Collector's Book
African Art: The Diaspora and Beyond
A New Book on African Art, and Collecting African Art

Written by Daniel Parker, Emeritus Professor of Olive-Harvey College, African Art: The Diaspora and Beyond is an exposition on African Art, its rich history and cultural heritage. The book discusses African art from the beginning of human history, its distribution throughout the world and the subsequent connection with the contemporary Diasporan Art. The book also discusses the importance of collecting both African and Diasporan art as well as the impact such collections can have. The book is rich with beautiful images of African art from the author’s collection of more than 400 pieces of African art.

African Art: The Diaspora and Beyond can be purchased at the following locations:

Borders Hyde Park
1539 E. 53rd Street
Chicago, IL 60615
773-752-8663

Afrocentric Bookstore II
4655 S. King Drive
Chicago, IL 60615
773-924-3966

About the Author

Daniel Texidor Parker taught in the Chicago Public School system and the City Colleges of Chicago for more than thirty-five years. Retired from the City Colleges of Chicago, he is Professor Emeritus in the African American Studies Department at Olive-Harvey College in Chicago.


A peoples’ art constitutes a significant identity referent. Thus, the Art of Africa as well as Diasporan Art serves as a powerful influence in the home environment. For the images we live with, day to day as children and grow to love, will be the images we come to love as adults; and much of what we grow to love should resemble us...The child is being taught the importance of investing in his or her heritage and in preserving the culture. Art, then, is a significant factor in the education and preservation of pride in our ancestral lineage.

~Excerpt from the book