The wellbeing of the Black African Diaspora, particularly in Australia, has drawn increasing scholarly attention, yet most studies highlight the negative experiences that undermine their wellbeing, with comparatively little focus on how these communities actively navigate and resist such challenges to sustain their wellbeing. Based on an ongoing multi-sited ethnographic study involving in-depth interviews and participant observation with Black African Diaspora in Australia, this paper explores how Afrocentric frameworks, particularly a relational interpretation of Ubuntu, interact with Western wellbeing models, revealing the complex dynamics at their intersection. In contrast to communitarian readings of Ubuntu that prioritise collective unity over individual agency, the relational perspective as we argue emphasises fluid, co-constituted identities and openness to difference. This approach is especially suited to diasporic Africans in Western societies, whose wellbeing and enduring cultures are shaped by their liminal position between the communal values of their origins and the individualist ethos of their host countries. From this standpoint, we propose a conceptual framework encompassing six interconnected elements which we believe are central to capturing the wellbeing of the Black African Diaspora: situated belonging, negotiated autonomy, transnational connectivity, cultural continuity and adaptation, structural embeddedness, and meaning and recognition. These domains underscore pathways to address the challenges faced by the Black African Diaspora, providing a nuanced understanding of their lived experiences and advancing a culturally responsive and theoretically integrated framework for wellbeing in cross-cultural contexts. 

📅 02 October 2025
🕑 2:00pm – 3:30pm EAT (GMT+3)
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