I’d love to share a piece that I believe aligns with your rich explorations of Black European experiences and global connections. It focuses on Mongameli Mabona—a South African educator and anthropologist whose life and work offer vital insights for ongoing struggles against cultural erasure and for epistemic justice.
As Ernst Wolff outlines in Mongameli Mabona: His Life and Work (Leuven University Press, 2020), Mabona was a visionary who championed Bantu knowledge systems long before they entered mainstream conversations. My piece extends this, tracing Mabona’s legacy across South Africa, Bolivia, Uganda, and Switzerland—where he spent much of his life navigating everyday racism while engaging intellectually with European spaces. His story offers a unique lens on how ancestral wisdom travels and transforms, even within Europe.
I feel Afropean, with its focus on the intersections of Blackness and Europe, would be an ideal home for this reflection. I’d be happy to adapt or shorten the piece to fit your platform’s needs.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Warmly, Themba M.
Dear Afropean team,
I’d love to share a piece that I believe aligns with your rich explorations of Black European experiences and global connections. It focuses on Mongameli Mabona—a South African educator and anthropologist whose life and work offer vital insights for ongoing struggles against cultural erasure and for epistemic justice.
As Ernst Wolff outlines in Mongameli Mabona: His Life and Work (Leuven University Press, 2020), Mabona was a visionary who championed Bantu knowledge systems long before they entered mainstream conversations. My piece extends this, tracing Mabona’s legacy across South Africa, Bolivia, Uganda, and Switzerland—where he spent much of his life navigating everyday racism while engaging intellectually with European spaces. His story offers a unique lens on how ancestral wisdom travels and transforms, even within Europe.
I feel Afropean, with its focus on the intersections of Blackness and Europe, would be an ideal home for this reflection. I’d be happy to adapt or shorten the piece to fit your platform’s needs.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Warmly, Themba M.