Promoting African knowledge in communication studies: African feminisms as critical decolonial praxis

ABSTRACT In this essay, I advocate for the (re)centering of African epistemologies in research conducted on/about Africa in communication studies, particularly in feminist scholarship. I argue that African feminisms can serve as a critical decolonial tool providing valuable insights that can decenter whiteness and challenge the dominance of U.S.-centered frameworks for research conducted on/about Africa. I develop my discussion of a decolonial feminist communication agenda in five themes: (a) decolonizing the imperialistic portrayal of the African woman, (b) decolonizing African sexuality, (c) decolonizing the research process, (d) decolonizing the homogenization of Blackness, and (e) decolonizing ways of knowing. In so doing, I invite communication scholars to reflect on how and why they engage, make use of, or conduct communication research on/about Africa in order to reach an emancipatory goal of decolonizing the discipline.