Communication theory from Améfrica Ladina: amefricanidade, Lélia Gonzalez, and Black decolonial approaches

ABSTRACT In this article, I engage Black Brazilian feminist Lélia Gonzalez and her theory, amefricanidade (Amefricanity), to further our understandings of African communication. I argue that Gonzalez’s theory is important for communication studies to understand how Africanity culturally travels to and politically transforms in the Americas. As a Black decolonial theory, amefricanidade critiques U.S. imperialism as well as Brazilian coloniality from the vantage point of Black people in Latin America. It is also invested in Black transnational political and cultural solidarities that transcend colonial, cultural, linguistic, and material borders in the Americas that maintain white supremacy. As I explicate, amefricanidade provides a sophisticated framework to understand Black/African cultural communication through three key themes. I first focus on who is Black in the Americas, especially in Latin America. Then, I turn to Brazil to illustrate the relational meanings between Africanity/Blackness, latinidade, and whiteness. Finally, I center how Black cultures are expressed and exchanged as a political tool of Black reunification in the Western hemisphere.