Africana Studies Commons^™

Session 9 | Digital Immersion & Presence In Oral Storytelling: Being There, Melisa Achoko Allela, Movement Lab

Course Materials

Presentation for the Motion Capture and Orature course offered during the 2024 Wintersession.

Deep Roots, New Shoots: Modern And Contemporary African Art From The Kam Collection, Charles Mason, Andie Near

Kruizenga Art Museum Exhibition Catalogs

Kruizenga Art Museum, Hope College Catalog for the exhibition: Deep Roots New Shoots: Modern and Contemporary African Art from the KAM Collection. Exhibition dates: January 12 – May 18, 2024. Charles Mason, author. Andie Near, photographer, designer.

How To Wear A Queen’S Crown ; From Slavery (17th Century) To 1990s, Ka-Mya Frye

ASPIRE 2024

There are six hairstyles I chose to feature in this project that embody a story with culture to be told about the hardships African American women in the US have faced up until almost the present day. I believe it will be a fun learning experience, not only for me but other African American women, potentially looking for some cultural hairstyles and learning about their “crown’s” history. A couple of styles that stood out from the age of slavery to the 1990s were cornrows, dreads, Bantu/Zulu knots, and the afro. I will discuss the history of these styles along with …

Playing Changes: Music As Mediator Between Japanese And Black Americans, E Taylor Atkins

Faculty Books & Book Chapters

Since the mid-twentieth century, music has played a central role in encounters and interactions between the people of Japan and those of African descent. It proved far more effective for pro- moting interracial dialogue and understanding than efforts in the early 1900s to foster an alliance against white supremacy and imperialism. This essay unpacks the ways that encounters with Black music transformed Japanese musicking and generated knowledge and empathy for people of African descent among Japanese. Personal interactions between Black and Japanese musicians constituted a process of “grassroots globalization” that circumvented the dominance of American mass media in representing African …

(Special Section, Hymns Beyond The Congregation Ii): “We’Ll Understand It Better By And By:” Nomenclature, Negotiation, And Naming Our Neighbors, Emmett G. Price Iii

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Hymns, whether composed for religious contexts or as expressions of spiritual reflection, are historically revered for their redemptive nature. For generations, Black Hymnody has cried out for Christological interventions to end shambolic and systemic oppression against Black people. The vicious murder of George Perry Floyd, Jr. on May 25, 2020 reverberated and initiated, as a catalyst, an overdue global awakening that sparked a catalytic moment for conversations too long deferred. Conversations that question how we experience and name things; how we negotiate trauma; and how we engage one another as neighbors. In many ways, the redemptive nature of hymns has …

From Margins To Museums: Tracing The Evolution Of Representation For Contemporary African Artists In The United States, Victoria Mouraux Durand-Ruel

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement on the art community in the United States and the evolution of representation for Contemporary African artists. By analyzing the careers and artistic contributions of Omar Ba, Toyin Ojih Odutola, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby, the study explores the concept of artistic agency according to which African artists have more control over the production and distribution of their works.

The research begins with a comprehensive literature review, investigating the historical contexts that have shaped the art landscape, including the impact of colonization, decolonization, and globalization. The study reveals how these …

From Periphery To Center: Re-Presenting Black And Afro-Arab Characters In Contemporary Arabic Literature, Samer Ahmad Mayyas

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Black Arabs and Afro-Arabs tend not to be centered in Arabic discourse, especially modern Arabic literature, and Black people of other ethnicities are marginalized, as if Black peoples and Afro-Arabs were not part of the history and present-day of the Arabic-speaking world. I explore in this dissertation project the representations and experiences of Black and Afro-Arabs in contemporary Arabic fictional narratives. I argue that the contemporary literary era sees a shift in re-presenting Black peoples and Afro-Arabs in the Arabic fictional discourse. By moving Black and Afro-Arab characters from periphery to center, contemporary Arab writers challenge and disrupt, in an …

Middle School Children's Leadership Development, Cottrell Ealey

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone project focuses on the development of leadership skills development amongst a group of ethnic minority students at a middle school in an advisory class. Developing leadership abilities benefits students' personal development and impacts how they connect with their classmates. It teaches students the importance of looking out for one another inside and outside of the classroom, resolving their own social disputes as a role model, and encouraging them to participate in team sports and class activities. However, low-income ethnic minority students do not get many opportunities to develop leadership skills, compared to middle-class students. This may be due …

Keynote: Story Culture Live: Black American Story Spaces As Actionable Antiracism Work, Clarissa J. Walker

Writing Center Journal

“Story Culture Live: Black American Story Spaces as Actionable Antiracism Work,“ was a keynote given at the Northeast Writing Centers Association Conference at the University of New Hampshire in spring 2023. The keynote details the genesis of my podcast, Story Culture Live, which reimagines storytelling as actionable activism in antiracist work and explores concepts such as Black teller agency, kinship, and collective responses to tensions through storytelling that can inform and build new stories in writing centers.

Exploring Alternative Approaches To Peace: Traditions, Beliefs And Memories In The Democratic Republic Of Congo, Yvon Muya Cimanga

Peace and Conflict Studies Journal Conference

The paper discusses alternative conflict resolution mechanisms that researchers, conflict management practitioners and policy makers could consider. In countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, political agreements reached in recent years to the sound of drums have continued to show their limits (Autesserre, 2006; Kibisswa, 2015). In addition to the ongoing wars, tensions remain high between some ethnic communities. How can these traditional peace agreements be strengthened, and sustainable peace fostered for the benefit of society as a whole? The research draws on the richness of social and cultural practices within Congolese communities and suggests original models of …

Exploring Alternative Approaches To Peace: Traditions, Beliefs And Memories In The Democratic Republic Of Congo, Yvon Muya Cimanga

Peace and Conflict Studies Journal Conference

This paper examines alternative dispute resolution mechanisms that stakeholders could address. In countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the political agreements reached in recent years with drums beating have not ceased to show their limits (Autesserre, 2006; Kibisswa, 2015). In addition to the wars that have continued between the different actors, tensions remain persistent between some communities. How can these traditional peace agreements be strengthened and foster lasting peace for the benefit of society as a whole? The research draws on the richness of social and cultural practices within Congolese communities and suggests original models of conflict …

Review Of Afro-Dog: Blackness And The Animal Question, By Bénédicte Boisseron, Thomas Aiello

Between the Species

This review evaluates Bénédicte Boisseron's Afro-Dog: Blackness and the Animal Question. In the process, it tracks the development of the academic relation between Blackness and animality.

Cover, Title Page, Table Of Contents, Introduction, Messay Kebede

Ethiopian Modernization: Opportunities and Derailments

This book examines and theoretically articulates the various facets and crucial phases of Ethiopia’s encounter with the modern world and the challenges its efforts to modernize faced during the course of three consecutive yet highly divergent political regimes. These phases roughly correspond to Haile Selassie’s and post-Haile Selassie’s Ethiopia, with the post-period spreading over two milestones, namely, the revolutionary shift of the Provisional Military Administrative Council (the Derg) and the no less critical reshaping of the Ethiopian political system by an ethnonationalist agenda subsequent to the Tigray People's Liberation Front’s (TPLF) seizure of state power. Despite their drastic differences, a …

Chapter I — On Theories Of Modernization, Messay Kebede

Ethiopian Modernization: Opportunities and Derailments

The vast literature pertaining to development and modernity discloses philosophical questions that instigate the controversies dividing the various theories of modernization. Of these philosophical issues, the most crucial and recurrent is the question of the prime factor or mover of modernization. The reason for the philosophical issue of primacy derives from the fact that modernization involves cultural as well as socioeconomic changes. Following the philosophical distinction between the spiritual and the material, the clash between the two basic schools of idealism and materialism frames the philosophical approach around the question of knowing whether the prime cause of modernization is cultural …

Chapter Ii — Survey Of Ethiopia’S Survival: Definition And Controversies, Messay Kebede

Ethiopian Modernization: Opportunities and Derailments

The last chapter has unraveled the close link between modernization and the emergence of a survival ethos among ruling elites of traditional societies in transition. To approach the case of Ethiopia’s modernization from the same angle of explanation, it is necessary first to make sure that some groups among Ethiopian ruling elites had shown a propensity that could be defined as a salvational will. Sure enough, any ruling elite wants to protect the social order that benefits it. However, the salvational will, as defined in the previous chapter, is less the desire to perpetuate the status quo than the will …

Chapter Iii — The Ethiopian Forces Of Survival, Messay Kebede

Ethiopian Modernization: Opportunities and Derailments

To account for the protracted endurance of Ethiopia, the last chapter hinted at two requisites, namely, a system of power suited for defense and the sense of shouldering a mandate. Such a successful record, in addition to presupposing a robust and effective ability for self-defense, necessitates a leadership that feels entrusted with a mission. From a cursory examination of Ethiopian history, one can confidently surmise that, at least until the overthrow of the last emperor, Ethiopia survived for so long thanks to a system of power that was protective of survival and bearer of a mission. The system rested on …

Chapter Iv — Eurocentric Versus Ethio-Centric Approaches To Ethiopia’S Modernization Lag: The Concept Of Derailment, Messay Kebede

Ethiopian Modernization: Opportunities and Derailments

After studying the link between survival and modernization, the next logical step is to provide concrete answers to the question of why Ethiopia’s impressive record of survival failed to initiate a successful process of modernization. In fact, the greater the resolution to survive, the more determined should have been the drive toward modernization. Yet, not only is Ethiopia still ranked among the poorest countries, but it is also entangled in numerous internal conflicts, the primary consequence of which is an unending political instability threatening its very existence. However, before delving into the reasons for the Ethiopian failure to modernize, we …

Chapter V — Derailed Modernization: The Imperial Phase, Messay Kebede

Ethiopian Modernization: Opportunities and Derailments

The critical review of the explanation of the failure of Ethiopian modernization from the perspective of modernization theory, that is, from the alleged contrast between tradition and modernity, has revealed that the concept of derailed modernization is more appropriate than the argument stating that inherent defects prevented Ethiopia’s modernization. The expression “derailed” puts the blame not so much on inner obstacles as on the spoiling of assets and opportunities. The change of approach speaks of engagement into a wandering path, the outcome of which was and still is the multiplication of difficulties. Indeed, obstacles hinder, but they can also be …

Chapter Vi —The Radicalization Of Ethiopian Students, Messay Kebede

Ethiopian Modernization: Opportunities and Derailments

When one analyzes the Ethiopian Revolution of 1974, the aspect that needs to be primarily explained is not so much the uprising against the imperial regime as its precipitous shift toward socialist demands and slogans. Many unsolved problems liable to provoke widespread discontents saddled the regime. None of them, however, required or invited a socialist revolution per se. The decisive impulse toward a socialist revolution came undoubtedly from the Ethiopian student movement. Accordingly, any inquiry about the revolution must begin by unraveling the reasons that brought about the radicalization of a great majority of Ethiopian students and intellectuals. A compelling …

Chapter Vii — The Overthrow Of The Imperial Regime, Messay Kebede

Ethiopian Modernization: Opportunities and Derailments

In distinction to the tendency of imputing the delay of Ethiopian modernization to the lack of social peace, which was used as a pretext to institute and justify imperial absolutism, the radicalization of students, in line with the unadulterated principle “modernity versus tradition, blamed the presence of traditional features, notably the impeding role of the “feudal” class, the anachronism of the imperial state, and the obscurantist influence of the church, for the general failure of Ethiopian modernization. The students’ standpoint assumed the ideological leadership of the social protests and spread the conviction that Marxist-Leninist socialism is the only remedy to …