The African Counter Project

The African Counter Project – A word from the founder

“AfroPhiles are individuals who have a deep appreciation, love, or admiration for Africa, its people, and its cultures. In true love, we look at that world with honesty and not flattery, speak with constructivity and not condescendence and work with the goal of deep enrichment and not superficial glory. Loving one is not about hating another. Understanding is about expanding one’s perspective and never judging another from one’s own realities. The African Counter is about understanding that the world is one and that each part of it, each individual, each group has brought something invaluable that has contributed to its greatness. This is about putting together the sometimes too forgotten, too unexposed, too unsung African contribution to humanity.” – Manuella Essaka / Tiki Black, Founder of The African Counter

Vision Statement

“To be the definitive bridge between Africa’s forgotten past and its global future, creating a world where the African contribution to humanity is not just ‘exposed,’ but is an essential, respected, and integrated pillar of universal knowledge and success.”

Mission Statement

“The African Counter is dedicated to documenting and celebrating the unsung legacy of African civilisations, thinkers, and artists. We aim to transform ‘AfroPhilia’ from passive admiration into an active, intellectual pursuit—fostering global understanding through honest storytelling, constructive dialogue, and the uncompromising pursuit of cultural truth.”

Key Pillars of the Vision

The vision is supported by the following four pillars:

Radical Honesty & Intellectual Integrity: Moving beyond “flattery” or romanticised narratives to present African history with academic and emotional honesty. This means addressing both the triumphs and the complexities of the continent’s and its diaspora’s journey without condescension.
Expansion of Reality (Non-Judgmental Understanding): Challenging the habit of judging African cultures through Western or other “external” realities. This involves training the global eye to see Africa on its own terms and expanding the observer’s perspective to include the continent’s unique wisdom and contribution.
The “Unsung” Archive: A relentless focus on the “too forgotten” and “too unexposed.” This pillar aims to achieve the recovery of African contributions in science, philosophy, and the arts, especially those that have been systematically omitted from the global record.
Collective Greatness (Universal Inclusion): Asserting that the world is “one.” This pillar reinforces that highlighting African excellence does not come at the expense of others; rather, it completes the story of humanity, acknowledging that every group has contributed something “invaluable” to our shared progress.

The “AfroPhile” Creed (A guiding principle for the community)

“We look with honesty, speak with constructivity, and work for deep enrichment. We do not seek superficial glory; we seek the truth that makes the world whole.”

The African Counter Project – What is it?

The African Counter intiative (at https://african-counter.com) is an online resource borne of these needs and goals and that gathers the contributions of Africa and the African Diaspora around the world and across time, catalogued by specialist Afrophiles*.

The African Counter Project – Who are we?

The African Counter Core Team and Working Group members are talented volunteer researchers, editors, digital artists, administrators and managers from all over the world who work together to present the depth and richness that Africa and the African diaspora offers to the world. At one point or another, members in the team have come from and is spread across the world, Europe, Africa, America and Asia and originate from different countries such as Barbados, Cameroon, DRC Congo, Gabon, Egypt, Nigeria and the Seychelles, to cite a very few.