(Im)migrations, Relations, and Identities of African Peoples - Toward an Endarkened Transnational Feminist Praxis in Education

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by moss~

(Im)migrations, Relations, and Identities of African Peoples examines how history, time, displacement, and geography shape African ascendant identities across national contexts. Drawing on quotations and study data from West African immigrant girls, it challenges dominant discourses that define Black educational experiences in schools. The article frames identity through migration and temporality, arguing for new understandings of African (American) naming, recognition, and global approaches to identity negotiation among African ascendant students.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

(Im)migrations, Relations, and Identities of African Peoples

Endarkened transnational feminist praxis in education

History, time, displacement, and identity

African ascendant versus descendant and discourse shifts

Addressing knowledge gaps about African immigrants in schools

Research purpose and guiding questions

(Im)migrations, Relations, and Identities of African Peoples: Toward an Endarkened Transnational Feminist Praxis in Education By Chinwe L. Okpalaoka & Cynthia B. Dillard Chinwe L. Okpalaoka is director of undergraduate recruitment and diversity services in the College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. Cynthia B. Dillard is the first Mary Frances Early Professor of Teacher Education in the College of Education at the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. I’ll see some Blackpeople, I’ll think they areAfricansand they can understand you, but they’re really prejudiced and racists, like [when you] come from Nigeria, they’ll be like,“Oh, you’re African!” [ina derogatory tone] and I’ll say, “What are you? You are African, because your ancestors are.” But I don’t think they understand the reason, like they don’t appreciate their culture and they’re really prejudiced against us. (Ekene, personal interview, March 2008) Because that’s just the way they are…They always go and be prejudiced. Even at this school, they look at you“Oh, you areAfrican,”and I say,“Yeah so are you.”(Ekene, personal interview, March 2008) Thankyou so much for letting me take part in your study. It has made me begin to ask myself,“Who am I? An African-American or Ghanaian?” But like I told you sometimes I consider myself a Ghanaian, because Iam happy to have a background, to actually be from somewhere…(Abena, participant journal entry, March 2008) As seen in the above quotes from Okpalaoka (2009a), in order to answer the question ofwho we are as African ascendant people, we need to take a closer look at the role that history, time, displacement, and geographical location have played in our migrations and the dynamism to the nature of the identities we adopt within and across national contexts. The notion of ascendancy, as it relates to African people, is attributed to Kohain Hahlevi, a Hebrew Israelite rabbi, who coined the term African “ascendant” as opposed to African “descendant” to describe people of African heritage and their forward-moving nature. According to him, the term“descendant” may imply a downward or backward moving process. In the same vein, ascendancy implies a progressive movement that calls us to consider a different language or discourse for the ways we talk about people of African origin. Looking within ourselves and our common history to (re)member who we are is critical to confronting dominant discourses that seek to define us. But remembering who we are means that we have to address the dearth of knowledge about Africa and Africans and the African (im)migration experience in our society and in our schools. While research and the literature have kept pace with the experiences of major immigrant groups such as Asians (Takaki, 1998; Zhou 1999), Latino/as (Suarez-Orozco & Suarez-Orozco, 1995; Suarez-Orozco & Todorova, 2003), and Black Caribbeans (Waters, 1991, 1994), there is still a noticeable dearth of research about Black African immigrant children (Rong & Preissle, 1998). Rong and Brown (2002a) argued that “the lack of research on Black immigrants denies the American public and policy makers opportunities to explore the many urgent and intriguing issues concerning Black immigrants, therefore denying the public insight into the special needs of these immigrants which have been neglected”(p. 249) . The focus of this article will be on the sense of what an African (American)1 identity could mean when viewed through the processes of migrations and fluid identities of contemporary African immigrant children as they interact with their African (Americans) peers in our schools. The purpose of this article is to use data2 from a study of West African immigrant girls and their process of ethnic identity construction to support our position for new discourses and methodologies that challenge the dominant discourses surrounding the Black educational experience in our schools. This purpose can be artic

FAQs

What factors does the article say shape African ascendant identities?

It highlights history, time, displacement, and geographical location, showing how these forces influence identity formation across and within national contexts.

How does the article position African ascendant identity in relation to dominant discourses?

It argues that educators and researchers must confront dominant narratives that limit understanding of the African (im)migration experience and the meaning of African (American) identity in schools.

What are the central questions guiding the article?

The article asks how to develop new understandings of the variations of “African” and “American” in global context, and how to acknowledge temporality in current definitions of who is African (American).

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by moss~