AHR Conversation: Black Internationalism

Abstract

This annual AHR Conversation focuses on the issues and historiographic debates raised by the term “Black Internationalism.” Participants Monique Bedasse, Kim D. Butler, Carlos Fernandes, Dennis Laumann, Tejasvi Nagaraja, Benjamin Talton, and Kira Thurman bring a wide array of interests and areas of expertise to bear on the origins, evolution, and meaning of the concept of Black Internationalism; its application within Africa, the U.S., and the African diaspora more generally; and its relationship to gender, nationalism, and anticolonialism. In addition to tracing the deep roots of this framework for writing the history of Black resistance to slavery, colonialism, and white supremacy as global phenomena, they insist on seeing Black Internationalism from multiple points on the compass. Perspectives derived from the history—and intellectual production—of Africa, Europe, South America, and the Caribbean prove just as important, if not more so, than those emanating from the United States.

A Decolonial Perspective on Online Media Discourses in the Context of Violence Against People With Disabilities in South Africa

“…The story also gained international resonance when musician Solange Knowles tweeted about it in the context of racially motivated police killings in the United States. Foregrounding the racial dimension (Independent Online, November 20, 2021; Bedasse et al, 2020), though important in its own right, seems oblivious to the historical tensions between individuals classified as coloured and those classified as Blacks which, as a result of apartheid divide-and-rule policies, to some extent still persist today. Furthermore, an emphasis on the racial aspect and its media resonance comes at the expense of a sharp focus on disability.…”

Oppressive Even As It Inspires

“…In doing so, our central argument, with regard to current scholarship, is that we must understand and acknowledge the very different roles that Black American centrality has played and continues to play in these academic fields in order to develop joint approaches to the analysis of diasporic connections between Black America and Europe that account for but do not privilege the Black American experience. As such, this article builds on recent calls by scholars from both sides of the Atlantic to expand the study of Black global activism and articulations of 'Black internationalism' by developing multiple analytics for different geographies and historical eras (Bedasse et al, 2020;Bressey 2018;Faymonville 2003;Perry 2012). After all, due to Europe's singular historical experience with the global Black American presence, Black American centrality poses a number of challenges that are specific to the experiences of Black Europeans.…”

The Africa-Diaspora Orbit: Anani Dzidzienyo’s Contributions to African/Black Studies and Black Liberation

“…Most scholars agree that the two concepts are deeply intertwined. Carlos Fernandes, for instance, argues that it is difficult "to singularize their heuristic power, as both originate from the same vital force: conscious and organized worldwide struggle for Black emancipation (from slavery, colonialism, racism, and Eurocentrism)" (Bedasse et al 2020(Bedasse et al :1725. Pan-Africanism and Black internationalism are both rooted in the idea of global Black liberation in the struggle against colonialism, imperialism, and white hegemony.…”

“…Black intellectuals and activists rarely used the concept of Black internationalism (Adi 2018:5). It was only in the twenty-first century that academics in the United States started using Black internationalism as an alternative to Pan-Africanism (Adi 2018:5; Bedasse et al 2020).…”

“…In a recent 2020 American Historical Review forum, there was no consensus among scholars regarding the definition and significant differences between Pan-Africanism and Black internationalism (Bedasse et al 2020). Most scholars agree that the two concepts are deeply intertwined.…”