This issue set out to explore diaspora feminist engagements with the idea and reality of Africa: the gendered experiences of diaspora populations and the influence of the diaspora on gender relations and feminist engagements within Africa. With the following articles: 'The relevance of black feminist scholarship: a Caribbean perspective' by Violet Eudine Barriteau : 'A feminist review of the idea of Africa in Caribbean family studies' by Theresa Ann Rajack-Talley : 'Racial and gender inequality in Latin America: Afro-descendent women respond' by Helen I. Safa : 'Con-di-fi-cation': Black women, leadership and political power' by Carole Boyce Davies : 'The trek for a sense of belonging' by Annecka Leolyn Marshall : 'Fashioning women for a brave new world: gender, ethnicity and literary representation' by Paula Morgan : 'A tribute to Coretta Scott King: 1927–2006' by Simidele Dosekun : and 'A triangular trade in gender and visuality: the making of a cross-cultural image-base' by Patricia Mohammed.