I’ve finally settled on a name for my blog – Christocentric. Kind of easy because it’s the same as my website. But what in the heck does it mean?
Let’s see, straight from the Webster’s dictionary:
Christocentric
\Chris”to*cen”tric\, a. [Christ + centric.] Making Christ the center, about whom all things are grouped, as in religion or history; tending toward Christ, as the central object of thought or emotion. –J. W. Chadwick.
Why did I go against all the rules of choosing a domain and blog name by making it long and difficult to pronounce? I chose it to counter the name of “afrocentric,” a way of thinking that in my opinion is detrimental to a black individual’s relationship to God AND to society.
That opinion in itself will get me into a lot of trouble with mainstream “African-Americans.” I won’t use the term African-American in my primary writings because to me, that is an afrocentric term. I prefer to just use the term “black” to describe Americans of African ancestry. Most of us conservative blacks prefer that name anyway and conservative I am.
But what does afrocentric or afrocentricity mean?
Here’s the definition by noted black afrocentric scholars and Institutions:
Wade W. Nobles
“Afrocentric, Africentric, or Afirican Centered” are interchangeable terms representing the concept which categorizes a quality of thought and practice which is rooted in the cultural image and interest of African people and which represents and reflects the life experiences, history and traditions of African people as the center of analyses. It is therein, the intellectual and philosophical foundation which African people should create their own scientific criterion for authenticating human reality.”Molefi Asante (1987)
“Afrocentricity [African centered] as the placing of African ideals at the center of any analysis that involves African culture and behavior.”Maulana Karenga (1994)
Afrocentricity can be defined as a quality of thought and practice rooted in the cultural image and human interest of African people [and their descendants]. To be rooted in the cultural image of African people is to be anchored in the views and values of African people as well as in the practice which emanates from and gives rise to these views and values.Kean College Africana Studies
The African centered perspective rests on the premise that it is valid to position Africa as a geographical and cultural starting base in the study of peoples of African descent (Keto 1989). The objective therefore is to view the world from the perspective of the people studied. The Afro-centric comprehensive model for the teaching and learning of knowledge about African peoples makes possible an understanding of, and appreciation for the social, institutional, cultural and intellectual patterns of African people.
These are just a few that I dug up from this website: http://www.afrocentric.info/AfricanCentered/Definitions.html..
On this same page is the following which is the thrust of the afrocentric thought. It is titled, “Some things to consider.”
1. “African Centered” is a thought (philosophy) not continent or appearance.
2. African Centered is a “how process.”
3. Cultural heritage provides the lenses by which we view and the foundation on which we interpret the world.
The last one, #3 is the clincher: cultural heritage encompasses an afrocentric’s world view. That one “thing to consider” is a reason why many blacks take celebrations like Kwanzaa so seriously. Their heritage is providing a way to view their world!
So with these definitions and explanations, I begin to truly give more direction to my blog here. I’m dedicating this blogosphere to refuting afrocentricity as a way of life for the black man, woman or child and introducing the BEST way – the way of Jesus Christ – “christocentrically” speaking!
