The African Diaspora in Europe

Abstract

As we begin the 21st century, references to the African diaspora in scholarly literature are on the rise. According to Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (1989), the term diaspora is defined as people settled far from their ancestral homelands (p. 351). The African diaspora came about as the result of the European conquest and colonization of the continent of Africa and its peoples. Those of us who trace our roots back to the continent of Africa are spread across every country around the globe. African people, both diasporan and continental, find ourselves now facing specific and difficult tasks of survival in the next century to come, and we must come to recognize our similarities as well as our differences. To achieve this goal, it is crucial for us to determine precisely where we all live. The time has now finally arrived for all African people to find out who we are, where we are, and began to see that we represent the world as a result of our international presence. Regardless of whether we live in North America, South America, the Caribbean, the South Seas, or on the continent, as African people we approach our living influenced by an African mode. We see our life and the lives of the ancestors as experiences to be learned and not as merely problems to be solved. Our existence is based on the belief of inclusion and to seek what is fruitful for all people, not just a select few. Furthermore, our tradition is based on both a spiritual and physical plane: Less hunger for our children means less hunger for the many generations yet to come. But one