An Afrocentric Manifesto: Toward an African Renaissance

by Molefi Kete Asante

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Race

192 pages, Hardcover

First published December 17, 2007

About the author

Molefi Kete Asante (born Arthur Lee Smith Jr.; August 14, 1942) is an American professor and philosopher. He is a leading figure in the fields of African-American studies, African studies, and communication studies. He is currently professor in the Department of Africology at Temple University, where he founded the PhD program in African-American Studies. He is president of the Molefi Kete Asante Institute for Afrocentric Studies.

Asante is known for his writings on Afrocentricity, a school of thought that has influenced the fields of sociology, intercultural communication, critical theory, political science, the history of Africa, and social work.He is the author of more than 66 books and the founding editor of the Journal of Black Studies.

Reviews

[Gregory Stanton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book that I have read from Asante, but I am well aware of his voice from speeches I've watched of him. Because it is the first I have read I was not as familiar with the theory as someone who has read Afrocentricity or The Afrocentric idea would be, so I can't truly judge how Asante defends his argument, nor how well he presents the opposite arguments to his own. I will have to decide on his defenses once I go through the rest of the literature. I have also read a little of Astante's articles so I'm not entirely novice to the idea.

I think that Asante has a fantastic philosophical standard in Afrocentricity and has opened a new, strong method of understanding and analyzing the life of Black or African or ADOS people in the African diaspora. More and more I can see the strength of his argument for the Black person to center himself in the story of his life and for Black people to center ourselves in our story and our perspective. Slowly, it seems that science has been marching towards abdication of the championed social organization of eurocentrism. Asante speaks of many modern advances of eurocentrism to address their apparent failings to work in terms that Black people can succeed on. That much of what fails us is our ability, or lack thereof, to see ourselves as the main characters in our own stories and in our own imagination. This is because American or Western society is made for a specific 'race'.

I'm excited to continue researching this theory and practice. I think it leads in a good direction.

[Mir Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

The manifesto was good when it comes down to the aspects of the African worldview. I found it slightly unneccessary though to bring various "academics", whom were no names in my opinion, in order to bash them for what they said. I think if it was solely Asante's enlightenment, I would have enjoyed the manifesto even more.