Anani Dzidzienyo | |
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Born | |
Died | October 25, 2020 78) | (aged
Awards | 2020 Brazilian Studies Association’s Lifetime Contribution Award |
Academic background | |
Education | |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Afro-Brazilian studies |
Institutions | Brown University |
Notable works |
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Anani Dzidzienyo was a professor of Afro-Brazilian studies at Brown University. He is known for his scholarship on the African diaspora in Latin America. [1]
Born in Sekondi,Gold Coast in 1941, [2] Dzidzienyo grew up as Ghana became independent. [3] This political climate and the influence of Kwame Nkrumah caused Dzidzienyo to consider a career as a diplomat and to study international relations. [2]
After winning a 1959 essay contest,Dzidzienyo traveled to the US in 1960 to represent Ghana at the New York Herald Tribune World Youth Forum. [4] In 1965,he began attending Williams College, [1] receiving a BA in political science. During one of his courses,a professor showed images from an Afro-Brazilian festival which bore similarities to Dzidzienyo experienced in Gold Coast,piquing his curiosity. [3] He pursued graduate studies in Latin American politics and government at the University of Essex. After graduating,he became a research fellow at the Institute of Race Relations and started lecturing at Brown University. [5]
In 1971,Dzidzienyo wrote "The Position of Blacks in Brazilian Society",an article which challenged the perspective the racial discrimination was no longer present in Latin America after the end of the colonial period and slavery. [3] He was one of the first scholars to bring an African perspective to the study of anti-Black racism. [2]
Dzidzienyo taught at Brown University for over 46 years and helped to revise its Baccalaureate ceremonies to include "prayers and blessings performed in native languages,as well as cultural traditions that represent the homes of members of the student body". [1] [6] He contributed to many books and encyclopedias. He studied the relationship between Brazil and Africa,the after-effects of slavery on Black Brazilians and racial dynamics both in Brazil and elsewhere. Concerned with policy,Dzidzienyo authored reports for human rights foundations. [5]
Dzidzienyo died of cancer in October 2020. [7] His extensive personal collection of research documents from his years at Brown was later sorted and archived by students. [1] He formed "lasting personal relationships with his students" as a mentor,fostering generations of scholars in Afro-Brazilian studies and encouraging them to learn Portuguese. [1] [8]
The globalAfrican diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from people from Africa,predominantly in the Americas. The African populations in the Americas are descended from haplogroup L genetic groups of native Africans. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the native West and Central Africans who were enslaved and shipped to the Americas via the Atlantic slave trade between the 16th and 19th centuries,with their largest populations in the United States,Brazil,and Haiti. However,the term can also be used to refer to African descendants who immigrated to other parts of the world consensually. Some scholars identify "four circulatory phases" of this migration out of Africa. The phrase African diaspora gradually entered common usage at the turn of the 21st century. The term diaspora originates from the Greek διασπορά which gained popularity in English in reference to the Jewish diaspora before being more broadly applied to other populations.
Black studies or Africana studies,is an interdisciplinary academic field that primarily focuses on the study of the history,culture,and politics of the peoples of the African diaspora and Africa. The field includes scholars of African-American,Afro-Canadian,Afro-Caribbean,Afro-Latino,Afro-European,Afro-Asian,African Australian,and African literature,history,politics,and religion as well as those from disciplines,such as sociology,anthropology,cultural studies,psychology,education,and many other disciplines within the humanities and social sciences. The field also uses various types of research methods.
Afro–Latin Americans or Black Latin Americans are Latin Americans of full or mainly sub-Saharan African ancestry.
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