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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book reflects my ongoing struggle to understand the nature and meaning of African American participation in global affairs. This work raises at least as many questions as it addresses. The chapters herein point to the growing dimensions and increasing complexity of the international arena and black people’s relationship to it, as well as the need to extend the scholarly imagination. First, hearty thanks are extended to everyone who gave me the optimism , strength, support, and humor to bring this project to fruition. I am especially grateful to the contributors, some of whom are relatively new to the small scholarly cohort in the field, while some are prolific veterans such as Charles P. Henry, Minion K. C. Morrison, Ronald W. Walters, and Hanes Walton, Jr. These individuals are among the pioneers of research focused on black participation throughout the African Diaspora. I am extremely gratified that Ronald Walters stepped up to the plate to write the introduction to this volume. In his provocatively classic style, Walters provides timely and critical insights of appropriate analytic rigor, which lend focus, content, and range to our overarching treatment of the contemporary process , power, and impact of black global participation. Special thanks are in order for everyone at the University Press of New England (upne) who was in any way involved in the production of this book, including Elizabeth Brash, Lori Miller, and Lys Weiss. In particular, I would like to express my gratitude to Ellen Wicklum, with whom I initially came into contact at upne, for her encouraging support and the vision to take on this project. When she departed upne, I was fortunate that Phyllis Deutsch, the press’s editor-in-chief, was able to assume the project and usher it forward with alacrity. Moreover, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the numerous known and anonymous peer reviewers of the chapters who offered valuable suggestions for improvement at various stages. I especially appreciate the critical reviews provided by Vernon Johnson of Western Washington University and Karin Stanford of California State University, Northridge . Their close reading of the text prompted a number of useful changes, which strengthened the book. ix Acknowledgments x Through it all, I have been privileged to have some wonderful colleagues and friends at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and around the country who have read chapters, shared sources, and suggested important revisions. I especially thank the Department of Political Science and Geography and the College of Arts and Letters for their support. Finally, without the patience and support of my wonderful wife Sharon , and my daughters Miisha, Nyasha, and Nia, this book likely would never have been completed. ...

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