Editorial: Black Diaspora

[para. 1]: "Diaspora is a difficult concept to define. From the Greek for "to sow over," a diaspora is a scattering of people across different nations. Some people understand diaspora to mean a dispersal caused by a particular historical trauma; others use the word to describe any form of migration away from some place to which a group has been attached for generations. In the context of the Black Diaspora, these different approaches comprise a debate over whether the Black Diaspora includes only those whose dispersal is a result of transatlantic slavery, or all peoples of African descent living outside of the continent. Other definitions insist on including continental Africans, more recent Caribbean movements and migrations, and other, multidirectional contemporary migrations, virtually global in their routes and settlements. However the term is defined, it suggests a certain bond based on common ancestry, history, culture, and experiences. It also signals a way of self-understanding that extends beyond the borders of the nation in which one lives. The Black diaspora can therefore also highlight individual and community identifications that are used to understand questions of exclusion and unbelonging."