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"'How We Gon’ Make A Black Nation Rise?' Theorizing 'African-Centered Mothering' in New Afrika”

Sat, Sep 26, 8:30 to 9:50am, Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, Floor: 2, Savannah 2 (Level 2 Lobby)

Abstract

While the Republic of New Afrika (RNA), a proposed independent Black nation state, by and for Black people, has not been granted sovereignty of the five states in the US South it initially claimed in the late 1960s, New Afrika as an ideology and liberation seeking practice persists. As it relates to young people New Afrikan ideology has been sustained through culturally relevant curriculums in African-centered schools, Black Nationalist youth organizations, survival summer camps, and most notably ongoing processes and strategies of “African-centered Black Nationalist mothering.” With respect to the notions “it takes a village to raise a child” and “if our children are doing well, then our community is doing well” this mothering performance encompasses fathers, teachers, and extended family while situating young community members as markers of overall community well-being. Through observational and participatory analysis across three research sites east of Atlanta, Georgia: Kilombo Academic and Cultural Institute, the New Afrikan Scouts organization and Camp Pumziko, I theorize “African-centered Black Nationalist mothering” as a counter-performance and resistance strategy to dominant narratives surrounding Black children’s (and thus Black communities’) existence and status in the US. ​

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