This is the second edition and an expanded version of the first one. The work examines relations between Africans, African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans and the problems they face when they interact and how they see each other. It also looks at what unites them and what separates them. Relations between members of these groups, which are sometimes described as distinct ethnic groups, are characterised by tensions, harmony and indifference towards each other in spite of their common identity as a people of African origin. The author explains why. This edition includes new material and complements the author's other works, “Relations Between Africans and African Americans: Misconceptions, Myths and Realities,” and “Africans and African Americans: Complex Relations, Prospects and Challenges.”
The author, born and brought up in Africa, looks at relations between Africans and African Americans which have sometimes been described by different observers as "stormy," "complex," "sticky," and even "hostile" as one Nigerian professor put it. This is the third edition which includes information about African immigrants in the United States. Together with foreign students from Africa, they constitute the largest number of continental Africans who interact with African Americans on daily basis.
The author looks at relations between Africans and African Americans and how they see each other. There are a lot of misconceptions which have an impact on how Africans and African Americans interact, with the media playing a major role in perpetuating myths about both.
The nature of complex relations between Africans and African Americans is the focus of this study. The author looks at the factors which are responsible for this complex nature and which collectively constitute a major obstacle to the improvement of relations between the two groups. He also looks at the prospects and challenges in the quest for solidarity between Africans and African Americans which has remained elusive despite concerted efforts by a number of individuals and a few organisations on both sides through the years to bring the two "peoples" closer. He also examines the nature of the relationship - not just of the relations - between Africans and African Americans. The nature of this relationship goes beyond a shared complexion and the author looks at the profound differences between the two groups across the spectrum which continue to complicate relations between them and even keep them apart.
This is a general survey of Ghana and its people. Subjects covered include the country's regions and their people; Ghana's identity as a nation and how it faced challenges to national unity during the struggle for independence; the nature of the post-colonial state; the asymmetrical relationship between the north and the south rooted in the colonial era, a structural imbalance which continues to have a negative impact on the wellbeing of northerners and which could perpetuate inequalities between the two parts of the country; Ghana's place in the Pan-African world because of the leadership provided by the country's first prime minister – later president – Kwame Nkrumah; and its success in forging unity on the anvil of diversity. Among the people the author has covered include an African American community whose members were given some land in the Volta Region in the eastern part of the country for permanent settlement of the descendants of African slaves who want to return to the motherland. He describes it as a distinct ethnic group with the same attributes indigenous groups have and which they use to identify themselves as ethnic entities. The community has acquired an identity of its own and qualifies as an ethnic group because its members have a common history, language and culture as diasporans who lost their African identity under white domination in the United States and were forced to adopt a Euro-American culture and the English language. The author was closely associated with the founders of the African American community in Ghana, known as Fihankra, when he was a student in the United States and has written about them in some of his works including his autobiography, “My Life as an African.” Members of the general public and students may find this work to be useful if they want to learn some facts about Ghana, the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to win independence.
Identity and Transnationalism discusses the identity and transnational experiences of the new second-generation African immigrants in the US, bringing together the lived experiences of the new African diaspora and exploring how they are shaping and reshaping being and becoming black. In the half a century since the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, close to 1.4 million black African immigrants have come to the United States (Pew Research Center 2015). Nevertheless, in proportion to its growing size, the New African Diaspora in the United States, particularly the second generation constitutes one of the least studied groups. In seeking to redress the dearth of scholarship on the New African Diaspora in the United States, the contributors to this book have documented the lives and experiences of second-generation African immigrants. Based on fresh data, the chapters provide insight into the intersection of immigrant cultures and mainstream expectations, as the second-generation African immigrants seek to define and redefine being and becoming American. Specifically, the authors discuss how the second-generation Africans contest being boxed into embracing a Black identity that is the product of specific African American histories, values, and experiences not shared by recent African immigrants. The book also examines the second generations' connections with their parents' ancestral countries and whether and for what reasons they participate in transnational activities. Authored and edited by key immigration scholars, Identity and Transnationalism represents a ground-breaking contribution to the nascent discussion of the New African Diaspora’s second generation. It will be of great interest to scholars of Cultural Anthropology, The New African Diaspora, African Studies, Sociology and Ethnic studies. This book was originally published as a special issue of African and Black Diaspora.
Godfrey Mwakikagile looks at the major changes Africa has gone through since the end of colonial rule including some of the events he witnessed in his home country Tanganyika – later Tanzania – since the late 1950s, the dawn of a new era when Africa was headed towards independence. One of the fundamental changes he looks at took place in the 1990s when most countries across the continent gradually moved from authoritarian rule to democracy, although he contends that the gains made during that transitional period have not been consolidated and sustained through the years. The majority of Africans still live under one form of authoritarian rule or another including outright dictatorship.
This work looks at some African writers, including those who are not well-known, to show the potential and diversity in the works produced by Africans. Included is a profile of Chinua Achebe and commentaries on his works soon after he passed away.
