DECOLONIAL AFROCENTRIC EDUCATION – FROM FRANTZ FANON’S “DECOLONIZATION OF BEING” TO MOLEFI KETE ASANTE’S “AFROCENTRICITY” – BLACK REEXISTENCE AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE POLITICAL-PEDAGOGICAL SUBJECT FROM THE AFRICAN CENTRALITY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56238/arev7n10-027Keywords:
Decolonial Education, Afrocentricity, Black Reexistence, Frantz Fanon, Molefi Kete AsanteAbstract
The emergence of decolonial perspectives in the field of education has challenged the Eurocentric structures that have historically shaped curricula, pedagogical practices, and teacher and student subjectivities. Within this horizon, the thought of Frantz Fanon, through the proposal of the “decolonization of being,” and the theory of “Afrocentricity,” developed by Molefi Kete Asante, converge as central axes for a pedagogy that reconstructs the Black experience based on its own references, breaking with hegemonic narratives that render African centrality invisible. Black reexistence, understood as a process of resistance and reinvention, thus becomes a structuring principle for the reconstruction of the political-pedagogical subject. The aim of this article is to analyze the interfaces between Fanonian decolonization and Asantian Afrocentricity as foundations for a decolonial Afrocentric education. It seeks to understand how such frameworks can sustain pedagogical practices that both denounce the historical effects of colonialism on Black bodies and subjectivities and announce pathways of identity, cultural, and political reconstruction through African centrality. The guiding research question is: how can the articulation between Frantz Fanon’s “decolonization of being” and Molefi Kete Asante’s “Afrocentricity” provide the foundation for a pedagogy of Black reexistence that repositions education as a space of emancipation, recognition, and reconstruction of the political-pedagogical subject from the perspective of African centrality? Theoretically, this study draws mainly on the works of Fanon (1980; 2008; 2015; 2022) and Asante (2000; 2006; 2009; 2013; 2024), engaging in dialogue with the works of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (2009; 2011; 2020), Sembène (1960), Ndlovu-Gatsheni (2016; 2020), Falola (2003), Rodney (1981), Nyerere (1968), Nkrumah (1965; 2018), Wiredu (2004), Mbembe (2012; 2017), Diop (1974; 1990), Achebe (1958; 2000), Diouf (2013), Cabral (1969; 1983; 2020), Mazrui (1986), among others. The research is qualitative (Minayo, 2007), descriptive and bibliographic (Gil, 2008), and employs a comprehensive analytical approach (Weber, 1949). The study demonstrated that the articulation between Fanon’s decolonization of being and Asante’s Afrocentricity constitutes a solid foundation for building a pedagogy of Black reexistence. It was found that reexistence, by uniting resistance and reinvention, offers instruments to reposition African centrality as the identity, cultural, and political axis of education. It also became evident that the concepts of Pedagogy of Centrality and Epistemological Reexistence broaden the possibilities of critical teacher and student formation by transforming the school from a colonial apparatus into a space of emancipation. Consequently, the research pointed to the importance of pedagogical practices that value memory, ancestry, and emancipatory praxis. Thus, it is concluded that decolonial Afrocentric education is a strategic path to reconstruct the political-pedagogical subject from African centrality.
Downloads
References
ACHEBE, C. Things fall apart. London: Heinemann, 1958.
ACHEBE, C. Home and exile. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
ASANTE, M. K. The Egyptian philosophers: ancient African voices from Imhotep to Akhenaten. Chicago: African American Images, 2000.
ASANTE, M. K. The afrocentric idea. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006.
ASANTE, M. K. Afrocentricity. Trenton: Africa World Press, 2009.
ASANTE, M. K. An afrocentric manifesto: toward an African renaissance. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013.
ASANTE, M. K. The history of Africa: the quest for eternal harmony. New York: Routledge, 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003351306
CABRAL, A. Revolution in Guinea: an African people’s struggle. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1969.
CABRAL, A. Princípios do partido e a prática política: unidade e luta. Lisboa: Sá da Costa, 1983.
CABRAL, A. Unity and struggle: selected speeches and writings. New York: Monthly Review Press, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25159/857-3
DIOP, C. A. The African origin of civilization: myth or reality. Chicago: Lawrence Hill, 1974.
DIOP, C. A. Civilization or barbarism: an authentic anthropology. New York: Lawrence Hill, 1990.
DIOUF, M. Tolerance, democracy, and Sufis in Senegal. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7312/columbia/9780231162630.001.0001
DOS SANTOS, A. N. S. et al. Letramento racial e educação: formação de educadores para práticas pedagógicas antirracistas com enfoque na produção intelectual de autores “Ladino-amefricanos”. ARACÊ , [S. l.], v. 7, n. 1, p. 3897-3916, 2025. DOI: 10.56238/arev7n1-231. Disponível em: https://periodicos.newsciencepubl.com/arace/article/view/3040. Acesso em: 13 set. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56238/arev7n1-127
DOS SANTOS, A. N. S. et al. Condenadas pela Cor – A disparidade racial na violência de gênero contra mulheres negras e a omissão das políticas públicas a partir do “Fascismo da Cor” no Brasil. ARACÊ , [S. l.], v. 7, n. 1, p. 4407-4436, 2025. DOI: 10.56238/arev7n1-260. Disponível em: https://periodicos.newsciencepubl.com/arace/article/view/3084. Acesso em: 13 set. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56238/arev7n1-260
DOS SANTOS, A. N. S. et al. Raízes Afrodiaspóricas – Descolonizando a educação pública por um ensino antirracista na lei 10.639/2003. ARACÊ , [S. l.], v. 7, n. 2, p. 8985–9016, 2025. DOI: 10.56238/arev7n2-258. Disponível em: https://periodicos.newsciencepubl.com/arace/article/view/3489. Acesso em: 13 set. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56238/arev7n2-258
DOS SANTOS, A. N. S. et al. Psiquiatria e Racismo – O Holocausto psiquiátrico no Hospício de Barbacena e o racismo contra negros no Brasil. ARACÊ, [S. l.], v. 7, n. 3, p. 14745-14776, 2025. DOI: 10.56238/arev7n3-265. Disponível em: https://periodicos.newsciencepubl.com/arace/article/view/4071. Acesso em: 13 set. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56238/arev7n3-265
DOS SANTOS, A. N. S. et al. Saberes que Curam – A farmácia quilombola e o uso de plantas medicinais no cuidado infantil. ARACÊ , [S. l.], v. 7, n. 4, p. 19103–19135, 2025. DOI: 10.56238/arev7n4-199. Disponível em: https://periodicos.newsciencepubl.com/arace/article/view/4511. Acesso em: 13 set. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56238/arev7n4-199
FALOLA, T. The power of African cultures. Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2003. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781580466189
FANON, F. Em defesa da revolução africana. Lisboa: Sá da Costa, 1980.
FANON, F. Pele negra, máscaras brancas. Salvador: EDUFBA, 2008.
FANON, F. Écrits sur l’aliénation et la liberté. Paris: La Découverte, 2015.
FANON, F. Os condenados da terra. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 2022.
GIL, A. C. Métodos e técnicas de pesquisa social. 6. ed. São Paulo: Atlas, 2008.
MAZRUI, A. The Africans: a triple heritage. London: BBC Publications, 1986.
MBEMBE, A. On the postcolony. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012.
MBEMBE, A. Critique of black reason. Durham: Duke University Press, 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv125jgv8
MINAYO, M. C. S. O desafio do conhecimento: pesquisa qualitativa em saúde. 10. ed. São Paulo: Hucitec, 2007.
MOURA, D. L. de O. et al. Metodologias Negras de Ensino – Pedagogias de terreiro, encruzilhadas e do enegrecimento segundo Nilma Lino Gomes, Lélia Gonzalez e bell hooks. ARACÊ , [S. l.], v. 7, n. 7, p. 36951-36993, 2025. DOI: 10.56238/arev7n7-101. Disponível em: https://periodicos.newsciencepubl.com/arace/article/view/6468. Acesso em: 13 set. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56238/arev7n7-101
MOURA, D. L. de O. et al. Esperançar em comunidade – Práticas escolares integradoras e antirracistas à luz da pedagogia crítica de Bell Hooks. OBSERVATÓRIO DE LA ECONOMÍA LATINOAMERICANA, 23(8), e10905. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.55905/oelv23n8-004 Acesso em 13 set. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55905/oelv23n8-004
NDLOVU-GATSHENI, S. J. The decolonial Mandela: peace, justice and the politics of life. New York: Berghahn Books, 2016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvgs0c16
NDLOVU-GATSHENI, S. J. Decolonization, development and knowledge in Africa: turning over a new leaf. London: Routledge, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003030423
NKRUMAH, K. Neo-colonialism: the last stage of imperialism. London: Thomas Nelson, 1965.
NKRUMAH, K. Consciencism: philosophy and ideology for decolonization. London: Routledge, 2018.
NYERERE, J. Ujamaa: essays on socialism. Dar es Salaam: Oxford University Press, 1968.
RODNEY, W. How Europe underdeveloped Africa. London: Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications, 1981.
SANTOS, A. N. S. dos et al. Por uma educação escolar quilombola: ressignificando o passado através da Lei 10.639/2003 e da renovação do currículo em direção à emancipação afro-brasileira. Cuadernos De Educación Y Desarrollo - QUALIS A4, 16(6), e4554. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.55905/cuadv16n6-134 Acesso em 13 de set. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55905/cuadv16n6-134
SANTOS, A. N. S. dos. et al. “O espectro da cor”: desvelando o racismo nacional na polifonia dos quilombos e das leis. Cuadernos De Educación Y Desarrollo - QUALIS A4, 16(7), e4984.
Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.55905/cuadv16n7-151 acesso em 13 de set. 2025 DOI: https://doi.org/10.55905/cuadv16n7-151
SANTOS, A. N. S. dos et al. “Necropolítica negra”: o pacto da branquitude e a invisibilidade da morte de mulheres negras no Brasil a partir de uma análise crítica de Cida Bento e Achille Mbembe. OBSERVATÓRIO DE LA ECONOMÍA LATINOAMERICANA, 22(9), e6560. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.55905/oelv22n9-036 Acesso em 13 de set. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55905/oelv22n9-036
SANTOS, A. N. S. dos et al. Educação Afrodiaspórica – o encontro de saberes a partir do pensamento decolonial e da luta antirracista na perspectiva de intelectuais afrodiaspóricos. Caderno Pedagógico, 21(10), e9681. Disponível em; https://doi.org/10.54033/cadpedv21n10-310 Acesso em 13 de set. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54033/cadpedv21n10-310
SANTOS , A. N. S. dos et al. PRETUGUÊS E AMEFRICANIDADE: A construção do corpo-território e da língua nas manifestações culturais afro-latino-americanas segundo Lélia Gonzalez. Caderno Pedagógico, 21(12), e10807. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.54033/cadpedv21n12-168 Acesso em 13 de set. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54033/cadpedv21n12-168
SANTOS, A. N. S. dos et al. Descolonizando os currículos – O protagonismo negro na transformação do conhecimento e dos currículos no processo de descolonização educacional brasileira. OBSERVATÓRIO DE LA ECONOMÍA LATINOAMERICANA, 22(11), e7980. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.55905/oelv22n11-237 Acesso em 13 de set. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55905/oelv22n11-237
SANTOS, A. N. S. dos et al. Tecer Saberes, Erguer Liberdades: a educação como ferramenta de emancipação na luta de mulheres negras pela visão de Ângela Davis. Caderno Pedagógico, 21(13), e11468. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.54033/cadpedv21n13-047 Acesso em 13 de set. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54033/cadpedv21n13-047
SANTOS, A. N. S. dos et al. Por uma “Pedagogia Negra” – Enegrecer o currículo e o ensino para romper com a normatividade branca, enfrentar o episteminicídio educacional e afirmar a população negra como sujeito epistêmico. OBSERVATÓRIO DE LA ECONOMÍA LATINOAMERICANA, 23(6), e10259. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.55905/oelv23n6-063 Acesso em 13 de set. 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55905/oelv23n6-063
SEMBÈNE, O. God’s bits of wood. London: Heinemann, 1960.
STAKE, R. E. Pesquisa qualitativa: estudando como as coisas funcionam. Porto Alegre: Penso, 2008.
THIONG’O, N. wa. Something torn and new: an African renaissance. New York: Basic Civitas, 2009.
THIONG’O, N. wa. Decolonising the mind: the politics of language in African literature. Nairobi: East African Publishers, 2011.
THIONG’O, N. wa. Moving the centre: the struggle for cultural freedoms. London: James Currey, 2020.
WEBER, M. A objetividade do conhecimento nas ciências sociais. São Paulo: Cortez, 1949.
WIREDU, K. A companion to African philosophy. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/b.9781405145671.2005.00001.x
