By Ebenezer Kwesi Bosomprah, PhD Student and CIHA Editorial Assistant, University of Ghana-Legon
In this post, I follow up on the webinar of the African Studies Association of Africa (ASAA) on the significance of black history, focusing particularly on engaging the global diaspora in the (re)imagination of African Identities. Identity concerns the various and peculiar ways individuals and groups define themselves or are defined by others on the premise of race, religion and ethnicity, language and culture[1]. Being Black is challenging in a context where one’s identity is constantly being disputed, especially in the diaspora. The webinar sought to create a space for deliberations on what it means to be Black and African in the diaspora and how our definition of the Black identities are manipulated by fluid and constructed categories such as race and religion, gender and ethnicity among others. Panelists included Dr. Yolanda Bouka, an Assistant Professor of Queens University, Dr. Mjiba Frehiwot, a Research fellow with the Institute of African Studies of the University of Ghana, Prof. Toussaint Khafarhire Murhala, Vice President of the African Studies Association of Africa and a Visiting Scholar at the Universite Loyola du Congo and Dr. Terrance Wiley, Assistant Professor of Religion and Coordinator of African and Africana Studies at Haverford College. Facilitating the session with insightful questions engendering rich discussions was Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, an intern with the African Studies Association of Africa. I discuss several themes that arose from the webinar participants, adding my own reflections as a Black Ghanaian Ph.D. student.
First, Blackness is not just about skin colour but about the politics of identity where questions of race are considered. Race shapes motivations to intervene in existing social structures and institutions like policing and the criminal justice system and can further determine how nations relate to each other. People have multiple identities within which their thought processes take place – each of these therefore affects how they react in the environments in which we find ourselves. Race and injustice have been ingrained into institutions in inescapable ways. This becomes a double challenge for Africans who have to battle white supremacy as well as deal with other forms of injustice. The issue of race, for me, is so much ingrained in the fabric of being African that consciously or unconsciously, everything western becomes the standard for any form of comparisons. My reaction is indicative of Africans’ unconscious support for white supremacy in various dimensions of African life. Take for example the naming of children with often times “strange” European names, the straightening of black hair and the preoccupation with children speaking proper English even in African homes. These examples all connote the unconscious assimilation of euro-centrism.
The idea of home for Blacks and Africans in the diaspora was another major theme. Cultural experiences as well as geographic locations are generally thought to shape identities and what or where people call home. Panelists motioned that history, context and experiences are determinants of identity or where we call home while taking cognizance of class, nobility and profession as drivers that shape identity and home creation. These factors create the possibility for people to choose where to call home and form their own identities. For Blacks in the diaspora, the concept of home will be where Black identity is more accepted and less questioned. The concept of home becomes an idea which endures constant definitions and redefinitions. These constant redefinitions are necessitated by the determinants noted above. Regardless of the definition and redefinitions of the concept of home for Africans, I assert that home should be a place where Blacks and Africans do not have to constantly be on their watch. To second guess or question every idea or action pertaining to Africans undermines the true meaning of home wherever they find themselves.
Yolanda pointed to some of the complexities that living and working in the Quebec province of Canada meant being a minority living among minority people, given that she is Black African with Togolese ancestry. Moreover, the identity of her children born to her in Canada is controversial considering the fact that her husband is Ivorian. She cannot pass down her Togolese citizenship to her children, but her husband can pass his down to them. One may ask why? This is could probably be because most ethnic groups in Togo are patrilineal by tradition. Yet by birth her children are Canadian. They have also spent quite some time in East Africa due to her professional location there, and therefore identify with East Africa as well. What then is the “true” identity of her children? Furthermore, gender also affects identity, given that Dr. Bouka is unable to pass down her citizenship to her children. This shows the important role that intersectionality plays in the conversation surrounding race and identity. Identity can be political as well and can also be based on culture as well as lineage. Regardless of where you find yourself in the diaspora, connecting with your culture and lineage creates a sense of belonging and in turn shapes a person’s identity. Discussants reiterated that race alone is not enough to help a person form an identity. Bonds of solidarity, especially among Black people, can be created when people can connect to their histories, culture and connections with fellow Blacks and Africans. This in turn helps create what can be considered “home” for Black people.
Mjiba, asserted that activism and protest is good but not enough. There is a need for solidarity from Africans on the continent when Africans in the diaspora are going through major challenges. For instance, we should examine how Africa in general reacts to the police brutalities and murders of African-Americans, and the ensuing Black Lives Matter Movement. There is the need from my point of view to have a synchronization of all Black struggles a radical attempt to displace the othering of struggles. Here, I contest that struggles of Black people, no matter their geographic location, should be embraced by Black people. Like Martin Luther King said, ‘injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere’.
Religion, panelists pointed out, is crucial to the formation of identity, especially the Black/African identity, considering the fact that religion forms a key part of the African societies. Religion has traces in almost every facet of society. Ideologies and political leanings within African communities are influenced by the religious beliefs a person ascribes to. Decolonisation of the westernized forms of religion evident in some African settings is a possibility to consider in defining African identity. There is a need for a departure from the westernized forms of religion towards more culturally contextual forms that are in tandem with the identity we intend to create as Africans wherever we are located. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, in his book, Consciencism: Philosophy and Ideology for Decolonization, discuss the decolonization of religion in the African context. He asserted that “consciencism is the map of the disposition of forces which will enable African society to digest the western, Islamic and Euro-Christian elements in Africa and develop them in such a way that they fit into the African Personality.[2]” Decolonising religion is therefore necessary to the definition of the African identity.
Toussaint referred to liberation theology, which began in Latin America and was promoted in South Africa during the fight for freedom. Liberation theology in a broader sense is a social and political movement within the church which attempts to interpret or understand the gospel of Jesus Christ through the lived experiences of oppressed people[3]. Liberation theology attempts to understand Christianity from the social perspective of liberating people from human oppressions and burdens that prevents them from finding salvation. Such theology seeks to be part of the transformation process through which the world is constructed. In liberation theology people are active agents of their destiny. This in effect brings about liberation from the confines of injustice; African identities cannot be constructed in the absence of liberation theology. Liberation theology when promoted can be an effective tool for nation building and identity formation. This is because it helps in creating a platform for Africans to participate in the making of their nation and carve out the destiny they wish to pursue.
W. E. B. DuBois in his essay on the “Strivings of the Negro People”[4] explained double consciousness as the “sense of always looking at oneself through the eyes of others and measuring one’s self with the tape of the world”, On this issue of double consciousness, there is a constant demand by racism and other forms of inequality to be something else apart from being black. Being Black in the diaspora requires a consistent consciousness of being black and a diaspora. Yolanda opined that there is a system that seems to have been created which does not accommodate or accept equality. Any attempt to rectify these inequalities requires perceiving one’s self differently. Toussaint added that systems that have been raised through means such as education leads us rushing towards that which we are unable to clearly define. We seem to be trying to fit into imported models. Decolonising education in the African context therefore becomes necessary in defining African identity. Decolonial studies bolster appreciation of African identities and in turn address the challenge of double consciousness.
I conclude by noting that there are constant calls for Africans to redefine their identities in order to respond adequately to institutions, both inside and outside Africa, that constantly attempt to contest, repress, or limit Black identity. Solidarity from Africans both in and outside the African continent is critical to promoting the Black identity.
[1] Alumona, I. M., & Azom, S. N., (2017). Politics of Identity and the crisis of nation-building in Africa. In The Palgrave Handbook of African Politics, Governance and Development (pp 291-306). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95232-8_17
[2] Nkrumah, K. (1964). Consciencism: Philosophy and ideology for Decolonization. New York: Monthly Press Review 3
[3] Dault K., (2014). What is Liberation Theology? Retrieved from https://uscatholic.org/articles/201410/what-is-liberation-theology/
[4] DuBois, W. E. B., (2014). Strivings of the Negro People (1987). In the problem of colour line at the turn of the twentieth century (pp. 67-76). Fordham University Press