Molefi Asante, author of "Afrocentricity" and a leader in the Afrocentric movement, said his publisher just told him the book, released in 1980, is one of the most widely read books among African-American university students.

Asante said he and other African-American theorists who rewrite history are spreading their messages across the nation as African-American scholarship resurges. A movement of such proportions has not been seen since the 1960s, he said.

"The movement today is much broader and based on more substance, scholarship," Asante said.

Asante, who also heads the African and African-American Studies Department at Temple University in Philadelphia, defines Afrocentricity as "the views on phenomenon through the eyes of African people as subjects rather than as objects."

James Stewart, Penn State's vice provost for underrepresented groups, said the movement includes many schools of thought, including cultural nationalism and classical African civilizationism. Cultural nationalists believe people of African descent should center their lives around African culture, while Classical African Civilizationists believe ancient African civilizations should serve as model societies for people of African descent.

Although some scholars fear that Afrocentrism will die out like previous movements that promoted unity among people of African descent -- such as the Harlem Renaissance in the early 20th century or the Black Power movement of the 1960s -- this movement is more permanent, Stewart said.

"Today's movement is tied more to authentic African tradition," he explained. An increasing number of people descended from immigrants from Africa, the Caribbean and the West Indies now live in the United States, Stewart added.

Stewart said he has extensively researched the Afrocentric movement and is developing theories with other African-American scholars.

Last semester he was a visiting faculty member in the department of African and African-American Studies at Temple -- the only American university with a doctorate program in African-American studies, he said.

To better educate the general population about the basic premises behind the intellectual side of the movement, Stewart said "better dialogue needs to be built between rap artists, intellectuals and editorialists."

"I believe this movement is having a great impact on young black people who are entering college, particularly the ones from urban areas," said Cyril Griffith, Penn State professor of African history and studies.

Griffith said black intellectuals are trying to encourage black youth to develop a way of thinking that is "peculiar to their race."

However, Stewart said the media tends to give the Afrocentric movement negative publicity, which could hurt the movement.

"There seems to be some misunderstanding about the movement," Stewart said. "How the media relates to it can either help or hinder the movement."

Some people wrongly perceive Afrocentricity as racist, Asante said.

"Afrocentricity is strictly a theoretical movement, not a biological movement," Asante said.

He said some people incorrectly include Melaninists, who believe black people are superior because of the extra pigmentation in their skin, in the resurgence of African-American scholarship.