Dr. Copher has pioneered the investigation of Back presence in the ancient world in general and in the biblical text in particular. In so doing he helped to initiate a paradigm shift from Eurocentrism to Afrocentrism, the central task of which was the reversal of the historic devaluation of Africa and the African world is both academic and non-academic circles. Out of this Afrocentric approach comes an African-American perspective as the basis for interpreting reality. No longer is the European experience normative for interpreting Black reality, but the African world is elevated to a level of importance heretofore unknown in the Western world. All of the essays in this volume represent various expressions of this Afrocentric thought.