0 Vambe, Maurice Taonevzi Zegeye, Abebe 2008 Rethinking Marxism 20 April One of the major critical issues of debate in Africa is the question of revitalizing African cultures. In South Africa, this has been given the name of African renaissance, and it is perceived as a continental ideology. However, debates are mired in essentialisms that have obscured rather than clarified the potentially unifying effect of the notion in Africa. In this article we contribute to the critical debate on the meanings of African renaissance, using the writings of Amilcar Cabral. He, more than most African theorists, has suggested that we need to move beyond rarefied jargon when discussing African renaissances and dwell instead on the concrete levels of African people's lived experiences. We argue that, as discourses of continental renewal or rebirth, African renaissances should be figured in the plural and that, for them to have root in the lives of the African masses, the conceptualizations of African renaissances should reflect the cultural, economic, and political aspirations of African people.