There are many contemporary or “modern” examples of African diaspora communities, and it is here that the organic nature of the theory can be tested. Today, the African diaspora framework is an evolving field of study with polyvalence and many new theories. African Americans, Black Russians, Afro-Brazilians, and Black Irish are just a few of the diasporic groups that scholars are studying today. They find resonance with African diaspora theory to explain these contemporary communities. Whether one is studying slavery, emancipation, black military life, black politics, social institutions, philosophy, or the arts and literature of the African diaspora, the scholar must take a multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary approach.

Further, we must focus on sources from different geographical regions, which is a key requirement of diaspora studies. We must be able to look at black life in two or more places and analyze the systems side by side, using the framework of African diaspora theory: dispersal/migration, germination, and community of consciousness. Theorizing about the contemporary African diaspora will be enhanced if we conduct research using these methodologies.

Throughout much of the twentieth century, scholars have used the African diaspora framework to explain the lives of black people around the world. Although they come from different disciplines and ideologies, all of these diaspora scholars call for an understanding of black life as inextricably linked to the brutality of slavery, a global enterprise. If we recognize slavery as a dispersal/sprouting point that is a necessary condition for the black community in the diaspora, then we are on the first platform for diaspora studies. From this platform, scholars need to engage in interdisciplinary research as they talk about the communities of consciousness that diasporas continue to express.

There is evidence that African diaspora theory works when comparing systems of slavery, and there is growing evidence today that these tools work to reveal continuities and divergences between contemporary black diasporas. Theorizing about the African diaspora helps us understand history and literature in more detail. As we continue this line of research around the world, new theories of diaspora will sprout in the academy and take root in scholarly works. Scholars, go to the field and archives and conduct your research using this multivalent theory. There’s a lot of work to be done!