SLIDE ONE:

Afrocentricity is a rather new idea, originating around the 1980s but the ideas behind
this paradigm started much earlier
o Starting with African diaspora which focuses on the four phases of African
emigration, in particular to the Americas, and their descendants from this
historical timeIn America this is what we call the slave trade
This ultimately led to Pan-Africanism which is the ideology and movement that
encourages the solidarity of Africans worldwide by focusing on the belief that unity is
vital to economic, social, and political progress
o Marcus Garvey was the first to really generate attention to this movement-he
founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African
Communities League-He also founded the Black Star Line which promoted the
return of African diaspora
o Carter G. Woodson was also important to this movement
He worked closely with Garvey as well as W.E.B. Du Bois
He is looked at as the creator of Black History Month-he created the
Association for the Study of African American Life and History
He also created the idea of Mis-education which focuses on how African
Americans are culturally indoctrinated in American Schools
o But W.E.B. Du Bois really brought this idea to the public in mid 1900s where
George Padmore was later his predecessor-he also created the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Du Bois also brought the idea of the color line back into reality after it
had been created by Frederick Douglas back in 1881 when racial
segregation occurred after slavery was abolished
o Kwame Nkrumah followed George Padmore in becoming the leader of the PanAfricanism movement-focusing on efforts to study the history and culture of
Africans
He created the Convention Peoples Party-which is a socialist political
party in Ghana-calling on oppressed Africans to rise up and fight for
their freedomhe was successful in getting Ghanas Independence
o The idea of segregation in the United States was also full swing

SLIDE TWO

Modern day Pan-Africanism was influenced by the civil rights movement and the
black power movement in many ways
o The civil rights movement brought the truth of racism out and into the open
Although Dr. Martin Luther King was very important in this time to
African Americans, his message focused on integration and peaceful
marchesmuch different from Malcom X
o Malcom X rejected integration and focused on the strengthening of black
communities without help from whites
o Malcom X continued the ideas of pan-Africanism into the 1960s- and he
founded the Muslim Mosque Inc., and the Organization of Afro-American Unity
Cheikh Anta Diop was very involved in continuing the ideas of pan-Africanism
founding the first Pan-African student congress in 1951 in Paris
o Mainly Diop focused his attention on clarifying and promoting the history of
Africans, their culture, and their spiritual community

He wrote several books-one of his most noted was African Origin of

Civilization: Myth or Realitywhere Diop delves into the history of Africans-as
well as proving historical evidence that the Egyptians were Africanscompletely separate from Asia and Europe
In the mid-1960s, Maulana Karenga met Malcom X before he was assassinated and
was compelled by his rhetoric and message concerning African Americans
o He created the US Movement- like US against them-it emphasized selfdetermination and self-reliance in black liberation and became the next voice
of pan-Africanism in society
o Karenga became a huge figure in the Black Power Movement soon after the
creation of the social US movement. He guided followers through seven
principles of black unity, self-determination, collective work and
responsibility, cooperative economics, the purpose of nation building,
creativity, and faith in the ultimate correctness and victory of black liberation
He is also known for creating the pan-African holiday, Kwanza
Soon after the idea the black perspective versus the white perspective began to be
studied amongst students and teachers in universities
By the end of the 1960s Dr. Molefi Kete Asante began to speak about pan-Africanism
and the need for the black perspective in society. Soon after, Asante coined the term,
Afrocentricity, to describe a paradigm or social movement the black community must
follow in order to achieve black perspectives in society
o

SLIDE THREE

In the 1970s Asante began speaking about Afrocentricity and its need in
orienting information to the public, especially African Americans
o He defined Afrocentricity as a paradigm based on the idea that African people
should re-assert a sense of agency in order to achieve sanity
o Asante brings elements of African history, political science, sociology, critical
theory, and social work together to create the movement, Afrocentricity and
And By the 1980s Asante published Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change.
Linda James Myers became a big part of the Afrocentric movement
o She took a more psychological outlook on this term and attempted and still
attempts today to develop African moral and spiritual identity using healing
practices and psychotherapeutic processes; and, intersections of race, gender
and class
o She led several others into studying the subject
Ama Mazama was a major advocate for pan-Africanism and Afrocentricity in the 21st
century
o She based her research on many of the people I just talked about, especially
Asantes work
o She wrote several books including The Afrocentric Paradigm; Africa in the 21 st
century
o Mazama also is the co-founder of the Afrocentricity International with Asante
The Temple circle of Afrocentricity is a group made up of students and teachers from
universities, including Mazama and Asante, and their linguistic, historical,
sociological, and dramatic interpretations of Afrocentric events.
Afrocentric Pan Africanism evolved

This movement focuses on the future and idea of a Nation Embracing

Diversity and must be involved in bringing Afrocentric perspectives as a part
of the nations perspective
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