Honoring Authorship and Mentorship in Africentric and Community-Aligned Teaching and Learning
Navigating Ethical Attribution in Shared Frameworks with Integrity
Introduction
In community-centered and Africentric traditions, knowledge is never neutral. It carries spirit, lineage, and obligation. As more practitioners rooted in these traditions engage with formal academia or institutionalized mindfulness and psychology programs, a fundamental tension arises. How can we share insights that emerge in communal spaces without violating the trust, reciprocity, or spirit that shaped them? What constitutes rightful authorship when teachings are co-held, co-developed, or shared in sacred trust? These questions invite a deeper exploration of the ethics of knowledge transmission, especially for Black scholars and cultural workers navigating both traditional wisdom and formal education.
Africentric frameworks such as Sankofa provide more than cultural context; they offer structural alternatives to dominant ideas of ownership. In the Sankofa paradigm, knowledge retrieval is a sacred act. It involves returning to ancestral sources, revisiting silenced truths, and bringing forward what was once hidden. This work is never solo. Even when carried out by an individual, it takes place within a web of spirit, community, and historical relation. A person who channels a Sankofa insight is not its originator. They are its vessel. Therefore, authorship within this frame becomes a matter of accountability and presence, not possession.
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