Transcendental Africanity and the Reclamation of the Global African Community (GAC)
Wednesday, January 13, 2027 from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm
- Hybrid event
- 1706, Dunton Tower, Carleton University
- 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6
Join us for a Brownbag Seminar hosted by the Institute of African Studies at Carleton University, featuring Dr. Mohamed Saliou Camara and his book, Transcendental Africanity: The Key to Defeating Afrophobia and Reclaiming Global Africa.
Presentation overwiew:
Africanity is understood in this presentation as that which underlies the identitary nexus that makes all Africans and Afro-descendants worldwide one primordial collectivity and triggers an instinctive drive for intra- and inter-communal bonding, whether conscious or subconscious, whenever core components of the shared identity are under assault anywhere in the world. Transcendental Africanity is defined as the enduring and self-sustaining value system that has enabled Africans and Afro-descendants to retain, nurture and be nurtured by what makes them who they are in the first place, regardless of the disruptive impacts of enslavement, colonization, neo-colonization, and meta-colonization, and the deeply held racist and racialist ideologies used to justify those phenomena. As for the Global African Collective (GAC), it is positioned as all peoples, communities, and societies that are connected by a cardinal civilizational identity that empowers this Collective to not allow anyone (1) to define its members to themselves, (2) to define them to the world, and (3) to define the world to them.
About the Speaker
Dr. Mohamed Saliou Camara is a professor of History, Philosophy, and Journalism/Mass Communication who earned his Ph.D. in History at Northwestern University on a Fulbright Scholarship. He also holds an Advanced Professional Degree in Journalism from CESTI (University of Dakar, Senegal) and a DES in Philosophy and History from the Gamal Abdel Nasser University of Conakry (Guinea). He is the author of seven books and the editor/coeditor of three, including Transcendental Africanity: The Key to Defeating Afrophobia and Reclaiming Global Africa that just came out, as well as numerous chapters and scholarly peer-reviewed articles on various aspects of African Studies. He taught at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where he also served as Director of the McNair Scholars Program, Speaker of the Faculty Senate, and Associate Vice President for Academics. Professor Camara won the Grand Prix de la Francophonie in 2023; and received the Washington, DC 2026 Mayoral Salute Award in recognition of his “outstanding leadership, service, and commitment to strengthening Washington, DC’s African community”. In Guinea, he served as a Philosophy Lecturer at the University of Conakry, a journalist for Guinea’s National Radio and Television Network (RTG), the president of the University of Conakry Press, and a speech writer in the Press Bureau of the Presidency of the Republic.
The discussion will highlight key themes from the volume, including Pan-African identity, African philosophical traditions, diaspora engagement, and the importance of reclaiming African narratives in shaping global futures.
All are welcome to attend!
Register for the Brownbag Seminar via Zoom