and psychologists who were often unable to escape the snare of racist and Eurocentric prejudices in their analyses. Subsequent revisionist studies have attempted to be more objective in their analyses, but the focus has mainly been on the elements and details surrounding the actual ceremonies, at the expense of how these rituals impacted individual freedom fighters.
    [Show full text]
  • Africa’ Within the Diaspora: the Significance of the Relationship Between Haiti and Free Africans of Philadelphia Following the Haitian Revolution
    LOCATING ‘AFRICA’ WITHIN THE DIASPORA: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HAITI AND FREE AFRICANS OF PHILADELPHIA FOLLOWING THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by Maria Ifetayo Flannery May, 2016 Examining Committee Members: Molefi Kete Asante, Advisory Chair, Africology & African America Studies Kimani Nehusi, Africology & African American Studies Benjamin Talton, History Diane Turner, External Member, Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection i © Copyright 2016 by Maria Ifetayo Flannery All Rights Reserved ii ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to produce an Africological model that lends attention to epistemological questions in African diaspora research through theoretical and culturally based analysis, ultimately to aid the historical and psychological restoration of Africans in diaspora. This work reflects the theoretical and historic stream of scholarship that centers geographic Africa as the adhesive principle of study in shaping and understanding the cultural and political ally-ship between different African diasporic communities. My aim is to illustrate what Africa represents in diaspora and how it was shaped in the conscious minds and actions of early Africans in diaspora from their own vantage point. Secondly, through a case study of the intra-diasporic relationship between Haiti and free Africans of Philadelphia following the Haitian Revolution, this work lays precedence for the expansion of an African diasporic consciousness. The significance of the intra-diasporic relationship is in the mutual recognition that Haitians and Africans in North America considered themselves a common people. Moreover, they developed an international relationship during the early 19th century to serve their mutual interest in African freedom and autonomous development despite Western expansion.
    [Show full text]