This collection of essays by architect Mario Gooden investigates the construction of African American identity & representation through the medium of architecture These five texts move between history theory & criticism to explore a discourse of critical spatial practice engaged in the constant reshaping of the African Diaspora African American cultural institutions designed & constructed in recent years often rely on cultural stereotypes metaphors & cliches to communicate significance demonstrating " Africanisms" through form & symbolism-but there is a far richer & more complex heritage to be explored Presented here is a series of questions that interrogate & illuminate other narratives of " African American architecture" & reveal compelling ways of translating the philosophical idea of the African Diaspora's experience into space