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Wednesday, July 29, 2026
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LaRose Parris: Why Black Thought Matters
July 29, 2026
If the word “philosophy” brings to mind names like Descartes, Hegel, and Wittgenstein, consider adding Black Thought Matters, the latest book by Associate Professor of Africana Studies LaRose Parris, to your late-summer reading list. Published by Bloomsbury on July 23, the book offers a counter-history of philosophy that challenges anti-Black racism, authoritarianism, and efforts to restrict the teaching of Black history. In doing so, it illuminates the often-overlooked contributions of Black and Africana thinkers to the development of philosophical thought.
“The book reveals how the academic fields of philosophy and Africana studies are directly connected,” Parris said. “Although Black philosophers have contributed immeasurably to the movement of Western philosophical thought, particularly in their advancement of fundamental principles like enlightenment, egalitarianism, and freedom, academic philosophy's Eurocentric focus has erased or disregarded these Africana philosophers' seminal contributions.”
The work expands on Parris’s first book, Being Apart: Theoretical and Existential Resistance in Africana Philosophy. “Instead of focusing solely on how Africana thinkers' existentialist writings predate those of European thinkers, Black Thought Matters explores Africana thought’s broader impact on the history of global ideas, the social sciences, literature, political theory and, of course, philosophy,” she said.