BLACK THOUGHT MATTERS, Africana Philosophy and Freedom

198pp., paperback, Bloomsbury Academic, London, 2026

ISBN: 9781350536548

In an act of political and ideological defiance, LaRose T. Parris traces the early production of philosophical thought to the African continent, revealing the persistent erasure, whitening, and distortion of Black thought across historical epochs - from antiquity through the Enlightenment and the age of empire to the modern world.

Drawing on sources from Antef to Ibn Rushd, and Anna Julia Cooper to Frantz Fanon, as well as contemporary Africana philosophers, she constructs a powerful counter-history that places Black thought at the centre rather than the margins of human knowledge.

“Black Thought Matters is a major intervention in the fields of philosophy and decolonial studies. This book challenges the hegemonic paradigm of the Enlightenment and its epistemic erasure of scholars of African descent. By centering Black thought, Parris shifts the geography of knowledge production, while also acknowledging the interconnectedness of freedom and Black humanity. Her work shows how academia's exclusion and the marginalization of Black thought mirror centuries of white supremacy, oppression, and anti-Black racism. This book is not a cry for recognition, but an assertation of the historical presence of Black thought in spite of its centuries-long exclusion from academic discourse.” Nathalie Etoke, Professor of Francophone and Africana Studies at the Graduate Centre, CUNY

“Reading this book is like being ushered into an African Karamu (feast). The host circulates among old and new friends, spirited conversations all around. In one corner, elders Leonard Harris, Lewis Gordon, and Lucius Outlaw hold forth on Saint Augustine, Ibn Rushd, Zara Yacob, and Anton Wilhelm Amo. In another corner ancestral voices of W.E.B. Du Bois and Frederick Douglass echo in the memories of C.L.R. James, Sojourner Truth, Anna Julia Cooper, Lorraine Hansberry, and Frantz Fanon. Mixing narrative and interviews, LaRose T. Parris deftly presides and delivers a satisfying offering of the broad range of intellectual productions of blackness. The focus spans art, story-telling, music, queerness, and black feminism. Old friends at this gathering will find much to reminisce about. New friends will feel welcome to sample new delights. All who enter here will be better prepared by the rich conversation to more fully tell the story of Islam, of Moor conquests, or even of the influences that made Renaissance achievements possible. Broadening the category of Black Thought opens a space for deeper communion.” ―Samuel Imbo, Professor of Philosophy, Hamline University

LaRose Parris is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Africana Studies at Lehman College, City University of New York. Her first book, Being Apart: Theoretical and Existential Resistance in Africana Literature, was awarded the Nicolás Guillén Prize for Outstanding Book in Philosophical Liteature.