Robinson, on the other hand, takes the same existential condition but comes to different conclusions: slavery did not define the Black condition because we were Africans first, with world views and philosophical notions about life, death, possession, community, and so forth that are rooted in that African heritage. And once we understand how to define ourselves in terms of this collective identity, Robinson implies, then perhaps we can understand the persistence of nationalism and various forms of race consciousness (which have never been fully contained under the limited rubric of “nationalism”).

Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making o…, loc. 62