A Professor of English at the University of Uyo (UNIUYO), Ima Usen Emmanuel, has called for deeper cultural dialogue, reciprocity, and reconciliation between Africans and diasporan Africans. This, she believes, will help tame the rising menace of Afro-phobia threatening the peace and development of the African continent. Emmanuel made this advocacy while delivering the 141st inaugural lecture at UNIUYO, titled "Circles and Circles of Relationship: Africans and African-Americans."
Emmanuel noted that centuries of separation have widened the gulf of African bonds and brotherhood, making the essential values of unity and African nationalism antithetical to continental development. She used the metaphor of oscillating circles to describe the relationship between Africans and African Americans, arguing that it should be viewed as a continuing movement between intimacy and distance, recognition and misunderstanding, solidarity and friction.
The professor identified the transatlantic slave trade as a major rupture that forcibly separated millions of Africans from their families, languages, names, and cultural environments. Despite this disruption, Emmanuel said enslaved Africans preserved and transformed aspects of their heritage through music, dance, oral traditions, religious practices, food, and funeral rites. She described these practices as "living archives" of cultural memory.
Emmanuel highlighted literature as another major bridge between Africa and African Americans, citing the works of writers including W.E.B. Du Bois, Richard Wright, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Chinua Achebe, Bessie Head, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. According to her, the writings of African and African American authors demonstrate continuing conversations around ancestry, identity, memory, race, culture, and belonging.
However, Emmanuel noted that attempts at reconnection, including visits to Africa by African Americans, could sometimes produce misunderstanding and disappointment. She said some African Americans could arrive in Africa expecting automatic acceptance as descendants returning home, while Africans might perceive them as foreigners whose experiences and identities had been shaped by centuries of life outside the continent.
Emmanuel advocated for "reciprocity rather than projection," urging both sides to recognise their shared heritage while acknowledging the historical and cultural differences that have emerged over centuries. She also called for a stronger cultural dimension to Pan-Africanism through literature, music, film, heritage tourism, and intellectual exchanges.
Among her recommendations was the establishment of a Memorial Day of Apology and Reconciliation, which she said could contribute to healing historical wounds and fostering greater understanding. The lecture was delivered at the 1,000-capacity TETfund auditorium in Uyo, the state capital.
Key points
- The professor called for stronger cultural dialogue and reciprocity between Africans and diasporan Africans.
- Literature can serve as a bridge between Africa and African Americans.
- A Memorial Day of Apology and Reconciliation could help heal historical wounds.
