“The Amazigh (Berber) people are the original inhabitants of North Africa, also known as Tamazgha, and they have been living in this part of the world for Millenia. Tamazgha extends from the Atlantic Ocean, on the west, to the Suez Canal, on the east, and includes the Canary Islands, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and parts of Egypt. Amazigh communities are also found in other African countries such as Tchad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauretania, Senegal, and Western Sahara” – Amazigh Cultural Association in America

“In the disciplines that study the Maghreb and the Middle East, Tamazight is one of the most overlooked Indigenous languages and cultures. Amazigh Studies, a dynamic, prolific, and decades-old field that focuses on the examination of all aspects of Imazighen and their language and culture, is nowhere to be found in the institutional landscape of Anglophone academia today.[1] However, this has not always been the case. In the latter half of the twentieth century, several scholars and institutions made serious attempts to incorporate Amazigh Studies—then known as Berber Studies—into their programmatic and curricular offerings. Yet that institutional and scholarly history is so far removed from our present moment that it might erroneously suggest that the absence of Amazigh Studies in American academia has always been the norm.[2] The reality is in fact quite different, and the history of Amazigh Studies in the United States is very rich and full of innovation.” Aomar Baum, Why the Amazigh Studies Initiative in the United States Now?