About this Event
What if everything you were taught about Africa has been shaped not by what Africa knew, but by how African knowledge was classified?
Across the continent, African societies developed sophisticated traditions of philosophy, law, governance, ethics, science, writing and knowledge transmission. Yet many of these traditions remain almost entirely absent from the way African history is commonly taught.
In this provocative and accessible talk, Chinenye Egbuna Ikwuemesi opens the door onto an intellectual history of Africa that many of us were never given: African systems of thought such as Ifa, Ubuntu, Ma’at, Igbo jurisprudence and Akan philosophy; indigenous traditions of writing and knowledge preservation; and ideas about justice, society, personhood and the nature of knowledge itself.
She examines how these traditions were misclassified and why they remain largely absent from mainstream education.
Expect surprising histories, unfamiliar ideas and a very different way of seeing Africa’s place in the history of human thought.been defined and understood.
All proceeds from this event will be donated to the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT) - a 50+ times award winning charity committed to providing hope to patients living with blood cancer and illnesses where a matched donor (stem cell, blood or organ) is required to save a life.
Part of Camden Council's Black History Season 2026 programme
Event venue & nearby stays
Holborn Library, 32-38 Theobalds Road, London, United Kingdom
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