• Africana (noun): An umbrella term used to describe not only Africa, but the African diaspora.

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• Black Philosopher (noun): A phrase used to describe a person who engages in and produces philosophical discourse based on their skin color. This phrase is often seen as an oxymoron since society cannot fathom the idea of a black person with the capacity to engage in philosophical discourse. The stigma of having black skin, to society, somehow discredits one’s mental capacity.

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• Contribution (noun): Sharing one’s knowledge and wisdom with the intention to elevate and advance as the result. Contribution becomes important to one who understands that the elevation of others is the elevation of self. The idea of community stems from Africana culture.

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• Discursive Violence (adj): Violence that is written or spoken with the intent to leave one psychologically broken or physically distraught. Almost every person encounters this specific violence everyday to some extent. It is normalized, so when a person tries to call it by name they are often seen as sensitive or soft by society.

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• Intellectual (noun): Someone with the capacity to engage in thought related to the intellect by contributing and understand what is presented.

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• Legitimization (verb): The act of removing taint propaganda surrounding a subject in order to correctly distribute credit where it is due. The lack of legitimacy surrounding black philosophy is a hinderance to the body of work receiving exposure. This also hinders the extent to which people want to engage with such matter.

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• Professional (noun): Someone that possesses the skill set and expertise to engage in discourse about the related profession. Professionalism often can be seen as exclusionary considering subjects linked to black culture are often seen as unprofessional, a label that discredits one’s skill set. There is no poster child for being a professional, considering it has nothing to do with what one looks like on the outside.

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• Recognition (noun): Identification and acceptance of the subject matter’s existence and legitimacy. This is the barest of minimum that is necessary in being proactive and breaking the barriers surrounding black philosophy.

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• Resource (noun): Means to enable one to be able to conduct an activity surrounding a subject. Resources can be essentially anything, but finding some resources with relevance to black philosophy is where the problems arise. There is not much coverage of black philosophy and those who produced discourse.

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• Specific (adj): The act of consciously choosing precise diction to reflect exactly what it is that you are referencing. It is essential to be as specific as possible while doing research, especially while browsing the web, in order to ensure the results correlate to what exactly it is one is inquiring about.

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• Systematic (adj): An action that is done that correlates to a rooted or fixed system. The lack of exposure to black ideas and philosophical contribution has stemmed from a calculated system designed to keep hid the gems of this discourse and those who produced it.

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• White Violence (adj): A tactic that has been used for generations to instate fear for the purpose of control and power by the means of using skin color as an advantage. This is not a new concept and has been executed for years to keep the ‘white man’ in control of the world. The privilege that comes with being white can often be abused and used with no consequences and little regard for those inflicted. It can be used at any level, even to control another country or it’s leaders.

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