Maafa

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noun

The history of slavery and anti-black racism and discrimination in the United States; the historical enslavement of Africans and associated atrocities, under the interpretation of these as a genocide against them.

OriginSwahili maafa ← Arabic آفَة (ʔāfa) →
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Meanings

nounMaafa (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe history of slavery and anti-black racism and discrimination in the United States; the historical enslavement of Africans and associated atrocities, under the interpretation of these as a genocide against them.

    The Maafa concept explains the conditions of disorganization, disunity, self-hatred, and alienation affecting African people to varying degrees.

    2003, Out of the revolution: the development of Africana studies (edited by Aldridge and Young; published by Lexington Books), page 250

Origin

  1. Arabicآفَة (ʔāfa)
  2. Swahiliafa
  3. Swahilimaafa
  4. EnglishMaafa

From Swahili maafa (“disaster, catastrophe”). Coined in 1994 by Marimba Ani (in Let the Circle Be Unbroken: The Implications of African Spirituality in the Diaspora) on the model of the Hebrew-derived designation Shoah of the Jewish Holocaust.

More words from Swahili

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Maafa. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Maafa

MLA

“Maafa.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Maafa. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Maafa,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Maafa.

Source: Maafa on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.