Between the end of the nineteenth century and the eve of World War II, Africans displaced by colonial rule aggrandized the attainments of American blacks, creating an African american myth that played an important role in their religious, political and social life. This myth, while existing in direct contradiction to the intense discrimination faced by black people in the United States, provided Africans with an inspirational model upon which to improve their lives.

Africans on African-Americans traces the development of the African American myth and the way in which the...

Between the end of the nineteenth century and the outbreak of World War 2, Africans displaced by colonial rule created an African-American myth - a myth which aggrandized the life and attainments of African Americans despite full knowledge of the discrimination to which they were subjected. The myth provided Africans in all parts of the continent with much needed succour and underpinned various religious, educational, political and social models based on the experience of African Americans whereby Africans sought to better their own lives.