African Men and Self Knowledge: Why Knowing Self Must be a Priority | Baba Buntu | TEDxGaborone

Document Abstract / Summary Overview

In this talk, Activist Scholar Baba Buntu outlines a narrative of decolonizing African masculinities around the title of Femi Kuti’s song “Blackman Know Your Self”. Buntu argues that the many oppressive layers that brutally impact on African men’s lives, necessitates a deep and critical form of self-awareness, as an essential process for re-scripting meaningful African manhood. Baba Buntu is a community scholar, practitioner, consultant, lecturer and writer focusing primarily on African perspectives within education, leadership, culture and social/community empowerment. He is Founder and Executive Director of eBukhosini Solutions, a community-based consultancy company in Johannesburg. He is also a founder of The R.I.S.E. Project (artist development), Afuraka (cultural community development), SHABAKA – Men of Afrika (men’s programme) and Street Academy (empowerment of young entrepreneurs). This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.