Methodologically speaking, the study of the modern African diaspora should, in my opinion, begin with the study of Africa. The African continent - the ancestral homeland - must be central to any informed analysis and understanding of the dispersal of its peoples. Not only must the programs that are designed promote an understanding of the history and nature of the variegated African cultures, but it must be recognized that the peoples who left Africa and their ethnic group, coerced or otherwise, brought their cultures, ideas, and worldviews with them as well' (1998, p. 217).  
Palmer places Africa as the starting point for understanding what happens with dislocated peoples inside and outside the African continent. He distances himself from perspectives centred on the United States of America and rejects the notions of homogeneity in the diaspora: 'scholars must resist any tendency to homogenize and conflate the histories of these variegated peoples whose memories are still haunted by an ocean that is associated with the travail of their ancestors' (1998, p. 218). This is one of the ideas in this project, which defines Global Africa with the inclusion of its diasporas.  
In the last few decades, dozens of encyclopedias, collections and monographs have been published to cover African diasporas around the world. New research shows how Africans faced new environments using diverse strategies of adjustment. The research in this volume focuses on the trilogy of racism, domination and resistance. The chapters bring African cultures and societies to the centre stage in the discussion of African diasporas because we think it essential to start with Africa to understand the African diasporas and their transformations in time. Our authors point to historical, cultural and political connections with Africa without neglecting the importance of larger macroprocesses, particularly the evolving capitalist world system.