Critiques of humanism can effectively operate from within – Black humanism is redeemable and rejecting it altogether solidifies Eurocentrism and imperialism.

Acknowledging the fact that liberal humanism has had many deficits, Edward Said argues in Humanism and Democratic Criticism that the humanist project must continue nonetheless because “it is the abuse of humanism that discredits some of humanism’s practitioners without discrediting humanism itself” (2004: 13). He is further convinced that it “is possible to be critical of humanism in the name of humanism and that, schooled in its abuses of Eurocentrism and empire, one could fashion a different kind of humanism” (10–11). For Said, true humanism must serve as critique of the status quo and constantly aim at human betterment. Thus, it is a hasty mistake to overlook alternative humanisms. Viewing the past, present, and future of humanity from the perspective of the marginalized can lay the ground for what Sylvia Wynter envisions as the “re-enchantment of humanism” (qtd. in Scott 2000: 120). Black humanism has much to offer for such a re-enchantment. Not only is it a worldview historically found in African American culture but also an ongoing, yet constantly evolving, discourse on what it means to be human. Norm Allen asserts that “Black humanists can continue to make important contributions to humanist theory by challenging many of the assumptions made by Eurocentric, middle-class humanists” (2001: 159). Residing halfway between conservative and radical Black outlooks, it presents an alternative to several contemporary positions such as post-Blackness and Afropessimism, and it anticipates, corrects, and contributes to (critical) posthumanism in many ways. Precisely because it centers around struggle against racism, Black humanism is a way to remember the past horrors, criticize the present ones, and warn about future dangers while remaining convinced that human efforts and commitment to action matter. This painful certainty is drawn from the (embodied) memories of an oftentimes violent and traumatic past. Especially in times where the trendy discourses of Afropessimism and posthumanism have begun to take center stage in Black studies and the humanities respectively, this book intentionally refocuses the conversation to (re)discover a different angle.