The Afrocentric-Youth Paradigm

The Afrocentric-Youth Paradigm proposes a research methodology or a model for doing African youth research. Afrocentrism highlights that African research is done by African people through the actual African lens and approached from African cultural perspectives. This means that the lived cultural experiences of the African people are imperative in producing a more reliable and credible research output. On the other hand, it is normal for young people in Africa to experience discrimination and exclusion from major decision making and activities due to age. Most African cultures value the aged above young people with the assumption that they are inexperienced and therefore do not have much to offer. It is in this light that I propose that African cultures need to be interrogated holistically and thoroughly when researching on young people. The Afrocentric-Youth Paradigm is a proposed research methodology that provides specific questions that need to be addressed in the culture while doing African youth research.