Lexington Books An Afrocentric Pan Africanist Vision: Afrocentric Essays (Critical Africana Studies)

In An Afrocentric Pan Africanist Vision: Afrocentric Essays, Molefi Kete Asante, engages the age-old debate on Pan Africanism by providing an innovative orientation to the established discourse developed during the twentieth century. Asante opens an interrogation of the Padmorian tradition of a socialist Pan Africanism by suggesting that a deeper entry into the histories and narratives of the literary, economic, social, and spiritual values of the thousands of African societies scattered throughout the world could sustain a different agency analysis of Pan Africanism without grafting an external idea on the unity of Africa. Using his vast knowledge of the history of Africa, Asante suggests that the African renaissance cannot take place unless there is a commitment to creating an African community conscious of its own myths, origins, and economic, cultural, and philosophical traditions. Review An Afrocentric Pan Africanist Vision is an important and timely piece that clarifies the role of African people in the most substantive form of Pan Africanism. An Afrocentric Pan Africanism requires us to first resolve the crisis of consciousness on the continent and in diaspora; only then can we advance a collective and liberatory African project on our own terms. This is a most important read as the growing global African presence necessitates a Pan African renaissance.--Ifetayo M. Flannery, San Francisco State University Molefi Kete Asante's visionary work weaves together seamlessly fractured pieces of thought on Pan Africanism. He highlights the ideas and actions of major leaders in its creation. In this way, the reader can see more clearly how the roles of Pan African leaders have been part of a necessary process of Pan Africanism's development. Recognizing the necessity of understanding the significance of culture as the dominant factor in the conquest of Africa and her people, Molefi Kete Asante challenges the acceptance of anti African cultures and suggests ways in which Afrocentric knowledge as a cultural tool can offer the basis for African cultural unity not as a dream but as a reality. I highly recommend this book for those interested in the study of Africa and Pan Africanism and its continuing development as a force for positive change.--Nah Dove, Temple University After reading this book you will be compelled to reconsider how we contemporarily think about social justice. Few people have done more to move African Diaspora considerations from a philosophical conversation about our distant past or a theoretic musing about dispersed people out there to something much more timely and relevant. Asante's contemporary vision, informed by a Pan African sensibility, shows us what we must all do if we genuinely care about the future direction of humanity. It is written with an urgent call to arms to those who understand the significance of agency in the fight for liberation. This book demonstrates why Molefi Kete Asante remains one of the most brilliant thinkers in the world!--Ronald L. Jackson, University of Cincinnati About the Author Molefi Kete Asante is professor and chair of the Department of Africology and African American Studies at Temple University.