editor@adonis-abbey.com UK: 0207 795 8187 / Nigeria:+234 705 807 8841
ISSN : 1744-2532 (Print)
ISBN : 2516-5305 (Online)
To buy or subscribe,
please email:
sales@adonis-abbey.com
From the Editor/ Publisher
Who is an African
Jideofor Adibe, PhD
Welcome to the second edition of the journal. You may have noticed that this edition reads September/October, rather than August/September (given that the maiden edition was for June/July). The simple explanation is that we had to adjust to the preferred format of our distributors. The September/October format also makes a lot of sense because it allows us to round up the year with a November/December edition. Our original format would have meant having a December 2004/January 2005 edition.
You would also have noticed that we no longer have colour pages inside. We are deferring to popular sentiments that the colour adverts in the last edition made the journal seem rather too commercial and, in the process, appeared to undermine the seriousness of the journals message. We still appreciate adverts, but, will, apart from the back cover, have them only in black and white. This also helps us to rein in costs.
We have also increased the journals dimensions from 9 x 6 inches (229mm X152mm) to 9.21 x 6.14 inches (234mm x 156mm) for more space, and to distinguish it from some of our books. We also included more photographs, for visual effects, and to readily distinguish it from an academic journal or a book.
Who is an African
On the face of it, it seems such a simple, and even rhetorical question. Surely, everyone knows who is an African, it would seem. But not so simple if other qualifiers are added to the question: Do all people regarded as Africans, or of having an African pedigree, regard themselves as such Are all who regard themselves as Africans accepted as being so Where does African identity fit into in the mosaic of identities that people of African ancestry, or who live in Africa bear
Using President Thabo Mbekis I am an African speech as a context, four leading African scholars Steven Friedman, a white South African; Mammo Muchie, an Ethiopian, Garba Diallo, black Mauritanian, and Kimani Nehusi, a black Caribbean examine the issue of identity and what it means to be an African. Rudolph Lewis, an African American narrates a rather moving story of his own journey to Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) in search of his African identity. We were so moved by the story that we asked Rudolph to rework it into a book. We hope to publish the book sometime next year.
It will of course be incomplete to discuss who the African is without bringing up the issue of Africans in the Diaspora, including their relations to the Mother Continent. Rudolph Lewis explains why most African Americans are not as sentimentally attached to Africa as the Jews are to the state of Israel. Other contributors discuss the issues of partnership between the Diaspora Africans and the continent, the problems of Africans raising up their children in the Diaspora and globalisation and African identity in Latin America. The discussions that follow these contributions, in our unique seminar/workshop format, are very rich, and bound to enlighten and provoke.
In addition to the lead theme, we also packaged other topical articles from concerns about the current feminisation of HIV/AIDS to reflections on Africas global futures and the issue of human rights in a renascent Africa.
Next edition:
Wars and Conflicts: Will Africa ever know peace
For some, Africa has become a figurative expression for disaster, a narrative for wars, conflicts, underdevelopment and squalor. Why does our continent seem to be constantly at war with itself What can be done to end these conflicts, and create the necessary conditions for investments and prosperity What role can peoples of African ancestry and institutions play to end the wars and conflicts that litter the continents landscape
Write for African Renaissance
We invite contributions to the journal or reactions to the articles we publish. We also invite suggestions on the lead themes the journal should explore. Contact us at: editor@adonis-abbey.com.