A biologically rooted conception of race is both dangerous in practice and misleading in theory. African-American unity and African-American identity need foundations that are more secure than that of race. Only a multiculturalism that accepts America's diversity while teaching the ways and worth of others can avoid the perpetual schism toward…

In "On the Desirability of Own-Group Preference" (1993), Michael L. Penn, Stanley O. Gaines, and Layli Phillips argue that misguided and mythical ideal of racial-social integration in America is the only reasonable and effective foundation for real African empowerment in American society. Serious intellectual battle will be required to…

Six articles in this feature section emphasize the value of African dance in all levels of education. The articles address aspects of African dance ranging from its historical and philosophical underpinnings to applications from the elementary to the college level. (SM)

Describes a culturally congruent intervention in which Afrocentric concepts are applied in single-session counseling for African American drug users. Called the Engagement Project, the intervention attempts to engage clients in a psychosocial process conducive to recovery. The client, counselor, and a former drug user (peer) see a video and…

Presents a case study of controversies related to African studies and makes the case for an Africological pedagogical approach to African Civilization. The title "African Civilization" reflects the African place in the whole of world civilization even though that place is itself a multiple entity. (SLD)

Explores several facets of science and technology from an Afrocentric perspective with a world view, normative assumptions, and frames of reference growing from experiences and folk wisdom of African Americans. African-American studies can illuminate ways in which science and technology have been subordinated to ideology. (SLD)

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)

The Manning Cultural Awareness Program addresses the gender-specific social and psychological needs of African American males in South Carolina prisons through education and activities related to African and African American culture and history. Knowledge of social and cultural heritage along with appropriate communication skills are intended to…

Describes Camp Atwater (North Brookfield, Massachusetts), a summer residential camp founded in 1921 to assist African-American children in developing leadership, character, citizenship, interpersonal communication skills, personal and educational confidence, environmental awareness, physical fitness, and cultural awareness. Describes Camp…

This book tells the story of two African-centered schools, an elementary school and a middle school, in an urban public school system. Both schools were originally conceived as "all male academies," but legal and political obstacles caused both to become coeducational, although still African-centered. The factors that affected the…

A model for a proposed African-American studies discipline is based on the assumptions that African-American experiences are worth studying, historical experiences of peoples of African descent can inform others about human issues, and distinctive historic and cultural African-American experiences exist. Five steps in a African-American studies…

To respond effectively to alleged historical misrepresentations and prejudices in Afrocentric and other ethnocentric philosophies, educators must first address our society's inadequacies. Silence suggests complicity and discredits calls for reason, academic scholarship, and the value of learning. Multiculturalism is a world view that is rooted in…

Examines the pedagogical practices of an exemplary male African American middle school teacher in an affluent neighborhood, discussing principles guiding his efforts to enhance African American students' moral, intellectual, and spiritual development and noting how his emancipatory pedagogies provide a fertile learning ground. This case study…

Presents examples of Afrocentrism that encourage African and African-American inclusion in the curriculum. Examines work by three Afrocentrist educators who discuss capitalist, democratic, and liberationist Afrocentrism. Each asserts the need for the connection of Afrocentrism or African and African-American history to fight racism and promote…

Analyzes the struggle between Eurocentrism and Afrocentrism from an Afrocentric geopolitical perspective. Africans, with Afrocentrism as an intellectual class action suit, are determined to rescue their minds from the suzerainty of Eurocentric miseducation. Afrocentrism represents the most potent challenge to the European power structure of the…