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xvii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Icould not have completed this manuscript without the support of more people than I could mention, but yet my appreciation and gratitude still extends to all. A lifelong learner reveres masters, and my respect is equally shared over the Atlantic Ocean between two major founding centers of my culture and knowledge: the School of Humanities at University of Coimbra, in Portugal, and the Department of African American Studies at Temple University, Philadelphia, in the United States. My special gratitude and thanks go to all those at the Afrocentric School at Temple University who in many different ways supported my work and drove my intellectual curiosity into advancing my knowledge and appreciation of the African experience , history, culture, and wisdom. Mostly, my unconditional respect and gratitude goes to Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, the rigorous scholar, the thinker, the humanist, and the friend who guided my growth into a better human being. I also wish to praise the invaluable bonds of friendship and thank all my friends for the support they have always so generously offered me, especially my dear friend Dr. Laura Pires, whose example and friendship are a constant source of inspiration and strength, and Ana Yenenga for the warm friendship with which she appeased the many difficult moments of work and sickness of home and family. xviii Acknowledgments A word of great appreciation is due to Dr. Michael Rinella, Senior Acquisitions Editor at State University of New York Press, for his outstanding professionalism, his commitment to and relentless belief in my work. My appreciation also extends to the remarkable work of Diane Ganeles, Senior Production Editor. Owing to attentive and careful copyediting and detailed revision, my book has gained much in clarity and merit. I want to personally acknowledge and thank friends and scholars whose critical reading and suggestions were an invaluable contribution to improve the quality of the final product, though errors and mistakes are my sole responsibility. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Katherine Bankole-Medine, editor of Africalogical Perspectives, for her gracious permission to use my article “A Critique of the United States of Africa and the Marxist Model,” originally published in volume 7, number 1, November/December 2011 as an earlier version of the second section of chapter 3; and to extend my recognition and gratitude to dean Thomas Venner and the College of Arts and Sciences of Eastern Michigan University for sponsoring this publication. But I am particularly reverent and humble in remembering and acknowledging those without whom I would not be the person I am today: my longing parents from whom I learned the deep lessons of humanity, freedom, and justice; lessons of resistance and struggle for a more human world “without which it’s not worthwhile to live”; and my “building blocks”—João and our children, Sofia and Pedro, the powerhouse of my strength and the meaning of my life; and my beloved sister, Olímpia Maria, an unconditional anchor in all the walks of my life; all family, the living and the departed, and friends whose support and example have always been a source of inspiration and comfort. This work is dedicated to João, my husband and my unconditional friend. Out of his love this project turned into a reality. Thank you all. My life has meaning because of you. —Ana Monteiro-Ferreira ...

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