Maboula Soumahoro - Black is the Journey, Africana the Name

1 Cover

2 Series Title

3 Title Page Black is the Journey, Africana the Name Maboula Soumahoro Translated by Kaiama L. Glover polity

4 Copyright Page Copyright Page Originally published in French as Le triangle et l’hexagone: Réflexions sur une identité noire © Éditions La Découverte, Paris, 2020 This English edition © Polity Press, 2022 Cover artwork: ‘M. Angelou’ | In ‘The Malediction of Cham’ series | 2020 Painting, mixed media, 47 × 47 in Artist | Marielle Plaisir Polity Press 65 Bridge Street Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK Polity Press 101 Station Landing Suite 300 Medford, MA 02155, USA All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4832-3 ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4833-0 (pb) A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NL Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ Books Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall The publisher has used its best endeavors to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition. For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com

5 Dedication Dedication I dedicate this book to the late Dr. Colin A. Palmer (1944–2019), master of the diaspora, H.N.I.C. without parallel. In addition to the invaluable knowledge he imparted, he proclaimed me “Miss France” as of 1999. Astonished and perplexed at first, I was incapable of grasping the symbolic importance of this pronouncement until many years later. I have since held onto and taken care of that precious title. For this, I want to offer him my eternal gratitude.

6 Epigraph Epigraph With Naïma Yahi. Together, at the intersection. Head held high.

7 Quote Quote “If it was up to me …It is up to me.”– Saul Williams, The Wind’s Song, 1998.

8 Acknowledgments

9 Translator’s Note Notes

10 Foreword – Saidiya Hartman Notes

11 Introduction Notes

12 1 The Triangle: Oxymoronic Circles Chronotope Scholarly and personal implications An intellectual tradition The question of return Notes

13 2 University Trajectory: Atlantic Peregrinations Black orbit Studying in France Studying overseas Notes

14 3 The Hexagon: An Ambiguous Adventure “For the great MCs, on behalf of a grateful ‘hood’” 2005: “Right the wrong, by any means necessary” Public discourse Black History Month (BHM)/Africana Days To be done with the burden of race Notes

15 Conclusion The Orbs are Black, or, What Beauty Owes to Chaos Notes

16 Index

17 End User License Agreement

1 Cover

2 Table of Contents

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Maboula Soumahoro

Translated by Kaiama L. Glover

polity

Originally published in French as Le triangle et l’hexagone: Réflexions sur une identité noire © Éditions La Découverte, Paris, 2020

This English edition © Polity Press, 2022

Cover artwork: ‘M. Angelou’ | In ‘The Malediction of Cham’ series | 2020

Painting, mixed media, 47 × 47 in

Artist | Marielle Plaisir

Polity Press

65 Bridge Street

Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

Polity Press

101 Station Landing

Suite 300

Medford, MA 02155, USA

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4832-3

ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4833-0 (pb)

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NL

Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ Books Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall

The publisher has used its best endeavors to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.

Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.

For further information on Polity, visit our website:

politybooks.com

I dedicate this book to the late Dr. Colin A. Palmer (1944–2019), master of the diaspora, H.N.I.C. without parallel. In addition to the invaluable knowledge he imparted, he proclaimed me “Miss France” as of 1999. Astonished and perplexed at first, I was incapable of grasping the symbolic importance of this pronouncement until many years later. I have since held onto and taken care of that precious title. For this, I want to offer him my eternal gratitude.

With Naïma Yahi. Together, at the intersection. Head held high.

“If it was up to me …It is up to me.”– Saul Williams, The Wind’s Song, 1998.

My deepest gratitude to Natalia Brizuela, my editor at Polity Books, for her so precious warm, constant, and cheerful support and encouragement.