Suchergebnisse

Given President Obama's current ambiguous stand on racial matters, many African Americans are asking legitimate questions about the implications of his presidency for African Americans and for antiracist struggle. They speculate about whether he has "sold out" or whether he is strategizing for a future moment when he will act decisively in the interest of African Americans in fulfilling his duty to serve all Americans. This article contends that Obama's ambiguity and the need to pose the above questions flow from the contradictions involved with an African American occupying the presidential office in a country that has yet to eradicate anti-Black racism. The fundamental question, then, is one about the limits around African agency within dominant institutions. Through a discussion of African agency and African conceptions of community, this article contributes to a conversation about how African Americans might maximize African agency where it is found within dominant institutions.

"Drawing on original work from leading African-Canadian academics across Canada and internationally, this book critically explores the challenges, prospects, and ongoing achievements of Black leadership in Canadian as it responds to the needs of African Canadians. Despite diversity in nationality and patterns of immigration and settlement and other factors that differentiate African Canadians from each other, leadership has long been an important issue as African Canadians confront the uniform problem of anti-blackness in Canada. The turn of the 21st century has brought about a 'changing of the guard' in Black leadership in this country. Confronted by the passing of eminent leaders such as Rose-Marie Brown, Charles Roach, Dudley Laws, Rocky Jones, and by the current virtual absence of Black electoral representations, there is a growing sense that Black leadership in Canada is in crisis or facing a serious deficit. This collection aims to counter the 'crisis' and 'deficit' narratives by positioning African-Canadian leadership as a vital but rarely appreciated element of Canada's civic culture. Overall, this book critically engages the foregoing issues and questions through a multidisciplinary exploration the challenges, prospects, and ongoing achievements of Black leadership in Canada as it responds to the shifting needs of African Canadians and other Canadians."--