Information sur l'intervenant

Pr Ama Mazama

Temple University

Philadelphia, USA

Ama Mazama is Professor and Chair of the Department of Africology and African American Studies at Temple University, Philadelphia, USA. Ama Mazama's scholarship focuses on Afrocentric theory and concrete applications in the lives of African people, be it in the realm of spirituality, education, or institution building. She is particularly interested and involved in what has become known as the "African Renaissance Movement," both as a scholar and an Afrocentric Pan-African militant. She is the author of numerous articles and books, including The Afrocentric Paradigm, Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press; 2003; L'Impératif Afrocentrique. Paris: Editions Ménaibuc. 2003; Asante M. & Ama Mazama, General Editors, Encyclopedia of Black Studies, Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage Publications. 2005; Asante, M. & Ama Mazama, General Editors, Encyclopedia of African Religion, 2 Volumes, Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage. 2009; Mazama, Ama & G. Musumunu. African American Homeschooling: Motivations, Opportunities and Challenges. London: Routledge. 2015.

Titre de la communication

“The Indispensability of Afrocentricity for African Renaissance”

Résumé de Communication

Abstract

There has been no shortage of good will on the part of African intellectuals and activists alike to see African regain its footage in the world, after centuries of enslavement, colonial and neo-colonial exploitation. It is clear, though, that the fruits of those efforts have failed to deliver what is needed for the rebirth of the African continent. This presentation will argue that what has been poignantly missing so far is an Afrocentric approach to Africa’s ill-condition. By examining closely two major Pan-African thinkers and architects, W.E. Blyden and Kwame Nkrumah, this presentation will highlight the dilemma and contradictions posed by an (often unconscious) adhesion to Eurocentric ideas and the resultant impossibility to forge a way out of the colonial and neo-colonial conundrum. What is suggested here is the imperative of conceptual decolonization so we can forge the theoretical and practical tools required to decolonize our imagination and our continent at large. The work done to that effect by a community in Ivory Coast, under the auspices of Afrocentricity International, will be highlighted.