Philosophy Bites Chike Jeffers on Africana Philosophy
Jan 1, 2026
In this discussion, Chike Jeffers, a philosopher from Dalhousie University specializing in Africana philosophy, dives into the rich landscape of African thought. He emphasizes the significance of oral traditions and how proverbs serve as philosophical texts. Jeffers explores early African writing from Egypt to Ethiopia and highlights the influence of Islam and Swahili literature. He examines how colonialism and the slave trade shaped modern thought and what it means to define philosophy itself within the Africana context.
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Africana Is A Broad Diasporic Category
- Africana philosophy is a broad category that includes African, African American, Afro-Caribbean, and other diaspora philosophies.
- The term arose from Africana studies to capture philosophy across the African diaspora, not just on the African continent.
1982 Conference United Diasporic Philosophers
- Lucius Outlaw organized a 1982 conference to bring together African and African-American philosophers.
- The meeting aimed to gather thinkers working across the African diaspora into a shared conversation.
Oral Traditions Can Hold Philosophy
- Africana philosophy studies both written and oral traditions, reaching back to ancient Egyptian written thought.
- Oral materials like proverbs can encode substantive philosophical claims and traceable individual insights.
