Peter Wakholi - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Peter Wakholi
The Australasian review of African studies, Jun 1, 2010
ABSTRACT This article explores the concept of African Cultural Education Program (ACEP) as a rele... more ABSTRACT This article explores the concept of African Cultural Education Program (ACEP) as a relevant tool for gaining bicultural competence among African migrant descendant youth in Australia. The article proposes that acquisition of biculturally informative knowledge may be facilitated by critical exploration of diverse ‘funds of knowledge’ associated with the cultural experience and identities of the African Australian youth. ACEP is a Third Space phenomenon through which diverse ‘funds of knowledge’ may be explored, critically, towards a positively selfaffirming discourse. The article proposes that formal schooling of African Australians should be complimented by an African Cultural Education Program (ACEP). Such a program involves cultural translators as agents for facilitating dialogue about cultural identity and schooling towards bicultural competence.
The Australasian review of African studies, Jun 1, 2010
Review(s) of: Preserving the Cultural Heritage of Africa: Crisis or Renaissance?, by Kenji Yoshid... more Review(s) of: Preserving the Cultural Heritage of Africa: Crisis or Renaissance?, by Kenji Yoshida and John Mack (eds.), Woodbridge/Suffolk and James Currey / UNISA, 2008.
SensePublishers eBooks, 2017
Australia has become home for a significant number of African migrants with the 2006 Census data ... more Australia has become home for a significant number of African migrants with the 2006 Census data showing that there were 248,699 African-born people living in Australia (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011). Increasing immigration has been specified as one of the forces promoting globalisation, and identities become more complex for immigrants as they are influenced by their native culture, the local culture to which they have immigrated, and the ‘global’ culture, thus potentially leading to a plurality of identities and ‘culturalisms’ (Cuccioletta, 2001/2002).
The international journal of social, political and community agendas in the arts, 2017
The Australasian review of African studies, Jun 1, 2013
Review(s) of: Rethinking development strategies in Africa, by Makoba, Johnson W. Oxford, Bern, Ne... more Review(s) of: Rethinking development strategies in Africa, by Makoba, Johnson W. Oxford, Bern, New York: Peter Lang, 2011, 269 pp, ISBN 9783035301953.
The thesis project was a community based festival involving twelve young people of African descen... more The thesis project was a community based festival involving twelve young people of African descent, five patrons, two community artists and the researcher as the facilitator and cultural translator. I therefore wish to extend my sincere thanks to the young people involved in the project for trusting the process, sharing their stories, and creative imagination that culminated into an informative and educative festival. I also wish to thank the patrons for sparing their time to support the project, and the artists for playing an important role in facilitating some of the sessions towards informative performances. I would also like to acknowledge the organisations that provided funding and resources for the project-The City of Stirling (WA); Healthway (WA), the Office of Crime Prevention (WA), The Afrikan Community in Western Australia (ACWA) and Murdoch University, without their generosity it would have been impossible to accomplish this project. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, many thanks to my supervisors, Dr. David Moody and Dr. Peter Wright your support and feedback is immensely appreciated. I have learnt so much from you. I would like to dedicate this thesis to my wife Nasimolo Sarah Wakholi and our girls; Namusobya Wakholi Kamulegeya, Hasahya Wakholi, Namulwa Wakholi and Mirembe Musenero Wakholi for the support, passion and love. We have to tell our stories and through performance we legitimise our humanity. Ata demba satwihula! ix
ABSTRACT African Cultural Education: A dialogue with African migrant youth in Western Australia, ... more ABSTRACT African Cultural Education: A dialogue with African migrant youth in Western Australia, examines cultural issues that concern a specific group of African migrant youths. The ten youth participants three of whom are male and seven female share their concerns and desires about issues relating to their cultural identity. As a minority group in a predominantly Eurocentric society they are faced with cultural challenges, which influence their being namely: Racism and the pressure to assimilate. The thesis adopts an African Centred Cultural Democracy approach: which proposes that African people must construct a 'new' African identity and must begin to perceive and interpret the world in its entirety from an African psychological, spiritual, and cultural frame of reference. This approach requires an ongoing critical assesement of both subjective lived experience and objective conditions. Through the Ujamaa circle process the youth participants along with the facilitator examined challenges to their cultural identities and alternative liberatory options. Growing up in a culturally alienating Eurocentric culture, they felt the need for an African cultural space, in which they could explore issues affecting them as African descendants. In particular racism and assimilation were of major concern to them. They were of the opinion that there should be an ongoing African Cultural Education Program to facilitate cultural re-evaluation and continuity. It is the study's conclusion that cultural education for a minority African migrant group in a dominant Eurocentric culture is essential for their identities and continued root-cultural connectedness. Within the African Cultural Education conceptual framework, in addition to African cultural re-evaluation, it is possible to critically explore oppressive and domineering practices of the mainstream culture. It is also possible that the African migrant youth may become equipped with alternative worldviews from an African perspective, which will enable him/her to make informed judgement and response towards inappropriate mainstream attitudes and values. Participation in the arena of cultural politics will therefore be based on informed practice.
'African Cultural Education: A dialogue with African migrant youth in Western Australia', examine... more 'African Cultural Education: A dialogue with African migrant youth in Western Australia', examines cultural issues that concern a specific group of African migrant youths. The ten youth participants three of whom are male and seven female share their concerns and desires about issues relating to their cultural identity. As a minority group in a predominantly Eurocentric society they are faced with cultural challenges, which influence their being namely: Racism and the pressure to assimilate. The thesis adopts an Afrikan 1 Centred Cultural Democracy approach: which proposes that African people must construct a 'new' African identity and must begin to perceive and interpret the world in its entirety from an African psychological, spiritual, and cultural frame of reference. This approach requires an ongoing critical assesement of both subjective lived experience and objective conditions. Through the Ujamaa circle process the youth participants along with the facilitator examined challenges to their cultural identities and alternative liberatory options. Growing up in a culturally alienating Eurocentric culture, they felt the need for an African cultural space, in which they could explore issues affecting them as African descendants. In particular racism and assimilation were of major concern to them. They were of the opinion that there should be an ongoing African Cultural Education Program to facilitate cultural re-evaluation and continuity. It is the study's conclusion that cultural education for a minority African migrant group in a dominant Eurocentric culture is essential for their identities and continued root-cultural connectedness. Within the African Cultural Education conceptual framework, in addition to African cultural re-evaluation, it is possible to critically explore oppressive and domineering practices of the mainstream culture. It is also possible that the African migrant youth may become equipped with alternative worldviews from an African perspective, which will enable him/her to make informed judgement and response towards 1 Afrikan is used when referring to Dr. Akinyela's cultural democracy theory. iv inappropriate mainstream attitudes and values. Participation in the arena of cultural politics will therefore be based on informed practice. v Acknowledgements and Dedications This thesis would not have been possible without the African migrant youths who shared their stories during the Ujamaa Circle process. My thanks to you all. My thanks also to my immediate family who, in various ways, constituted a very important support team during my candidacy: To Nasimolo my wife, and our daughters Namusobya, Miriam, Mercie, and Mirembe. Thank you for being very understanding. I would like also to thank a close friend who helped me to be more positively focussed on issues affecting the African people. Thank you Barasa Kukubo for those treasurable moments of our discussions. The genius in you ought to benefit the entire humanity. Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, my thanks to my supervisors, Dr. Nado Aveling and Professor Jan Currie. I dedicate this thesis to my parents: my dad the Late Dasani Were and mum F. Namusobya Were. Dad had a large collection of books in his living room, which he encouraged me to read. In those days to own a home library in a village seemed odd and out of place. Mum on the other hand told me folk stories about our ancestors and also taught me to sing and dance. Through this type of environment my values and humanity were developed and established. I therefore grew up with two forms of education: the formal through school and the informal through the home library and my mother's evening cultural classes. Thank you for being good parents.
This paper examines the cultural identity of ten young people of African descent living in Perth ... more This paper examines the cultural identity of ten young people of African descent living in Perth , Western Australia. A dialogical research method known as Ujamaa Circle helped reveal the inner feelings of the participants regarding their cultural identity. The key concerns for the young people were racism and the pressure to assimilate. There was evidence of the need for African cultural education as a means to cultural renewal and connectedness. The research process created a more conscious focus and interest towards African cultural continuity among the participants as means of strengthening their bicultural identities. The paper concludes by proposing that a cultural educational approach known as African cultural literacy, which informs youth of African migrant descent about the relevance of African heritage in their bicultural identity, is essential.
African American Studies Center, 2011
Review(s) of: Preserving the Cultural Heritage of Africa: Crisis or Renaissance?, by Kenji Yoshid... more Review(s) of: Preserving the Cultural Heritage of Africa: Crisis or Renaissance?, by Kenji Yoshida and John Mack (eds.), Woodbridge/Suffolk and James Currey / UNISA, 2008.
Negotiating Cultural Identity through the Arts: The African Cultural Memory Youth Arts Festival (... more Negotiating Cultural Identity through the Arts: The African Cultural Memory Youth Arts Festival (ACMYAF) examines ways in which African cultural memory, and the extent to which the arts based approaches benefited the cultural identity socialisation experiences of young people of African migrant descent. Arts were used to explore the identities of a group of youth of African descent, as a means to developing understanding of the issues relating to their bicultural socialisation and ways in which Arts-based strategies could be used to address them towards bicultural competence. Bicultural competence implies the ability to function successfully in both the dominant and subordinate culture. The research project was motivated by the fact that Australian youth of African descent experience psycho-social challenges to their cultural identity development. Quite often this includes a denigration of their African cultures and identities through monocultural and exclusive cultural practises of...
ABSTRACT African Cultural Education: A dialogue with African migrant youth in Western Australia, ... more ABSTRACT African Cultural Education: A dialogue with African migrant youth in Western Australia, examines cultural issues that concern a specific group of African migrant youths. The ten youth participants three of whom are male and seven female share their concerns and desires about issues relating to their cultural identity. As a minority group in a predominantly Eurocentric society they are faced with cultural challenges, which influence their being namely: Racism and the pressure to assimilate. The thesis adopts an African Centred Cultural Democracy approach: which proposes that African people must construct a 'new' African identity and must begin to perceive and interpret the world in its entirety from an African psychological, spiritual, and cultural frame of reference. This approach requires an ongoing critical assesement of both subjective lived experience and objective conditions. Through the Ujamaa circle process the youth participants along with the facilitator examined challenges to their cultural identities and alternative liberatory options. Growing up in a culturally alienating Eurocentric culture, they felt the need for an African cultural space, in which they could explore issues affecting them as African descendants. In particular racism and assimilation were of major concern to them. They were of the opinion that there should be an ongoing African Cultural Education Program to facilitate cultural re-evaluation and continuity. It is the study's conclusion that cultural education for a minority African migrant group in a dominant Eurocentric culture is essential for their identities and continued root-cultural connectedness. Within the African Cultural Education conceptual framework, in addition to African cultural re-evaluation, it is possible to critically explore oppressive and domineering practices of the mainstream culture. It is also possible that the African migrant youth may become equipped with alternative worldviews from an African perspective, which will enable him/her to make informed judgement and response towards inappropriate mainstream attitudes and values. Participation in the arena of cultural politics will therefore be based on informed practice.
This chapter describes a research project conducted amongst Black youth of African migrant descen... more This chapter describes a research project conducted amongst Black youth of African migrant descent in Western Australia. The project had various components with one being a festival where African Australian young people used the arts to both inquire into their own lives, and share them with others. The festival included a range of arts-based inquiries that culminated into a series of performative events, the first being Australian Oz Idol that playfully drew on the popular Australian and American Idol formats. The second to be describedhere was a group-devised performance called The Real Deal.
This paper examines the cultural identity of ten young people of African descent living in Perth,... more This paper examines the cultural identity of ten young people of African descent living in Perth, Western Australia. A dialogical research method known as Ujamaa Circle helped reveal the inner feelings of the participants regarding their cultural identity. The key concerns for the young people were racism and the pressure to assimilate. There was evidence of the need for African cultural education as a means to cultural renewal and connectedness. The research process created a more conscious focus and interest towards African cultural continuity among the participants as means of strengthening their bicultural identities. The paper concludes by proposing that a cultural educational approach known as African cultural literacy, which informs youth of African migrant descent about the relevance of African heritage in their bicultural identity, is essential.
Australia has become home for a significant number of African migrants with the 2006 Census data ... more Australia has become home for a significant number of African migrants with the 2006 Census data showing that there were 248,699 African-born people living in Australia (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011). Increasing immigration has been specified as one of the forces promoting globalisation, and identities become more complex for immigrants as they are influenced by their native culture, the local culture to which they have immigrated, and the ‘global’ culture, thus potentially leading to a plurality of identities and ‘culturalisms’ (Cuccioletta, 2001/2002).
African Cultural Education: A dialogue with African migrant youth in Western Australia, examines ... more African Cultural Education: A dialogue with African migrant youth in Western Australia, examines cultural issues that concern a specific group of African migrant youths. The ten youth participants three of whom are male and seven female share their concerns and desires about issues relating to their cultural identity. As a minority group in a predominantly Eurocentric society they are faced with cultural challenges, which influence their being namely: Racism and the pressure to assimilate. The thesis adopts an African Centred Cultural Democracy approach: which proposes that African people must construct a 'new' African identity and must begin to perceive and interpret the world in its entirety from an African psychological, spiritual, and cultural frame of reference. This approach requires an ongoing critical assesement of both subjective lived experience and objective conditions. Through the Ujamaa circle process the youth participants along with the facilitator examined ch...
This article explores the concept of African Cultural Education Program (ACEP) as a relevant tool... more This article explores the concept of African Cultural Education Program (ACEP) as a relevant tool for gaining bicultural competence among African migrant descendant youth in Australia. The article proposes that acquisition of biculturally informative knowledge may be facilitated by critical exploration of diverse 'funds of knowledge' associated with the cultural experience and identities of the African Australian youth. ACEP is a Third Space phenomenon through which diverse 'funds of knowledge' may be explored, critically, towards a positively self-affirming discourse. The article proposes that formal schooling of African Australians should be complimented by an African Cultural Education Program (ACEP). Such a program involves cultural translators as agents for facilitating dialogue about cultural identity and schooling towards bicultural competence.
The Australasian review of African studies, Jun 1, 2010
ABSTRACT This article explores the concept of African Cultural Education Program (ACEP) as a rele... more ABSTRACT This article explores the concept of African Cultural Education Program (ACEP) as a relevant tool for gaining bicultural competence among African migrant descendant youth in Australia. The article proposes that acquisition of biculturally informative knowledge may be facilitated by critical exploration of diverse ‘funds of knowledge’ associated with the cultural experience and identities of the African Australian youth. ACEP is a Third Space phenomenon through which diverse ‘funds of knowledge’ may be explored, critically, towards a positively selfaffirming discourse. The article proposes that formal schooling of African Australians should be complimented by an African Cultural Education Program (ACEP). Such a program involves cultural translators as agents for facilitating dialogue about cultural identity and schooling towards bicultural competence.
The Australasian review of African studies, Jun 1, 2010
Review(s) of: Preserving the Cultural Heritage of Africa: Crisis or Renaissance?, by Kenji Yoshid... more Review(s) of: Preserving the Cultural Heritage of Africa: Crisis or Renaissance?, by Kenji Yoshida and John Mack (eds.), Woodbridge/Suffolk and James Currey / UNISA, 2008.
SensePublishers eBooks, 2017
Australia has become home for a significant number of African migrants with the 2006 Census data ... more Australia has become home for a significant number of African migrants with the 2006 Census data showing that there were 248,699 African-born people living in Australia (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011). Increasing immigration has been specified as one of the forces promoting globalisation, and identities become more complex for immigrants as they are influenced by their native culture, the local culture to which they have immigrated, and the ‘global’ culture, thus potentially leading to a plurality of identities and ‘culturalisms’ (Cuccioletta, 2001/2002).
The international journal of social, political and community agendas in the arts, 2017
The Australasian review of African studies, Jun 1, 2013
Review(s) of: Rethinking development strategies in Africa, by Makoba, Johnson W. Oxford, Bern, Ne... more Review(s) of: Rethinking development strategies in Africa, by Makoba, Johnson W. Oxford, Bern, New York: Peter Lang, 2011, 269 pp, ISBN 9783035301953.
The thesis project was a community based festival involving twelve young people of African descen... more The thesis project was a community based festival involving twelve young people of African descent, five patrons, two community artists and the researcher as the facilitator and cultural translator. I therefore wish to extend my sincere thanks to the young people involved in the project for trusting the process, sharing their stories, and creative imagination that culminated into an informative and educative festival. I also wish to thank the patrons for sparing their time to support the project, and the artists for playing an important role in facilitating some of the sessions towards informative performances. I would also like to acknowledge the organisations that provided funding and resources for the project-The City of Stirling (WA); Healthway (WA), the Office of Crime Prevention (WA), The Afrikan Community in Western Australia (ACWA) and Murdoch University, without their generosity it would have been impossible to accomplish this project. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, many thanks to my supervisors, Dr. David Moody and Dr. Peter Wright your support and feedback is immensely appreciated. I have learnt so much from you. I would like to dedicate this thesis to my wife Nasimolo Sarah Wakholi and our girls; Namusobya Wakholi Kamulegeya, Hasahya Wakholi, Namulwa Wakholi and Mirembe Musenero Wakholi for the support, passion and love. We have to tell our stories and through performance we legitimise our humanity. Ata demba satwihula! ix
ABSTRACT African Cultural Education: A dialogue with African migrant youth in Western Australia, ... more ABSTRACT African Cultural Education: A dialogue with African migrant youth in Western Australia, examines cultural issues that concern a specific group of African migrant youths. The ten youth participants three of whom are male and seven female share their concerns and desires about issues relating to their cultural identity. As a minority group in a predominantly Eurocentric society they are faced with cultural challenges, which influence their being namely: Racism and the pressure to assimilate. The thesis adopts an African Centred Cultural Democracy approach: which proposes that African people must construct a 'new' African identity and must begin to perceive and interpret the world in its entirety from an African psychological, spiritual, and cultural frame of reference. This approach requires an ongoing critical assesement of both subjective lived experience and objective conditions. Through the Ujamaa circle process the youth participants along with the facilitator examined challenges to their cultural identities and alternative liberatory options. Growing up in a culturally alienating Eurocentric culture, they felt the need for an African cultural space, in which they could explore issues affecting them as African descendants. In particular racism and assimilation were of major concern to them. They were of the opinion that there should be an ongoing African Cultural Education Program to facilitate cultural re-evaluation and continuity. It is the study's conclusion that cultural education for a minority African migrant group in a dominant Eurocentric culture is essential for their identities and continued root-cultural connectedness. Within the African Cultural Education conceptual framework, in addition to African cultural re-evaluation, it is possible to critically explore oppressive and domineering practices of the mainstream culture. It is also possible that the African migrant youth may become equipped with alternative worldviews from an African perspective, which will enable him/her to make informed judgement and response towards inappropriate mainstream attitudes and values. Participation in the arena of cultural politics will therefore be based on informed practice.
'African Cultural Education: A dialogue with African migrant youth in Western Australia', examine... more 'African Cultural Education: A dialogue with African migrant youth in Western Australia', examines cultural issues that concern a specific group of African migrant youths. The ten youth participants three of whom are male and seven female share their concerns and desires about issues relating to their cultural identity. As a minority group in a predominantly Eurocentric society they are faced with cultural challenges, which influence their being namely: Racism and the pressure to assimilate. The thesis adopts an Afrikan 1 Centred Cultural Democracy approach: which proposes that African people must construct a 'new' African identity and must begin to perceive and interpret the world in its entirety from an African psychological, spiritual, and cultural frame of reference. This approach requires an ongoing critical assesement of both subjective lived experience and objective conditions. Through the Ujamaa circle process the youth participants along with the facilitator examined challenges to their cultural identities and alternative liberatory options. Growing up in a culturally alienating Eurocentric culture, they felt the need for an African cultural space, in which they could explore issues affecting them as African descendants. In particular racism and assimilation were of major concern to them. They were of the opinion that there should be an ongoing African Cultural Education Program to facilitate cultural re-evaluation and continuity. It is the study's conclusion that cultural education for a minority African migrant group in a dominant Eurocentric culture is essential for their identities and continued root-cultural connectedness. Within the African Cultural Education conceptual framework, in addition to African cultural re-evaluation, it is possible to critically explore oppressive and domineering practices of the mainstream culture. It is also possible that the African migrant youth may become equipped with alternative worldviews from an African perspective, which will enable him/her to make informed judgement and response towards 1 Afrikan is used when referring to Dr. Akinyela's cultural democracy theory. iv inappropriate mainstream attitudes and values. Participation in the arena of cultural politics will therefore be based on informed practice. v Acknowledgements and Dedications This thesis would not have been possible without the African migrant youths who shared their stories during the Ujamaa Circle process. My thanks to you all. My thanks also to my immediate family who, in various ways, constituted a very important support team during my candidacy: To Nasimolo my wife, and our daughters Namusobya, Miriam, Mercie, and Mirembe. Thank you for being very understanding. I would like also to thank a close friend who helped me to be more positively focussed on issues affecting the African people. Thank you Barasa Kukubo for those treasurable moments of our discussions. The genius in you ought to benefit the entire humanity. Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, my thanks to my supervisors, Dr. Nado Aveling and Professor Jan Currie. I dedicate this thesis to my parents: my dad the Late Dasani Were and mum F. Namusobya Were. Dad had a large collection of books in his living room, which he encouraged me to read. In those days to own a home library in a village seemed odd and out of place. Mum on the other hand told me folk stories about our ancestors and also taught me to sing and dance. Through this type of environment my values and humanity were developed and established. I therefore grew up with two forms of education: the formal through school and the informal through the home library and my mother's evening cultural classes. Thank you for being good parents.
This paper examines the cultural identity of ten young people of African descent living in Perth ... more This paper examines the cultural identity of ten young people of African descent living in Perth , Western Australia. A dialogical research method known as Ujamaa Circle helped reveal the inner feelings of the participants regarding their cultural identity. The key concerns for the young people were racism and the pressure to assimilate. There was evidence of the need for African cultural education as a means to cultural renewal and connectedness. The research process created a more conscious focus and interest towards African cultural continuity among the participants as means of strengthening their bicultural identities. The paper concludes by proposing that a cultural educational approach known as African cultural literacy, which informs youth of African migrant descent about the relevance of African heritage in their bicultural identity, is essential.
African American Studies Center, 2011
Review(s) of: Preserving the Cultural Heritage of Africa: Crisis or Renaissance?, by Kenji Yoshid... more Review(s) of: Preserving the Cultural Heritage of Africa: Crisis or Renaissance?, by Kenji Yoshida and John Mack (eds.), Woodbridge/Suffolk and James Currey / UNISA, 2008.
Negotiating Cultural Identity through the Arts: The African Cultural Memory Youth Arts Festival (... more Negotiating Cultural Identity through the Arts: The African Cultural Memory Youth Arts Festival (ACMYAF) examines ways in which African cultural memory, and the extent to which the arts based approaches benefited the cultural identity socialisation experiences of young people of African migrant descent. Arts were used to explore the identities of a group of youth of African descent, as a means to developing understanding of the issues relating to their bicultural socialisation and ways in which Arts-based strategies could be used to address them towards bicultural competence. Bicultural competence implies the ability to function successfully in both the dominant and subordinate culture. The research project was motivated by the fact that Australian youth of African descent experience psycho-social challenges to their cultural identity development. Quite often this includes a denigration of their African cultures and identities through monocultural and exclusive cultural practises of...
ABSTRACT African Cultural Education: A dialogue with African migrant youth in Western Australia, ... more ABSTRACT African Cultural Education: A dialogue with African migrant youth in Western Australia, examines cultural issues that concern a specific group of African migrant youths. The ten youth participants three of whom are male and seven female share their concerns and desires about issues relating to their cultural identity. As a minority group in a predominantly Eurocentric society they are faced with cultural challenges, which influence their being namely: Racism and the pressure to assimilate. The thesis adopts an African Centred Cultural Democracy approach: which proposes that African people must construct a 'new' African identity and must begin to perceive and interpret the world in its entirety from an African psychological, spiritual, and cultural frame of reference. This approach requires an ongoing critical assesement of both subjective lived experience and objective conditions. Through the Ujamaa circle process the youth participants along with the facilitator examined challenges to their cultural identities and alternative liberatory options. Growing up in a culturally alienating Eurocentric culture, they felt the need for an African cultural space, in which they could explore issues affecting them as African descendants. In particular racism and assimilation were of major concern to them. They were of the opinion that there should be an ongoing African Cultural Education Program to facilitate cultural re-evaluation and continuity. It is the study's conclusion that cultural education for a minority African migrant group in a dominant Eurocentric culture is essential for their identities and continued root-cultural connectedness. Within the African Cultural Education conceptual framework, in addition to African cultural re-evaluation, it is possible to critically explore oppressive and domineering practices of the mainstream culture. It is also possible that the African migrant youth may become equipped with alternative worldviews from an African perspective, which will enable him/her to make informed judgement and response towards inappropriate mainstream attitudes and values. Participation in the arena of cultural politics will therefore be based on informed practice.
This chapter describes a research project conducted amongst Black youth of African migrant descen... more This chapter describes a research project conducted amongst Black youth of African migrant descent in Western Australia. The project had various components with one being a festival where African Australian young people used the arts to both inquire into their own lives, and share them with others. The festival included a range of arts-based inquiries that culminated into a series of performative events, the first being Australian Oz Idol that playfully drew on the popular Australian and American Idol formats. The second to be describedhere was a group-devised performance called The Real Deal.
This paper examines the cultural identity of ten young people of African descent living in Perth,... more This paper examines the cultural identity of ten young people of African descent living in Perth, Western Australia. A dialogical research method known as Ujamaa Circle helped reveal the inner feelings of the participants regarding their cultural identity. The key concerns for the young people were racism and the pressure to assimilate. There was evidence of the need for African cultural education as a means to cultural renewal and connectedness. The research process created a more conscious focus and interest towards African cultural continuity among the participants as means of strengthening their bicultural identities. The paper concludes by proposing that a cultural educational approach known as African cultural literacy, which informs youth of African migrant descent about the relevance of African heritage in their bicultural identity, is essential.
Australia has become home for a significant number of African migrants with the 2006 Census data ... more Australia has become home for a significant number of African migrants with the 2006 Census data showing that there were 248,699 African-born people living in Australia (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011). Increasing immigration has been specified as one of the forces promoting globalisation, and identities become more complex for immigrants as they are influenced by their native culture, the local culture to which they have immigrated, and the ‘global’ culture, thus potentially leading to a plurality of identities and ‘culturalisms’ (Cuccioletta, 2001/2002).
African Cultural Education: A dialogue with African migrant youth in Western Australia, examines ... more African Cultural Education: A dialogue with African migrant youth in Western Australia, examines cultural issues that concern a specific group of African migrant youths. The ten youth participants three of whom are male and seven female share their concerns and desires about issues relating to their cultural identity. As a minority group in a predominantly Eurocentric society they are faced with cultural challenges, which influence their being namely: Racism and the pressure to assimilate. The thesis adopts an African Centred Cultural Democracy approach: which proposes that African people must construct a 'new' African identity and must begin to perceive and interpret the world in its entirety from an African psychological, spiritual, and cultural frame of reference. This approach requires an ongoing critical assesement of both subjective lived experience and objective conditions. Through the Ujamaa circle process the youth participants along with the facilitator examined ch...
This article explores the concept of African Cultural Education Program (ACEP) as a relevant tool... more This article explores the concept of African Cultural Education Program (ACEP) as a relevant tool for gaining bicultural competence among African migrant descendant youth in Australia. The article proposes that acquisition of biculturally informative knowledge may be facilitated by critical exploration of diverse 'funds of knowledge' associated with the cultural experience and identities of the African Australian youth. ACEP is a Third Space phenomenon through which diverse 'funds of knowledge' may be explored, critically, towards a positively self-affirming discourse. The article proposes that formal schooling of African Australians should be complimented by an African Cultural Education Program (ACEP). Such a program involves cultural translators as agents for facilitating dialogue about cultural identity and schooling towards bicultural competence.