African Culture: The Rhythms of Unity – Molefi Kete Asante
This is a collection of essays that takes a wide overview of various aspects of African culture, both from the mother continent and from the diaspora.
This book is an excellent one-volume explanation of the African world-view, showing how the African identity survived the brutal uprooting of the Atlantic slave trade and found new growth in the Americas while remaining rooted in Africa.The essays see the world from an African centre, but there is no trace of hostility towards white people, just a powerful re-affirmation of another way of understanding the wonders of human existence.
The section dealing with African concepts of time is a real eye-opener, as are those which question and put forward alternatives to the Eurocentric ways of understanding work,dance, socialism and political organisation, and fundamental human worth.
