Contextual and Conceptual Framework

The statement ex Africa simper aliquid novi, attributed to Pliny the Elder, is translated as out of Africa, always something new. Apparently the saying was often used derisively, because there was little known about the Dark Continent. Through this book, however, out of Africa becomes something new, something worth celebrating. Rather than stories of war and rumors of war, hunger and disease, and corruption and mismanagement of government coffers, herein are stories of women who are working hard at their own emancipation from these and other man-made evils. These are women who lead with courage and conviction, spirit and strength, serving their communities and changing the status quo for the sake of social and economic justice. There is enough bad news coming out of Africa on a frequent basis to make the rest of the world think that nothing good comes out of the Continent. In contradistinction, this book illustrates that there are beacons of light and hope in the women of Africa, beacons of change for a better world. The Endarkened Continent can no longer be dismissed as a place of ignorance and disease; these stories demonstrate that there is something the rest of the world can learn from their black African sisters. From these leadership stories, we learn that our African sisters are resourceful problem solvers who collectivize to resolve their common problems, who are not silent in the face of severe challenges but instead are spirited social justice leaders who serve with a servant’s heart and a tempered radicalism necessary to achieve their goals for healing community and restoring justice to the marginalized.