Gender Ideology, Global Africa, And the Challenges for Pan-African Studies in the 21st Century.

I presented this paper in Liverpool, England at the Africa 2000 Conference in August of that year, and revised it for the National Council for Black Studies Annual Conference in March 2005 in Atlanta, Georgia. In some ways, its publication in the JPAS marks a Sankofa moment when, as scholars and students of African World Studies, we have 'reclaimed' much from our 'legacy cultures,' (i) and can employ those multiple legacies 'in order to move ahead.' It also marks an analytical crossroad where our growing trepidation about women, youth, working people, and people of color in Africa and the African Diaspora resides. That crossroad is frequently strewn with the debris of sexism and disdain for our rich cultural endowment at a time when we need to embrace the legacy of women's leadership if we are to move forward. A brief narrative from Odu Ifa frames our discussion. My methodology variously employs the language, lexicon, and meaning along with the thoughts and practices of Yoruba, Akan, and African American cultures. Acknowledging the limitations and challenges in such an undertaking, I intend 1) to provide oral and written data and contemporary analysis to guide our discussion of the complexity of diverse African gendered environment, 2) to propose the concept of 'legacy cultures' as a model for contemporary political and cultural analysis, and 3) to extrapolate one set of culturally-based ideologies that may contribute to the growing body of scholarly works on Africana studies and particularly women of African descent globally. By 'legacy cultures,' I mean the transnational and local (re)configurations of African cultures in the twenty-first century, and the presence of African worldviews and expressivity in modern world environments. The term, 'legacy cultures,' distinguishes earlier patterns of cultural evolution occurring within traditional African environments. It marks these natural occurrences from their progeny cultures on the continent and in the Diaspora. The term, 'legacy cultures,' unlocks the potential application of Africa's cultural heritages to new modalities and protocols for development in the twenty-first century. It allows us to embrace the breadth and depth of our global experiences, customary and pluralistic, in a more liberated discourse on the continent and in the Diaspora. The concept of legacy cultures allows us to address the institutional and infrastructural needs of Africa's global humanity and our place in the world generally.