Africana

American  

[af-ri-kan-uh, -kah-nuh, -key-nuh] / ˌæf rɪˈkæn ə, -ˈkɑ nə, -ˈkeɪ nə /

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. artifacts or artistic or literary works of any of the nations of Africa reflecting geographical, historical, or cultural development.

2. a collection of materials, as books and documents, on African history or culture.

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Africana British  

/ ˌæfrɪˈkɑːnə /

plural noun

1. objects of cultural or historical interest of African origin

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Etymology

Origin of Africana

1905–10; Afric(a) or Afric(an) + -ana

Example Sentences

At the invitation of historian Akinwunmi Ogundiran, the carver was Distinguished Africana Artist-in-Residence at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, US, in 2013.

From BBC • Jan. 19, 2026

“The way people talk about sacrifice in Lucumí is often completely disconnected from how it actually works,” said Akissi Britton, an assistant professor of Africana studies at Rutgers.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 2, 2025

Born and raised in central Ohio, she moved to New York City in 2018 to pursue degrees in Journalism and Africana Studies at New York University.

From Salon • May 10, 2025

“The hard part is we’re going to keep cycling through this until we learn from our past,” said University of Pennsylvania sociologist and Africana Studies professor Camille Charles.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 12, 2024

He was then working at Howard University as a research librarian in the Moorland- Spingarn Research Center, one of the largest collections of Africana in the world.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates