THE ERADICATION OF MENTAL SLAVERY THROUGH AFRICAN INTELLECTUALISM OF BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS
Keywords:
mental slavery, colonialism, black consciousness, African intellectualism
Abstract
The primary goal of this study was to analyse the eradication of mental enslavement and explore solutions to mental slavery according to the conceptualization of Black Consciousness through African intellectualism. This was achieved by exploring mental slavery and its contemporary forms, highlighting the different forms mental slavery takes, which tends to make the eradication process complex. The study provided the conceptual framework that was prominent in informing the recommendations and how Black Consciousness should be harnessed and operationalized to psychologically emancipate black people by four African Intellectuals Biko, Fanon, Nkrumah, and Sankara. The findings of the study were based on a contemporary form of mental enslavement manifested through the notion-image of beauty skin bleaching and hair extensions. Based on the research findings, the study recommends that Black Consciousness should be part of the education curriculum where the ideology will be taught as a way of life. Furthermore, there should be collective efforts to celebrate and affirm true African identity as conceptualized by African Intellectuals.
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References
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Tate, S. 2013, The performativity of black beauty shame in Jamaica and its diaspora: problematizing and transforming beauty iconicities, Feminist Theory, 14 (2): 219-235.
Tembo, M.S. 2010, Eurocentric Destruction of Indigenous Conceptions: The Secret Rediscovery of the Beautiful Women in African Societies, Sociology Department, Bridgewater College, Virginia.
The Toilette of Health, Beauty and Fashion, 1834, Boston.
Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution 1983–87, Pathfinder Press, 2nd edition, 2007
Thompson, C. 2009, Black women, beauty, and hair as a matter of being, Women's Studies, 31 (1) 831-856.
Turner, L. 2008. Self-Consciousness as force and reason of revolution in the thought Steve Biko. Biko lives. New York Palgrave Macmillan.
Weinbaum, AE, Thomas, LM, Ramamurthy, P, Poiger, UG, Dong, YM & Barlow, TE 2000, The Modern girl as heuristic device: Collaboration, connective comparison, multidirectional, in: Weinbaum et al. (eds) Consumption, Modernity and Globalization, Duke University Press, Durham.
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Bhabha, H.K. 1994, The location of culture (1st edition) New York. Routledge.
Biko, S, 1996. I write what I Like. Randburg, Heinemann Educational Publishers.
Biney, A. 2011. The Political and Social Thought of Kwame Nkrumah.
Brown, O. 2019. Banning skin products won't work if fair skin is linked to beauty and success. CNN. Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/15/health/banning-bleaching-products-in-africa/index.html
Bulhan H, A. 2015. Stages of Colonialism in Africa: From occupation of land to occupation of being. Journal of Social and Political psychology, 3(1): 239-256
Cain, MC. 2008, The Art, and Politics of looking White: Beauty practices among White women in Antebellum America, Winterthur Portfolio. 42, (1): 27-50.
Césaire, A. 1972. Discourse on Colonialism. Translated by J. Pinkham. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Charles, C. 2014., Skin Bleaching, Oppression, and Black Resistance. Social Science Research Network. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2519822 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2519822
Chinweizu, C. A. 1978. The Eest and the Rest of US. Lagos: Nok Publishers (Nigeria) Ltd.
Craig, M.L. 2002, Ain't I a Beauty Queen? : Black Women, Beauty, and the Politics of Race, Oxford University Press,
Douglas, M. 2007. The colonization of each other's mind is the price we pay for thought. In The New Times, May 22nd, 2007.
Du Bois, W.E.B. 1982. The Souls of Black Folk. New York: Signet Classic.
Du Bois, WEB 1903, The Souls of Black folk, AC McClury & co., Chicago.
eNCA. 2015. Kelly Khumalo on bleaching: Ima bleach till Jesus comes. Available online: https://www.enca.com>entertainment/kellykhumalobleaching
Fanon, F 1986, Black skin white masks, Markman, CL (trans.), Pluto press, London.
Fanon, F. 1963. The wretched of the Earth. New York: Ballantine.
Flagg, W. 1834, Analysis of Female Beauty, Boston, Marsh Capen and Lyon publishers.
Gibson, N. 1988. 'Black Consciousness 1977–1987: The Dialectics of Liberation in South Africa'. Africa Today 1st Quarter: 5–26.
Gibson, N.C. 2008. Black Consciousness after Biko: The dialectics of Liberation in South Africa. New York Palgrave Macmillan.
Gordon KH, Castro Y, Sitnikov L, Holm-Denoma JM. 2010. Cultural body shape ideals and eating disorder symptoms among White, Latina, and Black college women. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology.; 16(2):135–143.
Gordon, L.R. 2008. A phenomenology of Biko's Black Consciousness. New York Palgrave Macmillan.
Hadfield, L. A. 2017. Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History. February 27th, 2017; Accessed April 12th, 2021. https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-83.
Hadfield, L.A. (2016). Liberation and Development: Black Consciousness Community Programs in South Africa. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.
Hill M. "Skin color and the perception of attractiveness among African Americans: Does gender make a difference?". Social Psychology Quarterly. 2002; 65(1):77–91.
Hill, M. 2002, Skin Color and the Perception of Attractiveness among African Americans: Does gender make a difference? Social Psychology Quarterly, 65 (1): 77-91.
Hotep, U. 2008. Decolonising the African Mind: Further Analysis and Strategy. Pittsburg, PA: KTYLI.
Julien, N 2014, Skin bleaching in South Africa: a result of colonialism and apartheid? Discovery: Georgia State Honors College Undergraduate Research Journal, 2,(4): 1-11.
Mabasa, T.L. 2007. Black Consciousness Movement. In Soweto on September 13th, 2007.
Macey, D. 2002. "Fanon, Phenomenology, Race." Philosophies of Race and Ethnicity. London: Continuum. 29–39
Memela, S. 2017. Shaking off Mental Slavery. IOL news. Available at: https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/shaking-off-mental-slavery-8981791.
More, M. P. 2008. Biko: African Existentialist philosopher. New York Palgrave Macmillan.
More, M. P. 2014. The Intellectual Foundations of the Black Consciousness Movement.
Ndletyana, M. 2008. African Intellectuals in 19th and early 20th century South Africa. Cape Town, Human Science Research Council Press.
Nengwekhulu, R. 2000. The meaning of Black Consciousness in South African History Online. In http://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/meaning-black-consciousness-ranwedzinengwekhulu
Nkrumah K (1961). I speak of Freedom: A statement of African Ideology. London: William Heinemann Ltd.
Nkrumah K (1963). Africa Must Unite. London: Longman, 1963.
Nkrumah K (1968). Dark Days in Ghana. London: Panaf Books.
Nyoni, J., 2019, 'Decolonising the higher education curriculum: An analysis of African intellectual readiness to break the chains of a colonial caged mentality,' Transformation in Higher Education 4(0):1-10.
Ocheni, S. and Nwankwo, B. 2012. Analysis of Colonialism and Its Impact in Africa. Cross-Cultural Communication, 8 (3), 46-54.
Pithouse, R. and Hadfield, L. A. 2017. Liberation and Development: Black Consciousness Community Programs in South Africa., The American Historical Review, 122:(3), Pages 969–970, https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/122.3.969.
Prabhu, A. 2006. Narration in Frantz Fanon’s Peau noire masques blancs: Some reconsideration research in. Africa literature, 37(4): 108-210.
Premnath, G. 2000. "Remembering Fanon: Decolonizing Diaspora." Postcolonial Theory and Criticism. Ed. Laura Chrisman and Benita Parry. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 57–73
Ramphele, M. 1996. Across Boundaries: The Journey of a South African Woman Leader. New York: Feminist Press,
Ramphele, M., 1991, 'Empowerment and symbols of hope', in N.B. Pityana & M. Ramphele (eds.), Bounds of possibility: The legacy of Steve Biko, 154–178, David Philip, Cape Town.
Ribane, N 2006, Beauty: A Black Perspective, University of Kwa-Zulu Natal Press, Durban.
Sankara T, 2014. Discours sur la dette, Con introduzione di Jean Ziegler, Elytis, 125
Sankara T. 1990. Women's Liberation and the African struggle, New York Pathfinder.
Shahadah. A. 2017. Mental Slavery: The unbreakable chains. African Holocaust. Available at: https://africanholocaust.net/mental-slavery/, Accessed April 12th, 2021.
South African History Online. 2020. The Impact of Colonialism. Available at: https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/impact-colonialism.
Tan, P. 2010. The person in Buddhism, SD29. 66. Available at: http://www.themindingcentre.org/dharmafarer/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/RB9-Mental-slavery-100106.pdf
Tate, S. 2007, Black beauty: Shade, hair, and anti-racist aesthetics, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 30 (2): 300-319.
Tate, S. 2013, The performativity of black beauty shame in Jamaica and its diaspora: problematizing and transforming beauty iconicities, Feminist Theory, 14 (2): 219-235.
Tembo, M.S. 2010, Eurocentric Destruction of Indigenous Conceptions: The Secret Rediscovery of the Beautiful Women in African Societies, Sociology Department, Bridgewater College, Virginia.
The Toilette of Health, Beauty and Fashion, 1834, Boston.
Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution 1983–87, Pathfinder Press, 2nd edition, 2007
Thompson, C. 2009, Black women, beauty, and hair as a matter of being, Women's Studies, 31 (1) 831-856.
Turner, L. 2008. Self-Consciousness as force and reason of revolution in the thought Steve Biko. Biko lives. New York Palgrave Macmillan.
Weinbaum, AE, Thomas, LM, Ramamurthy, P, Poiger, UG, Dong, YM & Barlow, TE 2000, The Modern girl as heuristic device: Collaboration, connective comparison, multidirectional, in: Weinbaum et al. (eds) Consumption, Modernity and Globalization, Duke University Press, Durham.
Wiredu, K. 1980. Philosophy and an African Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge
Wiredu, K. 1998. On decolonizing African religions. In Coetzee and Roux (eds.), 186
Published
2023-02-28
How to Cite
Mathebuala, N. (2023). THE ERADICATION OF MENTAL SLAVERY THROUGH AFRICAN INTELLECTUALISM OF BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS. Journal of Social Political Sciences, 4(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.52166/jsps.v4i1.148
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Articles
Copyright (c) 2023 Ndazalama Mathebuala
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
