ABSTRACT
Asante’s (1988) historic text Afrocentricity reintroduced the concept of viewing the world from an African and Black American perspective. In Afrocentricity KH KLJKOLJKWV%RRNHU7:DVKLQJWRQ:(%'X%RLV 0DUFXV*DUYH\'U0DUWLQ/XWKHU.LQJ-U(OLMDK0XKDPPDG0DOFROP ;DQG0DXODQD.DUHQJD+HVSHFL¿FDOO\KLJKOLJKWVWKHFRQWULEXWLRQVWKDW each of the aforementioned persons made to Afrocentricity. Although the text does not necessarily address leadership discourse found in leadership studies, it creates a space for Afrocentric discourse in leadership studies. /HDGHUVKLSVWXGLHVLVDQHZ¿HOGRIVWXG\LQDFDGHPLDGDWLQJEDFNWR
DURXQG\HDUVDJR,WKDVEHHQGH¿QHGDVDQLQWHUGLVFLSOLQDU\¿HOGRI study that examines leadership across disciplines. Similar to Africana/ Black studies that is also an interdisciplinary area of study, scholars in leadership studies examine leadership from a wide range of academic disciplines. However, the majority of leadership studies discourse has been centered primarily on the management of businesses and large corporations. Scholars in leadership studies are beginning to explore a wide range of topics such as critical theory, religious studies, spirituality, popular culture, cultural diversity, and globalism, among others. Bryman et al. (2011) ZULWH³/HDGHUVKLSSHUVSHFWLYHVDQGUHVHDUFKLQFUHDVLQJO\GUDZRQDEURDG range of disciplines, including (social) psychology, sociology, history, political science, anthropology, cultural studies, philosophy, education, PLOLWDU\VWXGLHVKHDOWKDQGVRFLDOZHOIDUHDQGUHOLJLRXVVWXGLHV´SLY
Despite the emerging discourse in leadership studies there is a dearth of information related to the Black American perspective of leadership. For example, in The SAGE Handbook of Leadership there is no discussion about leadership from a Black American perspective (Bryman et al. 2011). The handbook represents one of the dilemmas in leadership studies with regard to the limited discourse from diverse cultural perspectives. It is FOHDUWKDWWKLVHPHUJLQJDQGG\QDPLF¿HOGPLVVHVWKH$IURFHQWULFLGHD a component that could inform the study of leadership enhancing the practice of leadership.
