Pedagogies of the Emergent:
Rethinking Absence and Presence in the Black Atlantic World
Welcome! This site is an ongoing repository of research on absence and presence in the Black Atlantic. It includes text, images from the archive, videos, embedded webpages, audio files, and an ArcGIS Storymap that encompasses this research.
Introduction
Welcome to the Absence and Presence in the Black Atlantic site. This resource explores various archives to discuss, analyze and display elements of Black cultural presence in the diaspora as expressed through naming practices, Anansi trickster stories, religious practices, proverbs and adages, as well as musical and cultural production. This work also considers theories of absence in terms of what is missing from the archives, and presence as in the methods of transnational and intergenerational transmissions of information, practices, heritage, modes of storytelling, and being in the world. In addition to this website, there is also a StoryMap layout. Viewers can click and zoom in on any maps, videos, or images displayed in this map. Some maps are displayed side by side, so viewers can shift to see which aspects they wish to highlight. See the official StoryMap site here
In order to navigate through the sections, please select from the side panel, or the images below. When viewers select a section, they will find that there is also the StoryMap option they can view by selecting a redirect button located on the header image.
There are maps in different sections of the larger StoryMap, some nations have multiple geotags. These geotags do always not necessarily represent a specific geographical location as the exact originator of a described cultural practice, but they visually represent that multiple examples of cultural presence took place there or they approximate where practices are held (you may notice multiple geotags in nations such as Jamaica, Guyana, or Nigeria to indicate sites of naming practices and proverbs, or Virginia exemplified as a representative space for African American proverbs because of research based on participants in Virginia). This StoryMap will evolve over time, and one goal is to increase further specificity, which may be a challenge given the theories of absence that also shape the archive, but acknowledge the importance of that work.
This research falls under fair dealings practices, all sources are properly credited in each "Works Cited" section at the end of the individual parts. References and further resources are also included on this site.
October 19th 2023 Update: Please see the resource "Solidarity With Palestine - A Radical Black Feminist Mandate, A Reading List"
A closer look at naming practices through Jamaican, Nigerian, Black American contexts, proverbs, political acts, and more
Learn more about the Western African origins and stories about the "Great Spider," see images, and maps that draw connections between West Africa, the Caribbean, and broader diaspora
More in-depth research, images, and videos on practices such as Obeah and Voodoo
Here you will be able to read and listen to Jamaican, West African, and East African proverbs and adages
Listen and learn more about Black musical history as well as its relation to power, culture, identity, and freedom
Case Study:
Oakwood Collegiate Institute’s Afro Canadian Club
Toronto, Ontario Canada