'New' definitions of blackness, therefore, in many ways must still respond to these originary myths of biological inferiority and incapability because they are still often believed (and applied) by powerful individuals and institutions that enjoy a global reach - and can thus deeply affect black lives and black communities across the globe. These new definitions are thus steeped in a rich tangle of intellectual genealogies that must be discussed alongside them to explain when, where and why these definitions came into being and why they enjoy such favour or disfavour among black diasporic and black African communities, institutions, activists, artists, academics - and even some politicians - the world over.