More Than a Celebration of Struggle, Arts & Culture
By Michael De Gale
January 23, 2007
If I didn’t know better, during the month of February I will be left with the distinct impression that the Civil Rights struggle, crafts and music mixed with a dazzling display of dance and a variety of cultural activities represents the sum of Africa’s contribution to civilization. In spite of the overwhelming scientific evidence and the existence of numerous artifacts, little is ever mentioned in the mainstream about Africa’s contributions to civilization in the fields of science and technology. With the exception of inquiring minds, the proliferation of numerous books and scholarly articles on the subject has done little to dispel the truncated view of Africa as simply a land of exoticism in the consciousness of the greater public.
As the editor of the book, “Blacks in Science – Ancient and Modern”, Professor Ivan Van Sertima of Rutgers University, USA, refers to the lost sciences of Africa, ranging from astronomy as practiced by the Dogon of Mali, to the writing systems of the Akan people on the west coast of Africa and the Mande or Manding-speaking people who flourished in the Sahara during its period of fertility. In the past few decades, archeologist and historians have made astonishing discoveries shedding new light on Africa and it centers of science and technology. However, these discoveries have been slow to penetrate the mainstream and even slower to become integrated into the science and technology courses of education systems. Among the African sciences identified are architecture, aeronautics, engineering, mathematics, metallurgy and medicine, navigation and physics to mention a few.
Van Sertima makes the point that historically, anthropologists have chosen to focus on the primitive, in particular the African Bushmen, and to forgo the complexities in the primary centers of large African nations. These are the areas where, according to contemporary archeologist and historians, the technological and scientific life of Africa was located. They include steel-smelting in Tanzania 1,500-2000 years old, an astronomical observatory in Kenya 300 years BC and an African glider-plane 2,300 years old. Using microwave beams to probe beneath the sands of the Sahara, an American radar satellite revealed cultures 200,000 years old and the traces of ancient rivers running from this African center. Some of these buried stream-valleys they concluded are ancient connections to the upper Nile tributaries, where blacks migrated and later populated Nubia and Egypt.
Given the proliferation of wars, famine, refugees in constant flight and the disturbing images of hungry children with swollen bellies, dying – with mouths and eyes infested with flies; it is understandably difficult to envision Africa as a land where science and technology once flourished. To shed some light on this dichotomous phenomenon, Prof. Van Sertima explained how science and technology may rise and fall with a civilization and why the destruction of a center could lead almost to the instant evaporation or disappearance of centuries of knowledge and technical skills.
According to Van Sertima, not unlike modern cities prior to the Industrial Revolution and to a great extent today, centers of science and technology tended to be highly concentrated in areas such as scholastic institutions, among the priest cast, trading posts or in royal capital cities. However, science and technology was slow to reach the peripheries and in many areas were entirely absent. With such a high concentration in selected areas, a nuclear war for example could shatter the primary centers of 21st century technology in a matter of days. The survivors on the peripheries, although they would remember the airplanes and the television sets, the robots and the computers, the satellites now circling our solar system, would not be able for centuries to reproduce that technology. In addition to the wholesale slaughter of the technocratic class, the interconnection between these shattered centers and the equally critical interdependency between the centers and their peripheries would be gone forever. Like the strands of a web which once stretched across the world, it will be left torn and dangling in a void, and a dark age would most certainly follow.
Given this scenario, one can understand why centuries afterwards, the technological brilliance of the 21st century would seem dreamlike and unreal. Future generations in centuries to come will obviously doubt what has been achieved in the centuries preceding the disaster. This happened before in the world. Not in the same way, but with the same catastrophic effects. Van Sertima stated emphatically, that this is what happened in Africa.
He contends that no human disaster with the possible exception of the biblical flood can equal in dimension or destructiveness, the cataclysm that shook Africa. Beginning with the slave trade and the traumatic effect of this on the transplanted blacks, it is difficult to appreciate what horrors were unleashed on Africa itself. Vast populations were uprooted and displaced. Whole generations disappeared. European diseases descended like a plague, annihilating both animals and people with impunity, cities and towns were abandoned, family networks disintegrated, kingdoms crumbled, the thread of cultural and historical continuity were so savagely torn asunder that henceforth, one would have to think of two Africas; the one before and the one after the Holocaust. Anthropologists have said that 80% of traditional African culture survived. What they mean by traditional is the only kind of culture the world has come to accept as African – that of the primitive on the periphery – the stunned survivor.
Nevertheless, in spite of the oppressive and inhospitable circumstances faced by Africans on the continent and throughout the Diaspora, there was no loss of black ingenuity and technological innovation. The thread of African genius unraveled like light speeding through spools of the glassfibre lightguides that black scientist Dr. Northover developed. Or like impulses traveling along the transatlantic cable Dr. Richardson helped to lay down, channeling voices from one continent to another, one time to another, bridging the chasm between the ancestral African and the modern black, between root and branch, seed and flower, an old heart and a new brain continued to spark with ingenuity.
The destruction of Pompeii and the ongoing efforts to locate the lost city of Atlantis is common knowledge worldwide despite the fact that the existence of Atlantis is still questionable and mired in mythology. By contrast, Africa’s history of scientific and technological innovation, though meticulously documented and scientifically proven, is less familiar than both Pompeii and Atlantis. The perverse resistance to acknowledge Africa’s contributions to civilization has deep historical roots and would require another paper to explore its genesis and perpetuation. Nevertheless, to quote Dr. John Henrick Clarke – the great African thinker and ardent promoter of Pan-Africanism, “…African history is the missing pages of world history”. When this truth becomes universally accepted and is integrated into the general history of human civilization, the need for Black History Month will no longer be necessary. Africa’s numerous and continuing contributions to the development of civilization will finally be known, opening the door to honest debate of other pressing issues and possibly, to the realization of Dr. King’s dream.
If one looks at a map of the world that reflects the true proportions of the continents(try Peter’s Projection,) one would
see that Africa is at the center of the earth. It is cut in half by the Equator. Is the cradle of mankind, and the cradle of all modern civilizations.Those DNA tests that prove that all of us on the planet are related to one African woman who lived more than 200,000
years ago, in Central Africa, were first disputed by many scientists, until they were redone again, and the results were the same. When King Tut’s tomb was opened in the early 1920’s what was found there, was traceable back to West Africa of an earlier period. None of this is disputed by serious thinkers now. The problem is to get those ” cursed be the sons of Ham” idiots to admit the truth. Having spent the last five hundred or so years lying about stuff, some would be damned if they admitted that all Greek civilizations, sprung out of Egyptian civilizations, which sprang from West African civilizations.Those same people would be hard pressed to admit that the earliest Christian churches in the world are the living rock churches of Ethiopia, carved in the early fourth century of the Common Era. They would deny that the Aboriginal people of Australia are related to the African people, and they sailed to Australia about twenty thousand years ago. They would deny that the pyramids on the eastern coast of Mexico are very similar to those of Kush or Nubia- step pyramids. They would deny that the stone heads at Altun Ha,in Belize, that hold up the pyramid that has been excavated- a stone pyramid with a flat top- are the heads of warriors wearing Yoruba war helmets. (You would have to stand across the courtyard to see this. Up close, you will not recognize that they are carved heads.) They would deny that the excavations at Tiwanico, on the Altiplano of Bolivia, revealed stone columns that mark the passage of the sun the way the ancient Africans built then in Egypt, and that the stone masks decorating the walls of the courtyard include a distinct number of African heads.Travel broadens the minds and uncovers the lies.
Those who bury their heads in the sand about the modern world’s debts to Africa, are to be pitied. They prefer a “primitive” Africa, the way tourists who come to the Caribbean are not coming to see Rhodes Scholars, Nobel Laureates or distinctive men/women of vision. Give them their half naked girl dancing on the beach, and a rum and coke, or, if you brave, some coke. That’s what they want to pay for.
Excellent article.. it proves the value of Trinicenter.. But are we burying our heads in the sand by not taking advantage of the technology afforded to us today, THIS ARTICLE SHOULD BE A VIDEO (documentary). The impact would be much greater on ‘You Tube’.
As T&T ‘continues’ to produce great thinkers, ‘we’ must be more effective than those than came before us. Video production is rather inexpensive today.
Buh anyway, one has to marvel in mystery why the T&T Government have not looked to Africa for answers to many of our social ills. Cocaine addiction is ravaging many societies and T&T is no exception. Even though the ancestors have produced the cure for addiction, we continue to await Master’s stamp of approval.
http://www.relfe.com/ibogaine.html
Linda,
Thanks for your enlightened input. I have read many of your previous contributions and you are evidently an intelligent and widely read woman.
What you have pointed out above is well known in academic circles and to those who make an effort to access this information. Nonetheless, there is no urgency to rectify what is in fact a deliberate misrepresentation of African history. John Henrick Clark summarized it well when he stated that,
“…People who oppress other people generally create a rational to justify this oppression. They deny their victims anything that is called culture and history because they know that a consciously historical people cannot easily be oppressed and by saying or inferring that the people you oppress are without history or culture, they are also saying that we are without humanity and not deserving of human consideration”.
Given the history of Europe’s plundering of Africa and the enslavement of African people, one can easily understand the resistance to rectify the deliberate falsification of
Africa’s history. More importantly, any honest and widespread acknowledgement of Africa’s contributions to civilization will create widespread awareness of who really taught the Greeks and the Romans. Consequently, this information will most certainly shake the very foundation upon which European civilization was built.
The Governemnt of TnT has its hands tied behind its back. You know why. Perhaps it is time that Afro-Trinidadians set up foundations for teaching our children what they need to know, and not wait on the official systenm, lest one Hmong person, if there is any in TnT protest that his culture is not also being taught. An Afro-centric curriculum infuses pride in children of African ancestry because they can see that people like them, achieved greatness, and they do not have to wait for some other person from another culture to recognize greatness. If your ancestors understood enough mathematics to build the pyramids with precision, you can learn to multiply. Perhaps companies owned by African Americans, as well as other Afrocentric groups could be asked to help provide material for centers for African studies.
When people who are serious thinkers talk of Reparations, it is centers like these they want funded, and money to put into developing Afrocentric teaching materials for children from the earlies ages, materials not only for Trinidad and Tobago, but for the Caribbean, Brazil, Venezuela and other places where African descended people still suffer the ravages of unequal education, diminished hope and starved opportunity. Trinidad could become the center of a project like this. It will have to be independent of the Universities,though, which, to gain accreditation, have to teach the Greatness Of western Civilization and such.Perhaps some of the money we will get back from the stolen loot of the airport and such projects, could be granted for such purposes. We may need seed money, but eventually we have to tax ourselves to do what is necessary- tax academically, financially and socially.
Today many scholars recognize that the truth about Africa has been distorted. Cecil Rhodes and others denied that a great city in the heart of Africa (Great Zimbabwe) was built by Africans. They came up with preposterous theories like it was build by a tribe of Germans who migrated there hundreds of years before. They even destroyed parts of the city so as to hide any evidence that pointed to African origins. In that city archeologists have found that the inhabitants of the that city mined and smelted gold and used it to trade with places as far away as China.
An African king (Mansa Mussa I believe – correct the spelling if wrong) commissioned 1000 ships to explore the Atlantic so West Africans may have landed in South America and settled there. At the time of the commission, all known ships of that period could not sail into the wind so the sailors would not have been able to return home.
In Afro-centric history, we have to be careful of not swinging the pendulum in the opposite direction and distorting History in a different way. I read an article written some years ago in a Barbadian newspaper by a local who made claims such as the Shang Dynasty of China were black Africans, Black Africans brought martial arts to East Asia and Gautama Buddha was a black African – he stressed the word “black”. I have not seen any proof of these claims and the writer provided none. I cannot argue for or against such a claim but the burden of proof lies in the person proposing the theory. We have to be careful with claims like the pyramids of Mexico came from Egyptian designs and “all” Greek civilization comes from Egypt. Sure Egypt being the older culture would have influenced Greece but not “all” of it.
Similar distortions of history occur in the case of the Pyramids. All over the world pyramids can be found- Egypt & Nubia, Mexico, India, the Middle East and China. The Ziggurats in the Middle East pre-date those in Egypt. The reason for pyramids appearing all over the world is simple – without structural steel, buildings cannot be built very high unless they have a broad base. Too high on a narrow base and they topple. Since all humans have the same brain (no matter what race), they all think a like in terms of analysis of problems and hence they all came up with the same solution – the pyramid. An interesting side note, Egyptians did not consider themselves black or white but as Egyptians or citizens of Kemet. Colour apparently did not matter to them as in paintings of Tutankhamen he is represented as light brown while a bust of him is in black. They always painted themselves lighter than the Nubians but darker than Europeans. Even Europeans and Asians and even Libyans and Nubians who migrated to Egypt were painted in the same skin tone as Egyptians once they were considered to be living there. The same can be said of the Yoruba war helmets that Linda alludes to in Belize. People all over the world are basically the same. So some articles of clothing in one culture will look quite similar to those in another whether those two cultures mixed or did not.
Simple statements like Africa being in the centre of the earth are wrong. It looks like it is the centre because of how we draw our maps. The reason we draw our maps that way is because Europe is just above Africa and Europe is the centre of the earth – for Europeans who spread more in the last millennium than anyone else. Ancient Chinese maps show China as the centre of the earth. It is a convenient way to draw the map also as there is little land in the Pacific so to show the majority of land mass, Africa is placed in the centre of the maps. Cartographers will tell you that any point on earth can be made the origin and any direction can be made North in reference to true North.
Today all we think about are “black” Africans but in truth the colour is only one dimension of the peoples of Africa. It is a shame that even some people of African heritage cannot even see the difference. I remember when at University I had a friend who was a Massai and another who was from Nigeria. They looked completely different form one another. Let’s appreciate the continent of Africa for it’s diversity of peoples – from the shortest in the world to the tallest. From the nomadic cultures to the large cities. For their knowledge of aerodynamics to their inventions in medicine. When we distort the truth we are no different than the racist so-called archeologists and historians who deny anything that is African. I know some may say what I wrote here is biased but I challenge those thinkers there who yearn for the truth to consider that I have said.
Riaz, I enjoy reading how you strain your mind to disagree with what I say.(I Being female and making a lot of sense may seem contrary to the “norm” for some people. I am used to it.) Africa is the center of the earth. IT IS THE ONLY CONTINENT CUT EXACTLY IN HALF BY THE EQUATOR. A Yoruba war helmet is a distinct piece of headwear, it is not Igbo, or Fulani or Mandingo it is Yoruba. Now the stone heads at Tiwanico are of various types, but the African heads are very distinctly African. I was there. I saw them, and photographed them. It is the step pyramids that look alike, not just pyramids. And finally, in my roundabout way, another point of interest. In October, 1993, the National Geographic published paintings from a recently excavated site in Central America. One featured what looked like a religious procession of priests(shamans).All religions that Europeans do not recognize have shamans. Theirs have priests. The figure second from last is of an African man. He is as ornately dressed as any of them and one man walks behind him. The National Geographic’s explanation was that this person was painted black because he was going to be sacrificed. If so, how come he has different features, and may be wearing the most elaborate clothes? One look at the frieze and I realized that he was the high priest. Its just like if the RC Cathedral had a Corpus Christi procession, the Choir goes first, followed by the acolytes, the junior priests, then the bishop is second to last and the bishop’s chaplain follows him.
People go to elaborate lengths to show that what you are seeing is not what you are seeing, because it features an African. Finally, the Olmec heads(Mexico again) are Yoruba faces. They were there, and left their mark.
When I say African, I do not mean black. Black is not the name of a country, continent or distinct language group.The difference in skin colour between Africans is as great as that between Nordic women of Iceland and Italian men of Sicily. African is African.
Linda, Africa is not cut “exactly” in half by the equator and writing it in bold does not make it true. Look at any map of the earth and you will see that the equator divides Africa with the majority of its land mass north of it. I merely stated a geographical observation and it was not an attack on Africa or you. The centre of a globe is wherever you want it to be. Millennia ago, the earth’s equator wasn’t where it is today as the earth pivots on it’s axis over time.
I cannot say that I have been to Tiwanico and seen the stone heads in person but I did study them in school and yes they do look African but they also look Cambodian or Pilipino. So I wouldn’t go so far as to say “distinctly” African. Look at sculptures of the Emperor of the Khmer empire and the Khmer depiction on Buddha and then look at the Olmec Heads. They look very similar. True, at one time peoples of Africa settled southern and south-eastern Asia all the way to Polynesia and Australia – but that makes sense since ALL humans on Earth originated from Africa. As the cultures migrated, they evolved. The Mayans wear headpieces that are extremely similar to the ceremonial decorations worn by men in the Punjab provinces of India and Pakistan. That does not mean that Mayans were from India?
I’ve heard of texts found that are of Olmec origin that linguists have said points to similarities in West African languages but I haven’t see any of these papers published (and I’ve looked). So I am open to the theory that the Olmec were quite possible different to modern day Native Americans, I won’t agree until there is stronger proof than the heads resembling one particular people.
I have studied Pyramid building in depth. The Step Pyramid was among (possibly) the first pyramids to be built by Egyptians. It was designed by Imhotep (incidentally he may have been viewed by the Greeks as a God). He simply placed a row of tombs called mastabas, adjoining one another. Then he places a smaller row above that one and repeated. This could be called a prototype and with advances in Pyramid building came the great pyramids at Giza. The Pyramids of the Americas had steps and sometimes concentric rows arond them. The reason for these steps and rows were for access to the tops as most had temples or alters at their tops. Many of these pyramids were built upon existing pyramids to make them bigger and as a sign of rebirth to mark those peoples calendar cycles. The pyramids of Mesoamericas are closer to the Zigurrets of Mesopotamia in design and purpose. So you have 2 pyramids that look alike (which is as obvious as saying 2 cubes that look alike) but they were built for completely different purposes and with completely different techniques. I submit that they were developed independently. Consider an igloo built by eskimos is a dome and mud huts built by tribes in parts of Africa are also domes. Does this mean that the eskimos got their designs from Africa? or vice-versa? People will come up with the same solution to similar (engineering) problems no matter who they are.
Anyway, this was my point in my first comment. We have to be careful that we do not try to make things that are not there appear to be there.
Linda said, “People go to elaborate lengths to show that what you are seeing is not what you are seeing, because it features an African.” I would say to be careful and not go to great lengths to make what you are not seeng become something that you think you see.
By Linda’s reasoning, if I wanted to deny that African origins in cultures, I would deny that Africans migrated to the Indian subcontenent and built cities around the same time as Babylon was founded. I would deny that Africans probably landed in the New World centuries before Europeans (instead of add that to the discussion). Think about it. In science, you can’t draw conclusions based only on how something looks.
Peter’s Projection. A 4 foot by 2.5 foot wall map. Tunis to Cape Agulhas is sixteen inches long.The Equator is at the eight inch mark and may be off by a one hundreth of an inch or so. One does not have to be an engineer to figure that one out. Cutting something in half does not mean mass but length. If one says that the thigh begins halfway down the human body, it means nothing about mass, depending on how you are built, your mass would usually be above your thighs, but the thigh begins halfway down the body. Get it? Now, get a map and a tape measure or ruler and check. No other continent is positioned on the equator like that. And what does equator mean? This is my last comment on this, take it or leave it. My purpose was not, nor is to change beliefs cemented so hard that truth bounces off.
Riaz Ali
Colour apparently did not matter to them as in paintings of Tutankhamen he is represented as light brown while a bust of him is in black. They always painted themselves lighter than the Nubians but darker than Europeans. Even Europeans and Asians and even Libyans and Nubians who migrated to Egypt were painted in the same skin tone as Egyptians once they were considered to be living there.
Then Riaz Ali
In science, you can’t draw conclusions based only on how something looks.
Well isn’t this kind of inconsistent. On one hand you caution the sister not to draw conclusions from how things appear. And yet you were doing exactly that prior to your caution.
I believe that her comments that some people seem willing to go to extraordinary lenghts to cast doubts on the realities of the world when such realities are linked to Africans are spot on the mark. Because regardless of efforts to hide what almost appear to be a sub-conscious predisposition, contradictions give lie to the false claims of objectivity or race neutrality.
Ruel –
Exactly my point but you misinterpreted it. The Egyptians painted themselves in one colour. So migrants to Egypt (from all over the world) who were now citizens of Egypt along with natives were painted all in the same one colour…so the way they looked in paintings is not a reflection of how they actually looked. During the time of ‘Tut’ another thing they did was painted all people with 2 right hands. It’s called artistic licence today. Also note that I used the word “only”. The way something looks is an indicator and further analysis is needed to come to something conclusive.
I’m not going to get into the definition of what “half” means with Linda. Just remind me if we ever meet and have to split a bottle of wine in half, I’ll let Linda take her ruler and measure the top half from the neck and I’ll take the remainder – Or to use the a term of the Mathematically inept, I’ll take the “bigger half.” To talk only about the length of of anything is to see it in only 1 dimension while physical reality exists in 3 dimensions. Great Circles are imaginary lines defined by people. You can place a Great Circle anywhere around the earth. It does not have to be a line of longitude or the equator. They simply split the earth in half – not a particulate continent.
Besides, what does the location of the continent have to do with the contributions its peoples have made to mankind? The peoples of Africa didn’t place it where it is…nature did that. Linda defends that point so vigorously as though I were attacking an entire civilization while all I was doing was pointing out an error in her statement.
Riez,
It is instructive that your initial reaction to this article is to raise doubt rather than to arouse curiosity. This could very well be a conditioned response after hundreds of years of negative images regarding Africa and witnessing blacks at the bottom rung of almost every society. Or, this could be a deliberate attempt on your part to deny anything African. Only you would know for sure why your reaction is so strongly negative or what your true agenda is.
It is common knowledge that history is frequently written by those who conquer. This narrative always puts them in the best light at the expense of the vanquished. For hundreds of years, Europeans have raped and pillaged Africa and continue to do so as we speak. In war we are told that truth is always the first casualty. Propaganda is the usually the weapon of choice. But this was no war – this was carnage. Europeans, salivating with greed pounced upon Africa ripping away at the very fabric of the society. I am sure you are aware of the history of slavery. Not the sanitized European or North American version, but that which was unveiled by contemporary historians. In retrospect, who were the real savages? Just ask the native people who once populated the Caribbean region or the ones who barely managed to survive in North America.
Regardless, the onus is not on us to prove that Africa’s history was vastly different from what we were taught by Europeans. We already believe based on the information to which we have been exposed. While there is still much work to be done, the overwhelming evidence of Africa as progressive and innovative is exceptionally well documented and scientifically proven. It is now up to you and those who want to cast doubt to prove otherwise.
I have taken the liberty to list a number of books that you may want to access so that you may dispute the findings therein. The Internet being the wonderful technology it is, makes it easy for you to order these books from anywhere around the world. I will be happy to provide you with a longer list of books, films and the names of some of the people who continue to work diligently, to dispel the falsehoods that was once generally accepted as African history. Check out the following:
Stolen Legacy – Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy – George James
The African Origin of Civilization – Myth or Reality – Cheik Antar Diop
Civilization or Barbarism – Diop
Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire – Drusella Houston
African Glory – The Story of Vanished Negro Civilizations – J.C. deGraff-Johnson
The Moors in Spain – Ivan Van Sertima
The Golden Age of the Moors in Spain – Ivan Van Sertima
World’s Greatest Men of Color Vols: 1 & 11 – J.A. Rogers
The African Origin of Western Religions – Yusef Ben Johannan
These represent only a handful of books and researchers who have shed new light on African history and Africa’s role in the development of civilization. Artifacts found in Africa and in museums all across Europe including the Vatican and North America are included in these books, making it difficult to dispute the findings. There are also a number of book that provide indisputable evidence of the presence of blacks across Asia, Australia and in almost every corner of the globe as the brother from Barbados mentioned. Now that you have something to work with, go and knock yourself out.
mdegale@hotmail.com
Michael- thank you for the reading list. I will definitely get around to reading at least some of them.
If I may re-word your first sentence in your last comment – It is instructive that your initial reaction to my comments is that I am raising doubt when in the first 2 paragraphs of my first comment and in many other instances I agree with you and even expand on my agreements. It shows me that some thinkers are too quick to go on the defensive. I can understand this because of their proven history being written off by conventional thinkers. But in our search for the truth, we must have balanced thinking – some of the theories are still unproven and the ownus IS on the person proposing the hypothesis to prove it. As I said, I am open to the idea of the Olmec being from Africa but I am just as open to them being from South East Asia. There is no definitive answer – yet. And ALL people come from Africa anyway. So what I probably should say is, which culture the Olmec are most like is still debated in academia today.
I never disagreed that Africans inhabited Asia (but when they did that they became Asians) or they had a knowledge of construction, mettalurgy, aerodynamics, astronomy and medicine. What I disagreed with was the statements made such as the Shang Dynasty being black Africans and similar others without basis. I disagreed that the step pyramid and those of Mesoamerica are as similar as some think – Perhaps I will find some basis from your reading list.
For all who are interested in the global African presence, I refer you to the wedsite below. I was one of over 500 people in Toronto who attended a presentations by Prof. Runoko Rashidi. The evidence he presented based on science, artifacts and photographs that he himself took, were astonishing to say the least.
Riaz, this website could help to allay your concerns about the black presence in Asia.Hope you find it enlightening.
http://cwo.com/~lucumi/runoko.html
BCRiaz Ali
Exactly my point but you misinterpreted it. The Egyptians painted themselves in one colour. So migrants to Egypt (from all over the world) who were now citizens of Egypt along with natives were painted all in the same one colour…
Actually I do not think I misinterpreted your point for one moment, but to argue it would be futile since only you know what twirls around in your head. According to works cited by Doctor Yoseph A.A. ben-Jochannan in his brilliant impeachment of an accounting of history fondly embraced by those discernibly uncomfortable with the “African Thing”, Herodutus the Greek Patriarch of European History described the Colchians, the Egyptians and the Ethiopians as the same kind of people. In his book, “Africa the Mother of Western Civilization” he cites a litany of historical “expert” opinions and accounts all with one expressive purpose that can be summed up in three words, to wit, “anywhere but Alkebu-lan” (Africa).
It is indeed noteworthy that Michaelangelo’s foundationless creation of an image of Christ lasted for eons without like critical comments from those ever ready to rebut our telling of our history, with nothing more than their feelings and subjective intuitions as evidence. People have become accustomed to a world in which groups and their history are accorded value on a continuum of color, and truth and fact have become inextricably intertwined with that yardstick of measurement. Disabusing them of something that have afforded them a measure of inverse proportional comfort will not be easy.
One last post…
Micheal, I have one point that I think you may agree with. In following the link you provided it stated that the white Aryans chased the Black Dravidians into the south of India. It is common history teaching that the Aryans destroyed the civilizations of the Indus. How could barbarians from the North defeat such an advanced civilization? New archeological evidence suggests that the Indus civiliizations went into decline after a series of catastrophic earthquakes just before the arrival of Aryans. The Dravidians were already in the South and were not driven there (Alexander, year later still could not penetrate the south). The Dravidians more likely co-mingled with the Aryans in the North and that’s why so many indians look half-way between White and Black today.
The theory of Buddha being from Egypt does make some sense but it also goes against other historical and archeological evidence which the site does not allude to – hence my call for balance in studying the past.
One last question if I may, all people came from Africa and when groups of people left Africa, when did they stop being African and become the people of the region they inhabit? Is it when they adapt/evolve to a differnt appearance? Is it when they develop an independent culture? Is it when they intermix with the people in the new region the inhabit? Or does simply leaving the continent make them no longer African?
Your links and reading material shows I (and I hope others reading this on both sides of the discussion) continue to learn.
Michael! I swear that the face on the shirt Rashidi is wearing is the face of the stone head holding up the pyramid at Altun-ha in Belize that I spoke of..
Linda I am not able to confirm that the face of the stone head in question is the same one that is holding up the pyramid at Altun-ha in Beliz but you can confirm this by sending an email to Rashidi. Just go to the bottom of the website and sign the guess book. It allows you to leave a comment.
Riaz, I cannot say at what point people stopped being Africans and became something else. It is common knowledge that mankind originated out of Africa. What I know is that the people that were forcably removed from Africa including those who were stolen in the genes of our foreparents were Africans NOT Trinis, not Jamaicans not Barbadians etc. So weather we want to accept it or not, we are all essentially Africans even if some of us including Africans on the continent refuse to identify us as such. Your guess is as good as mine as to when this transformation took place.
just a suggestion,
Can anyone shed light on the impact Islam had on Africa.
Afro-Trinis tend to be at a lost when it comes to this issue. Lets get some solid stats. about how much of the african continent was actually muslim etc.
What about the Africans who came to the W.I. were there muslims among them?
Knowing this is important if we’re looking at getting any benefit from our history study.
Thinking that Islam is for certain ethnic groups such as arabs etc. is a common misconception.
I am not sure i think Hamza Quick of Canada did some work on it.
Thank you
How about if we start with you supplying us with your information?
The purpose of this article was to show that African history is much more diverse and richer than what is currently being portrayed during African History Month. By drawing attention to other areas of this history, I hoped to broaden the base and to make a case for including African history in school curriculums globally, rather than have it confined to one month of the year. I believe that this approach could empower African youth and begin to address the issues of violence and delinquency that is so prevalent in African communities throughout the Diaspora.
The slave trade tore away the very fabric of African life leaving a marginalized and deeply fractured people. Steps must therefore be taken to mend this fabric. Failure to include African history in the general curriculum will emphasize the necessity for Afro centric schools. This is where the issue of reparations becomes crucial. Judging from the responses to the article, it is evident that there is much to talk about.
hi Mr Mike [i know its ok to call all micheals mike],
Thank you for clarifying the intent of this thread. This is the backbone of any deed. I also extend my gratitude to you for breifly outlining the objective.
Even in this regard, I still see it as very important to understand the role Islam played in Africa. Knowing the facts [causes/ effects} are extremely important, and so too is providing a solution.
In my dorm. there are lots of Africans, we have lived together for years…and having spent my first 16 years in Trinidad i can assure you that the Africans I know, are truly different here[in a good sense- very peaceful, very good manners especially when it comes to everyday living morals. its different, its not like a hi, hello good bye]. They are all Muslim, they are from almost all the African countries some i have never heard of before, seychelles-juz al qamar and the likes. Mr. Mike, this is why i lean toward your opinion about african people back home [i say back home as I have never witnessed this type of behaviour other than in the wild west, where they have been literally stripped of their culture] , being the way they are today due to a loss of their culture.
Having realised that Africans get along so well with africans and non africans under their Islamic culture, I agree that it should be taught to them, reason being its giving them a chance to change, this is what is needed, as it icludes the answer-the solution-the alternative. By teaching them something they can practice in their lives is in fact a viable approach if we sincerely care about them changing. (I prefer to write in a more general way but this article targets the Africans).
I was told that there were Muslim Africans who came to the W.I., i was also referred to Dr. Hamza Quick. I never had the opportunity to read his works though. Also, my personal experience here meeting Muslim Africans. These are the reasons why i made the suggestion and why i chose not to authorise myself on the issue. I have seen a genuine effort on this thread to base conclusions on authentic proof. I gravitate to these types of dialogues.[except in the odd case there are traces of emotional infuences]
Mrs. Linda, Mr Riaz and Mr. Gale however, seem to have access to some legitimate sources of information, hence my request from them. I firmly beleive we should alwasy ask the people of knowlege if we are in doubt or dont know. I had no intention to anger anyone.
Thank you all so much and please continue to keep it civil and free from emotions, hatred etc.
sincerely….
Globalislamic.
It is NOT ok to call all Michaels Mike. While I am stuck with European names- a constant reminder of our colonial oppression – I prefer to be referred to as Michael. I am actually considering reverting to a name that is indicative of my African ancestory.
Regarding your question, I cannot speak specifically to the Islamic presence in the Caribbean. What I can say is that in my research I have never come across the hostility and blood letting that is now commonly associated with Africa. Certainly there were wars fought to expand kingdoms but these wars as far as I am aware were not based on ethnicity nor religion.
For the most part, I have heard about their respect for human life and the dignity of African people. Their love of family and looking out for each other. I have read of strangers who in their travels were welcomed into villages like lost brothers and were fed, had their thirst quenched and were allowed to rest before continuing on their way without the need for compensation. All this of course, was prior to the arrival of Europeans on the continent.
European history book will have us believe that Africa was a land of dark savagery and Africans had to wait on Europeans “to bring the light”. According to Dr. John Hendrik Clark, “…not only did they not bring light. They had no light to bring.” Africa was experiencing it “Golden Age” when they arrived. Many early travellers to the continent were absolutely amaized at the social, political and economic structures they saw in place. Herototous from Greece, considered “The Father of History” (take it with a grain of salt)left an eye witness account of his travels in Africa during the 5th century. His startling account of what he saw, totally contradicts what we’ve came to know as African history thanks to Arnold Toinbee and his cabal of fraudulent European historians.
The folowing is a short list of resources that you may find helpful in addressing your concerns.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X – Here he speaks of his experience as a fellow muslim who made the Hajj to Mecca and the love and decency he experienced among fellow muslims of every stripe.
Ruins of Empire by Count Volney – First published in 1791 Volney speaks of his travels in Africa and his personal observations and conclusions
“The Moors in Spain” and “The Golden Age of the Moors in Spain” both by Ivan Van Sertima – He gives an account of the Moors who were muslims from North Africa. In 711AD, headed by a man named Tariq the Moors invaded and captured most of Spain except for a small area in the north. They remained there until 1492 when the country was recaptured during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella (think Christopher Columbus). An excellent source that deals specifically with the influence of African muslims in Europe.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe – Deals with the termoil created with the arrival of Europeans in a small Igbo village. This is a work of fiction but can be viewed as a microcosm of the devistation and parasetic effect of colonization on the continent of Africa as a whole.
Wonderful Ethopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire by Drusilla D. Huston. An amaizingly interesting book that reaches into the depts of history to reveal a precolonial Africa. Here she claims with supporting evidence that the Greek Gods were actually named ofter African princes. Their feasts were so elaborate that “The Gods delighted in their banquets”.
If our kids knew the history of their ancestors, they will be filled with hope and visions of what is possible.
How is that for a start????????
Here are a few “Gems” for you. I swear by them.
“Empty the coins of your purse into your mind and your mind will enrich your life”
“Knowledge is better than silver and gold”
This has been a very informative and interesting debate, but we still have to use the “White” man books for our knowledge.
I believe that everything that we have learnt has come from details handed down to us by our parents and teachers, people have not got any original thoughts to put forward as to man existence.
Taking African as the begining is noit new and nothing can be proven about this, as far as I can gather this is just intellectual debade.
Nobody knows where we come from and nobody, no Pope, Priest, President or layman knows where we are going.
Does anyone knows where we go to after we have left this life ?
I am not asking for personal opinions.
Trust someone would response to this query.
Sonny Blacks
globalistic wrote
Having realised that Africans get along so well with africans and non africans under their Islamic culture, I agree that it should be taught to them, reason being its giving them a chance to change, this is what is needed, as it icludes the answer-the solution-the alternative. By teaching them something they can practice in their lives is in fact a viable approach if we sincerely care about them changing. (I prefer to write in a more general way but this article targets the Africans).
I believe that like many others, your mendacious mind only looks in one direction as it contemplates things like savagery and violence. How long have the Indians in India and Pakistan been bloodletting? What about Gujarat? And what about Sri Lanka, and Nothern Ireland, and Bosnia etc, etc, etc? Truth is, it was the historical hospitality and passivity of Africans that contributed to the down fall of many of their civilizations. In addition, any other group of people experiencing a 300 plus years holocaust would have been engaged in revenge strife up to this day. Just look around at situations all over this world that don’t even remotely come close to the experience of Africans, and witness those with perceptions of being wronged frothing at the mouth for retribution.
How can islam be so great for Africans when in almost every Islamic country on the African continent indigenous Africans seem to have disappeared, or are facing genocide and ethnic cleansing in places like Darfur Sudan. Doctor Henry Louis (skip) Gates discovered the Muslim rulers of the Sudan destroying evidence of ancient African Civilizations in that Country. About the only time you see black people in places like Saudi Arabia, Yemen etc, is when those countries are competing at International sports in footbal or something like that.
So please spare me the condescending and self serving allusions that Africans need Islam to behave like civilized beings. This whole damn world outside of Africans need to look into the mirror and do a little introspection and examination of the savagery and violence within their midst, before summoning up the chutzpah to equate Africa and Africans with savagery and violence.
Mr. Sonny, good to know that you feel enlightened by the article. I think everyone here will agree that we often have to refer in our studies, to Euro centric history or others who were taught such history. About the other point, all indisputable evidences show that we all go back to adam.
I must correct myself about that misconception, the only reason i used that abbreviation is that i thought a decent shortening of the persons name makes them feel more comfortable. I now say, there are some exceptions to that rule. I understand the reason very well though. I think its reasonable. If youre interested in changing your name i can suggest some, i have lots of original african mates.
Being absent from an English speaking environment for a while, my writing may be a bit ambiguous. Anyways, let me give it another try, what i was asking for regarding the Caribbean and Islam, is specifically the Islam the Africans brought to the Caribbean, excluding the East Indians.
Though very lightly, the presence of pre-conditioned minds and efective propaganda can be felt.
Mr Micheal,
“What I can say is that in my research I have never come across the hostility and blood letting that is now commonly associated with Africa.”
One must strive to find out, factually, what caused and causes this situation. I can assure you that its not because of the Africans being Muslims or their acceptance of Islam as their way of life. There are external factors. This however, is another issue, verification of the media.
What i have gathered though, is that this section of the history knowledge [Islam and Africa- history, effects etc]is not known to many, we need to know why and was it deliberately plotted out to be as such, as is many other things in centric accounts of history…
Again, you may have to clarify one more thing for me. According to your suggestion, you would like that
“By drawing attention to other areas of this history, I hoped to broaden the base and to make a case for including African history…”
{Global ” its only fair that the African people be educated with a very comprehensive history- this therefore includes the coming of Islam to Africa, the state of Africa prior to the advent of Islam, the effects Islam had on Africa etc.”}
“…in school curriculums globally, rather than have it confined to one month of the year. I believe that this approach could empower African youth and begin to address the issues of violence and delinquency that is so prevalent in African communities throughout the Diaspora”
to my understanding, you want the public to be better educated [globally} having crossed this bridge, the African youth will then be empowered, which poises them to deal with the situation. Can you break down how the last part is expected to be carried out practically. I mean like, would they after this education, try to emulate the past values they were taught…i think i am going down the wrong road, but please clarify.
I had some mixed feelings after reading today. By the way, a handy list of books was sent to me, its common courtesy to be thankful. I beleive writers should be careful about the capital letters as it signifies shouting-too much emphasis, we should also use the punctuation for what theyre for, and not to suggest sarcasm. I try to be polite, i hope this is not taken for granted. I trust that it wasnt and wont be.
thank you again and may we all be guided to the truth.
oh, and ruel, plz dont allow the emotions take over. approve or dis approve, without attempting to jest at others. people lets keep it civil.
Global islamic shuld check a monograph by Carl Campbell o f UWI mona entitled : Jonads Mohammed BAth and the Free Mandingoes in Trinidad: The question oftheir repatriation, published in 1976 by the Journal of CAribbean studies. The first Muslims in Trinidad were Africans. Jonas, who is buried in the Lapeyrouse Cemetery, was a sultan captured into slavery. His is an interesting story. For unbiased information on Muslims in Africa,(Islam got to Africa with the prophet himself,) you should check the authoritative and well researched articles in http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com, including, but not limited to the one on the Manuscripts of Mauritania, books including old Korans, found in caves behind houses, that go back to the year 1100 of the Common Era. Thus, Africans were writing in Arabic four hundred years before the Moors were expelled from Spain. Recent document searches in the country called Chad, turned up documents buried in the sand to prevent slave raiders from stealing them also.The University of Timbuktu- one of the oldest in the world- right alongside Oxford, has been a center of Islamic and African scholarship since its inception. All of these sites are accessible online. The government archives in any of the Sub-saharan African Muslim countries may also be able to help. I have no contacts that I could recommend. It may be well to remember that Africans call themselves Africans first, then their ethnic group, language group or country, then their religion.
Note to Ruel Daniels: On my visit to Saudi Arabia in 2004, I met medical doctors from the Sudan and England who were African women working there. One is in private practice, one is a medic with Saudi Aramco. Some of the princesses of the Royal House of Saud are of African origins, and they were not playing football. Until the Suez Canal was cut, the Arabian Peninsula was a continuous part of Africa, and people moved freely back and forth. Just as technically skilled people from all over come to work in TnT, so technically skilled people from all over go to work in Saudi Arabia.Islam as a faith is not a requirement. Respect for Islam, and the rules of the country, are.
We seem to have exported a no-nothing full of biases. Hopefully his education would be fleshed out whereever he is, but that is the very point of these discussions. Any person who shapes his concept of Africa based on what ehe reads in the Trinidad papers is a hopeless dunce, and we have a role to play here. He is not a deliberate dunce, that must presume he had the opportunity to learn. This is a dunce whose mind may have been closed by limited education, and the kinds of biases that pervade the school system. Let us unite to help open his mind.
Note to Sonny Blacks: Carbon dating is an accepted method of dating ancient objects based on the quantity of carbon deposits on them. It has dated bones from the East African Rift Valley as being 3,000,000 years old. The work of George and Mry Leakey contributed greatly to these early human finds.
Mary Leakey discoverded a set of footprints that dated the human family as three million years old. It was two adults walking in soft volcanic ash with a small child between them. The ash solidified into rock, and stayed buried for millions of years. Wonderful facts like that can help African children feel good about themselves. Also, my sister told me, and then it was documented by science, that given five preemie babies of both sexes, and all ethnic groups, the little African girl baby will fight the hardest to survive. It is as if she knows she is the mother of the tribe.(My sister has about thirty years experience as a nurse, and works in the Neo-natal ICU of a big hospital, with what she calls “the fourteen ouncers”.)
There are all kinds of wonderful annecdotal, factual and scientific evidence to document the Africa story. What annoys some of us, is the way the falsehoods are grabbed up by many with devious motives, while the great and glorious truths are suppressed or sidestepped as if the were non-issues. In countries where fortunes can be spent just on acquiring books, the problem of ignorance can be further compounded
I am especially pleased with the way Mrs Linda handled her dialogue. If you are Trini, i must say that you are one of the first ones i ever came accross who can evidently prove that there were Muslim africans who were enslaved in the Caribbean. Thank you very much. I want to serve this discussion by putting together a detailed account based on the references both you and Mr Micheal gave about this topic so that it could be included within the curiculum that we are proposing.
I can see some progress now…