African Roots/American Cultures: Africa in the Creation of the Americas

Africans and their descendants constituted the majority of the population of the Americas for most of the first three hundred years. Yet their fundamental roles in the creation and definition of the new societies of the “new world,” and their significance in the development of the Atlantic world, have not been acknowledged. This multidisciplinary volume highlights the African presence throughout the Americas, and African and African Diasporan contributions to the material and cultural life of all of the Americas, and of all Americans. It included articles from leading scholars, and from cultural leaders and artists from both well-known and little-known African Diasporan communities. Privileging African Diasporan voices, it offers new perspectives, new data, and new interpretations that challenge prevailing understandings of the Americas. The fundamental premise is that the story of the Americas can only be told accurately by including the story of the foundational roles of Africans in the Americas.