New Voices Podcast: Africana Philosophy

In this episode, Haley Brennan talks with Chike Jeffers, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Dalhousie University and Canada Research Chair in Africana Philosophy, about the history of Africana Philosophy. We talk about the work of, and what it is like to work on, figures including Anna Julia Cooper, W.E.B Du Bois, Edward Blyden, and Léopold Senghor. In the course of talking about these figures, we discuss the value of language to philosophy, identity, and culture, connections between the Africana tradition and current philosophical theories of race and oppression, the importance of being critical about why and how philosophical methods are appropriate for evaluating these texts, and what it means to read someone as a philosopher. 
 
Selina Wang provided research for this episode. 
 
To listen to this episode go to our podcast page. 
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Works Mentioned in the Episode 
Unless otherwise specified, all works listed are in the public domain and are available free online. 
Anna Julia Cooper, A Voice from the South.
W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk.
Edward Blyden, “The Origin and Purpose of African Colonization.” 
Chike Jeffers, “Embodying Justice in Ancient Egypt: The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant as a Classic of Political Philosophy.” British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 421-442: 2013. 
African-American Philosophers: 17 Conversations, edited by George Yancy. New York: Routledge: 1998. 
Listening to Ourselves: A Multilingual Anthology of African Philosophy, edited by Chike Jeffers. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2013. 
Souleymane Bachir Diagne, African Art as Philosophy: Senghor, Bashir, and the Art of Negritude (Translated by Chike Jeffers). New York: Seagull Press, 2011. 
 
Further Reading and References
 
Chike Jeffers, “Anna Julia Cooper and the Black Gift Thesis.” History of Philosophy Quarterly, 79-97: 2016. 
——, “Rights, Race, and the Beginnings of Modern African Philosophy.” In The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Race.
History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps Africana Philosophy Series: 
https://historyofphilosophy.net/series/africana-philosophy