We all know of the dictionary websites like dictionary.com or the online encyclopedia often used to quote from, wikipedia.org, but these tend to be written with the European consciousness at center.

For instance, if you look up the terms "white", "whiten" or "whitewash" at dictionary.com, you will find definitions that are not inclusive of the African-centered psyche. When we saynews reports, politics, history books, science, and so forth are "whitened" it is certainly negative. But thistermonly has a positive connotation in the Western dictionary. When searching on African topics in wikipedia, they are often not very detailed on anything other than slavery or some period when Europeans or Arabs brought the light.

I realize that putting together these two entities (an African-centered Dictionary & Encyclopedia) would be a major work. However, I want to know what people think about this. If my current business ventures do well, then maybe it will be something I could pool different people together to implement.

Is it do-able? Is it needed? What are your thoughts? Oh yeah, and no suggestions like black-tionary.com or black-opedia.org. Your comments please...

http://www.africanaencyclopedia.com/





this is the current standard.....EXCELLENCE



now available in paperback for cheap...



you need to get your hands on it...perhaps it will inspire another idea of yours....

This looks like an excellent reference, but I was thinking something that constantly evolves much like Wikipedia. That 1 book cannot encapsulate all of the details of the African experience. For example, the works of J.A. Rogers alone surpasses this encyclopedia in breadth and depth, and J.A. Rogers is only a small chunk of the tip of the iceberg. Furthermore, this encyclopedia is not searchable via Internet.

I was thinking of having the Internet version that is constantly being updated, while publishing a full set of volumes every year or so. I doubt this Africana book has the recent developments in the Sudan, or even enough space to detail pre-colonial Africa with due justice in history. Don't get me wrong, this book is a great start, but we seriously need to start documenting our experience on a much larger scale with extreme rigor.