CONCEPT OF AFRICAN DIASPORA

The concept of African Diaspora originated from a Greek word called “ gola’’( dispersed or scattered community) from the  historic experience of the Jewish people . Diaspora which means the spreading of the Jewish people to other places outside of Israel implies the existence of a homeland which a people has move from and resettling in a new place abode outside of the homeland and has the sense of belonging to their homeland.

Africans has also experience similar mass movement mostly under duress of the African people to the new world was similar to that of the Jewish in Babylonia  captivity, scholars borrowed the term Diaspora to the African situation and called it the “African Diaspora’’ .

The term African Diaspora which means the global dispersion both freely and forcibly of people of African descent throughout history the emergence of a cultural identity abroad based on the origins and social conditions as well as the psychological and physical retains to the motherland (Harris.2001), the definition by Harris implied that the African Diaspora is continuous, dynamic and difficult since it stretches through time and geography.

The term is often use in a way which is not historical resulting in all manner of movement and migration between and within countries. Before a group of people can be describe by the term diaspora, they need to have these features which are; the sense of belonging to their motherland than their new place of settling which is they should always portray the sense of belonging to the land of their ancestors. An example of this is how African Americans view Africa as the land of kings and queens, prince and princesses. Rastafarians also often refer to Africa as their “Zion, flowing with milk and honey’’.

Secondly to talk about is they should always feel marginalised or discriminated against and unappreciated in their new settlement. This must be so because; the first Africans who arrived in the European countries were marginalised and also discriminated against. Hence, for any group of people to be called as those in diaspora, they should also experience these things that Africans experienced when they arrived in Europe.

Thirdly, the people should have their cultural continuities or retention of cultural practices in their activities. Some of the cultural practices should be maintained as originally found on the continent or should be slightly altered as can be seen in these example of “Voodou- Haiti  and Sentiera- Cuba’’ festivals.