Vol. 3 (2021)
As the Chair of the African Studies Program at McGill University, it is my great honor to introduce readers to Uhuru: The McGill Undergraduate Journal of African Studies. Uhuru, now in its third volume, is one of the very first undergraduate journals of its kind. In the following pages readers will be treated to, and rewarded with, peer reviewed articles on a wide range of topics. These include rigorously researched and edited works on the relationship between neocolonialism and Wildlife conservation; the continued relevance of the legendary artist Jean-Michel Basquiat; the lesser known issue of identity and subculture in the Republic of the Congo; the linkage between foreign policy and political violence in East Africa and state collapse in Somalia; the colonial effects of the UN Security Council vis-Ã -vis Africa; the relationship between economic models - inherited from the West - and inter-ethnic violence; and the profound and enduring scholarly, political and cultural contributions of African intellectuals, filmmakers and artists (past and present) for our understanding of Pan-Africanism and Black cultural production.
The idea for the aptly named Uhuru (Freedom in Swahili) originated from the initiative, intellectual talent, and perseverance of the African Studies Students Association (ASSA) and the many students here at McGill that, over the years, have been steadfast in promoting rigorous academic research on topics related to Africa and the African diaspora. Indeed, Uhuru speaks poignantly to advancements in the scholarship on Africa in ways that would have defied expectations only a few years ago. A product of the tireless efforts of its editorial team, the Journal takes seriously issues associated with the historical (mis)representation of Africa, the importance of working towards decolonizing scholarship on the continent, the vital importance of including (and centering) research produced by student authors from Africa and those of African descent, and the encouragement of any and all contributions that address African topics from a critical analytical lens.
Readers of Uhuru will immediately recognize the Journal’s overall sentiment of “sharing.†That is, the ways in which cross-disciplinary work on Africa and the African diaspora contributes to our understanding of some of the most pressing issues not only in Africa but throughout the globe. Consequently, and taken together, the contributions to this volume not only center work on and about Africa in new, novel and critical ways; they foreground the avenues through which scholarship on Africa and the African diaspora paves the way for academics, students and the wider community alike to understand that efforts at combating anti-Black racism worldwide are crucially and foundationally determined by how we imagine, research and write about the continent of Africa.
