Afrocentric Theory 1

SW 601 Afrocentric Theory: The Church, The Town, The Education

D’Corey Sullivan

The University of Mississippi

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Afrocentric Theory: The Church, The Town, The Education

In this paper I will discuss the Afrocentric theory and how it ties to black churches, towns, and

education. To begin, the Afrocentric theory is an approach to the study of world history that

focuses on the history of people of recent African descent. It was created by Dr. Molefi Kete

Asante, he was a professor at Temple University where he was the head of the Africology

Department. Dr. Asante received his B.A. from Oklahoma Christian College in 1964. He then

earned his M.A. from Pepperdine University in 1965, lastly earning his PhD from UCLA in 1968

in communication studies. Asante is also credited for proposing the first doctoral program for

African American Studies, it was approved and the first class entered in 1988. He created this

theory was because there was this thought that everything being taught in America was very

white washed or Eurocentric. Yes, by the 1960’s African American studies was offered in some

schools but, it didn’t really help other black people with their perspectives of our history.

Afrocentric theory is really all about the perspective of black people and becoming centered

again with our African roots. While doing my research on this theory I learned that there were

things that I had already done and been apart of that was centering me back to my African roots

that I had no awareness of. Consciousness is also a huge factor in the Afrocentric theory if you

are not aware of this practice and have already been doing things that align with this theory then

you really haven’t been practicing Afrocentrism that conscious awareness is keen for this theory

(Asante, 1998).

African American churches are very important in the black communities. As stated earlier I truly

believe that churches in black communities are a super social worker. I say this because our

churches always provide a plethora of resources for people that are in the community. In

Afrocentrism communal relationships are important because it shows the collectivism of the
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community. “Services that incorporate an Afrocentric focus enhance positive thinking,

interdependence, collectivism, transformation, and spirituality (Watson, 2014).” Black churches

have been built on the principles of Afrocentrism but didn’t even know it. Speaking from my

experience, my home church Lilly Valley Missionary Baptist Church has so many resources that

are community based. For example, we have something called the tutoring ministry, which

where all the black educators that are members of the church meet every Tuesday to tutor and

help any child that needs it in the community. I have seen them go as far as driving their own

vehicles to go get these children that they know need help but, do not have a ride to church

because their parents are either at work or they don’t have a vehicle. This to me falls under the

Afrocentric theory because its black educators going and setting out the teach and tutor black

children from their communities with no cultural differences or biases. Just simply black people

educating other black people.

To add another resource that black churches have for the community is benevolent offerings.

This type of offering is taken up every Sunday and put into a fund for community members who

have fell on hard times. This has been something that I have seen done but, never quite grasp the

concept of what exactly the point of the offering was. “transformation through Afrocentric

models to become more conscious of the interconnection between the self and others (Stepteau-

Watson, 2014).” According to the Afrocentric theory everyone in the community is connected so

when one person is going through a really rough time it affects everyone around them because

the communal ties are just that strong and that’s exactly how it is in black churches. Also, the

theory states that it is the community’s responsibility to help when someone is facing hard times.

"I am because we are, and because we are therefor, I am (Mbiti, 1975)." When a member of the

Lilly Valley community is going through a rough time it’s never really a secret. It is up to
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church and its members to be empathetic to the people that are struggling in the community and

to assist with the basic necessities of life like, food, water, shelter etc. which are the same goals

social work has.

Next, there are towns in the U.S. that have practice Afrocentricity, one being Mound Bayou in

the Mississippi Delta. The town was established in 1987 by a black man by the name of Isaiah T.

Montgomery. Mound bayou was a town that had a saw mill, a bank, Farmers’ Co-Op, real estate,

and other enterprises owned and ran by black people (Meier, 1954, p. 396). To add Mound bayou

was one of the first all-black towns but, to go a step farther it was also one of the first to have an

all-black hospital. During this time in MS most black people were too poor to go to the hospital.

Black middle-class families had the money to go to the hospital but once they were admitted they

were treated poorly at “white hospitals.” “White hospitals” would make black people bring their

own eating utensils, sheets, and toothbrushes. In 1938 another black man from Mound Bayou by

the name of Perry M. Smith proposed for an all-black hospital to be built in the town and his

proposal was granted. Smith knew he wanted a medical staff of all black men and women so he

turned to Howard University and Meharry Medical College. During Smiths search for doctors he

became acquainted with Dr. Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard and made him chief surgeon at

the new hospital in Mound Bayou (Beito, 1999, p. 113-116). Mound Bayou was the perfect

example of Afrocentricity because the people who founded, started, and inhabited this town were

newly freed slaved. These people had to still have some connection to their African roots and got

to form a whole town around their roots. The Afrocentric theory also talks about the centeredness

of a black person in my opinion, nothing makes you more centered than coming out of slavery

into a town that was built and ran by other people that have commonalities.
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The Afrocentric theory is useful in social work because it offers a new perspective on why some

black had hard time grasping concepts that are Eurocentric like learning. The teaching techniques

in America are very Eurocentric in history class we are only taught about European historians. In

science courses, we are never taught about the contributions that black scientists made to our

society these very things could be a reason why black children aren’t doing so good in schools

with Eurocentric values. Maybe if schools try to appeal more to black children, we will get a

different outcome. Hire more black educators so they can teach black children about other great

black people who made contributions in history, science, language, and mathematics. Without

the Afrocentric theory we would never be having these types of conversations about how black

students learn. However, there are some weaknesses in the theory that I have thought of by

simply thinking about all of the information I have gathered. Just like there have been plenty of

black scholars that have contributed a lot of things to the world as we see it now there are also

white ones who have too that we can just ignore. Afrocentrism is this very pro black theory

however; we can’t be so pro black that we refuse to acknowledge the contributions white people

have made. To add, the theory calls for black people to connect more with their African roots

but, I feel as if we have become so colonized that, that is extremely hard to do. Yeah, we practice

some values and behaviors that our parents have taught us that they were taught by their parents

and so on. Slave were brought here over 300 years ago so that African roots are slowly but surely

dying in my opinion. I dare not even delve into the fact that Africans have this sense of

superiority against African American so we can’t always look to them for guidance on getting

back he core African values. With all of that being said the Afrocentric theory is a really great

theory but it is also flawed however, I would still use it in my practice. The social profession is

very eclectic so we can pull from other theories, and models if need be.
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Works Cited

Afrocentricity. (1998). Retrieved from http://www.asante.net/articles/1/afrocentricity/.

Beito, D. (1999). Black Freternal Hospitals in the Mississippi Delta, 1942-1967. The Journal of

Southern History, 65(1), 109-140. doi:10.2307/2587733

Meier, A. (1954). Booker T. Washington and the Town of Mound Bayou. Phylon (1940-1956),

15(4), 396-401. doi:10.2307/272852

Stepteau-Watson, D., Watson, J., & Lawrence, S. K. (2014). Young African American Males in

Reentry: An Afrocentric Cultural Approach. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social

Environment, 24(6), 658–665. https://doi-

org.umiss.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/10911359.2014.922801