Examines the scope of African American studies, its origins, and its development and autonomy as an academic discipline. The meaning of Afrocentrism, the concept of centrism that lies at the core of the discipline of African American studies, the Africalogical method of criticism, and what constitutes the mission of Africalogy are discussed. (GR)

Argues that, as a movement, Afrocentrism is a clever but essentially simple-minded hustle that, in its desire to have the power to define, often justifies low-quality scholarship. Its central failure is the failure to recognize what African Americans have done to realize the truest meanings of democratic possibility. (SLD)

Conceptualizes multicultural education as an interdisciplinary field focusing on racial, ethnic, and cultural groups, and on both genders. The development of African-American scholarship is traced as a vital root of the multicultural education movement. The intergroup education movement of the 1940s and 1950s is also discussed. (SLD)

Attempts to define a paradigm that helps shape the African-American studies discipline, and argues that emphasis must be placed on generating practical and emancipatory knowledge. African-American studies is a necessary discipline if Afrocentric scholars are to be generated who have a commitment to being scholar activists. (SLD)