The Afrocentric, or African-centered, worldview is very different from the Eurocentric, or Europe-centered, worldview. Afrocentrism is centered around the beliefs that:
. The highest value of life lies in the interpersonal relationships between men;
. One gains knowledge through symbolic imagery and rhythm;
. One should live in harmony with nature;
. There is a oneness between humans and nature;
. The survival of the group holds the utmost importance;
. Men should appropriately utilize the materials around them;
. One's self is complementary to others;
. Change occurs in a natural, evolutionary cycle;
. Spirituality and inner divinities hold the most significance;
. There are a plethora of deities to worship;
. Cooperation, collective responsibility, and interdependence are the key values to
which all should strive to achieve;
. All men are considered to: be equal, share a common bond, and be a part of the group;
. The Afrocentric worldview is a circular one, in which all events are tied together
with one another.
The Eurocentric worldview is centered around the beliefs that:
. The highest value of life lies in the object, or in the acquisition of the object;
. One gains knowledge through counting and measuring;
. One should control and dominate nature;
. There is a dichotomy, or separateness, between nature and humans;
. The survival of the fittest holds the utmost importance;
. Men should have an unlimited exploitation of the materials around them;
. One's self is distinct from others;
. Change occurs to meet the immediate objectives, and is quite arbitrary;
. A distant, impersonal god holds the most significance;
On the grounds that he considers all men to be equal, he does not find it
Concerning the nature of myths, one can often find that they are built on broad generalization lacking the premises necessary to make a solid conclusion. Such was the same myths, Pier Larson sought to disprove in his essay “The Student’s ‘Ten Commandments’.” Larson discuss damaging and caustic stereotypes that have worked their way throughout history to create a narrative that often subordinates Blacks when promulgated by a more affluent European society . One myth in particular appears to be quite troubling for its contradictory nature-that being the myth: all Africans are Black. Additionally, to be African is to be Black, Africans are not culturally diverse, and that Africans share one, essentially unified culture. Not only do I find these troubling for their outright abasement of African culture, which is plain to see, but rather for the duplicitous logic that lead to the creation of such myths, and why they remain so harmful when they are continued to be spread in contemporary.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident. that all men are created equal, ...Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” (Jefferson 770). Thomas
In the 21st century, slavery and the Atlantic Slave Trade are viewed as immoral and quite possibly the most horrifying treatment known to man by society and foreign leaders but, was the same view regarded in the 17th century? The short primary sources, “Nzinga Mbemba: Appeal to the King of Portugal”, and “Captain Thomas Phillips: Buying Slaves in 1639”, enables individuals to identify how foreign leaders, specifically the kings of African nations, conducted the issue of slavery and the slave trade. In the words of Nzinga Mbemba and Captain Phillips, the kings of Congo and Ouidah both knowingly accepted slavery in their country but, had strikingly opposing views concerning the Atlantic Slave Trade; King Mbemba prohibited the trading of slaves whereas the King of Ouidah welcomed slave trading.
For the most part, women in today's society hold a position equal to that of a man;
... if there is a personal attachment to that object specifically. There has to be a special connection for something to have meaning and not value alone. Unfortunately, there is still some misunderstanding when it comes to value and its meaning because I still see value as a personal attachment as well which makes both words intertwine again. It’s still not clear how value can be represented through organic unity with all the complexity to make something exist. Value is what I still visualize as something of measurement or objects that have meaning in a non-personal manner. It should be a simple definition just like how we believe in theories thought of by scientist as well as religious faith. In the end, we accomplish the overall objective of evaluating the definitions and applying them to our life to see if we can provide more value and meaning in this case we did.
hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” to tell people the truth and get them
Next is John Henrik Clark, who refers to African America Studies as Africana Studies because he believes that Black tells you how you look, not who you are. He goes on to state that he calls African American Studies “a dilemma at the crossroads of history” (Clark 32). This is because European people knew history well enough to distort it and use it, as well as political weapons such as the gun and bible, to control the world. This is the reason why a look at African culture will show what Africana Studies are about or should be about. Africana Studies should embrace the Africans all around the world, in places like Africa, North and South America, the Caribbean Islands even those in Asia and the Pacific Islands. Clarke states that Africa is
sanctity of life or whether one life is more valuable than another, it gives us something to
As one looks through society, one starts to see many cracks and loopholes where one set of standards does not apply the same way for men as it does to women, and vice versa.
All men are born free and equal, the right to do anything as long as it does not harm another, the freedom of speech and religion, are just a few of many important rights and responsibilities of citizens.
Eurocentric perspective was a widely held belief among Europeans that Africa was wild, exotic, and natives were uneducated had no principle. This was more than enough for the Europeans to establish their culture into Africa because it was more superior to that of African culture. Achebe does a great job in proving this idea wrong. He takes us into a new world shows us that even though the natives had a different view of the world they were still no different than that of the Europeans who just like the whites showed compassion, hate, have faith in a god(s) and unite as one for the better. He was a man on a mission dedicated to spreading knowledge of Africa’s contributions to history and unifying the continent and its people.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” (Declaration of Independence,1776)
Africa has been the embodiment of european perspectives before and after the Colonialism; these perspectives have attempted to provide insights on the facts behind it. In those terms, Africa has been reduced an atmosphere of concepts such as deep darkness, mystery, and madness, a place in which attrocities arise at any time of the day, and people are savages and chaotic. From that colonialist viewpoint, Africa was a place that needed help and control urgently in order to save it form itself and civilize it; therefore, white European men felt the need of accomplishing this mission and bring civilization to black men, which only meant to do thing as Europeans did. In Conrad's Heart of Darkness (1993), these European visions are portraited to such an extent that makes us understand that to unveil the heart of Africa we first need to be expose to their attrocities, and realise that we will always fail to do it because the chaos would consume us as well. Achiebe says it himself “Heart of Darkness projects the image of Africa as "the other world," the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization, a place where man's vaunted intelligence and refinement are finally mocked by triumphant beastiality.” (Achebe, 1977) This is one of the many issues that postcolonialism argues and confronts as a lie, since African history has only been told from the colonizer's viewpoint overshadowing the perspectives and voices of the colonized. Chinua Achebe, on the other hand, was the first writer to actually tell the story from the eyes of the African communities through his novel Things Fall Apart, more especifically, nigerian tribes. In this essay, I will attempt to analyze from a postcolonial approach themes present in the novel such as identity, ...