CaShawn Thompson's hashtag, #BlackGirlMagic, has transformed into a movement over the past five years. The hashtag focuses on celebrating the beauty, influence, and strength of Black women and girls. However, Thompson's term sits in a space of tension, where contradictory interpretations create boundaries around what Black girl celebration means…

Adult education scholarship has been racialized through the lens of Eurocentric theory and research. Theoretical paradigms such as Africentrism struggle to gain academic legitimacy as discourses of transformative learning, critical thinking and self-direction--all grounded in the European Enlightenment tradition of the individual pursuit of…

Ethnic socialization and racial socialization were examined as discrete concepts using a semistructured interview to assess message content for each form of socialization. We were interested in whether adolescents distinguished between these forms of socialization. Fifty-five African American 11th- and 12th-grade students were asked separate…

In today's increasingly polyglot classrooms, interpersonal and inter-group conflicts often arise out of mutual misunderstandings between different collections of students, some based on language or status differences but many more generated by emotionally charged misconceptions. As such, peer mediation and peaceful solutions to student arguments…

Afrocentrism terms the pluralistic experience of modern society dislocating and disruptive. Afrocentrists would reimpose a solidarity and cohesion that the ethnic communities cannot themselves maintain. Advocates discredit the content and universality of Western civilization by liberating students from rationality, the scientific method, economic…

Points out linguistic and logical inconsistencies that come into play when African populations are discussed through the medium of Eurocentric discourse. "African" is suggested as a more logical way to define people with an origin on the African continent than the term "black". (SLD)

Discusses Asiacentrism and its place in Asian American Studies, what can be learned from Afrocentrism as a paradigm, and the political and philosophical implications of Asiacentrism. The authors propose the development of an Asiacentric paradigm as a critique of the dominant Eurocentrism in theory-building in Asian American Studies. (GR)

These essays explore why the historic conflict between blacks and whites in the United States has become a crisis that divides many African Americans. The changing racial dynamic is not marked by conflicts. between the black middle class and the poor, black men and women, the black intellectual elite and rappers, black politicians and the urban…

Evaluated two alternate forms of self-report measurements of Africentrism defined as the degree to which a person adheres to the Nguzo Saba (Seven Principles) in African and AfricanAmerican culture. Four reliability and validity studies reveal a 15-item version that can be used for future testing and for properly directing use of African-centered…

Examines the differences and similarities between two approaches to the assessment of racial identification: a group-based approach (Multidimensional Racial Identification Scale, MRIS) and an Africentric approach (African Self-Consciousness Scale). Results from surveys of 150 black adults confirmed the existence of four factors for the MRIS,…

This study used participant observation, student interviews, reflective journals, and discussions with faculty members and administrators to examine multicultural aspects at an historically black college. It reviews three theoretical approaches: (1) the theory of John Ogbu, which classifies minority groups in the United States as either voluntary…

Wisconsin State Representative Polly Williams talks about the results of the Milwaukee Education Choice bill which enables 400 socioeconomic-disadvantaged children to attend private innercity schools under a voucher system. High attendance rates and college bound rates are attributed to an African-centered curriculum, parental involvement, and…

According to Knowles (1980), adults come to the learning environment when they are ready. His concept of andragogy is based on these assumptions: changes in self-concept, the role of experience, readiness to learn, and orientation to learning. Increasing concern has been placed upon the need to address the multiple cultural needs of learners and…

Examines the present state of the African American community in the United States. Discusses both the symbolic and literal concept of "Back to Africa," arguing that the cultural vitality of Afrocentricity and the African diaspora will profit from symbolic Pan-African linkages, linkages that can rejuvenate the cultural life of the African…

Lack of individual and group self-esteem hinders African Americans in their efforts to compete with others in U.S. society. A person or group with self-esteem will not settle for second-class treatment. Suggestions for promoting individual and group self-esteem for blacks are presented. (SLD)