Describes the Igbo tradition of "Mbari," a communal creative enterprise that celebrates the world and the life lived in it through art. Contrasts the cooperative, social dimension of pre-colonial African culture with the exclusion and denial of European colonialism, and sees new African literature again celebrating human presence and…

Black Americans seeking to choose an African name are confronted by several issues growing out of internalized oppression. African identity carries with it connotations of slavery, ethnic duality, socioeconomic limitation, primitivism, and racial stereotyping. The right of naming themselves is seen as a crucial step toward liberation for African…

The French Revolution had profound and long-term effects for Africans, both in Africa and throughout the Western hemisphere. Revolutionary leaders not only opposed the emancipation of slaves in French territories but supported an intensified slave trade, sparking numerous rebellions. French exploitation of Africans extended well into the twentieth…

Discusses Black Americans' concern about what to call themselves and examines attempts to develop an Afrocentric point of view. Questions an automatic identification between African-Americans and Africa, citing political, historical, and socioeconomic factors that qualify assumptions of cultural continuity, and calls for continued assessment and…

The term "African" has gone through several phases of acceptability in the course of United States history. Changes in the applicability of the name reflect developments in African-American consciousness in the context of national and world history. Recognition of African identity is influencing Black definition and direction worldwide.…

Distortions and omissions in the presentation of African and North American history rob African-Americans of a sense of their cultural heritage and role. History textbooks underplay the effects of slavery and prominent figures' complicity in its institution, and neglect Black contributions that would heighten African-American self-awareness. (AF)