In past meetings, we have talked about the need to broaden our understanding beyond the single narrative. In that spirit, we will have a guest speaker, Sherman's friend, Kenneth M. Jennings, Jr., on the topic of the true origins of ancient Egypt, its suppression by main stream historians, and what it means for Black Americans.
An excerpt from Ken's handout:
Understand that when I speak of the Kemites I am speaking of the Black people of the Nile Valley of Africa who built the world’s first major civilization and nation state long before Moses and long before even Abraham. Greece and Rome did not exist. Sumer in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers area (now called Iraq) was a city state. There was no concept of a “Europe” among the primitive white inhabitants of that area on the western edge of the Asian land mass.
Here is a little about Ken, related to the topic:
He has made nine trips to Ghana, West Africa and one to the Nile Valley in Egypt on a study tour. He is a member of The Association For The Study Of Classical African Civilizations (ASCAC). Ken gives presentations to Alpha Achievers in the schools and others to ensure that the young men, school staff and the community have a clear sense of African history and culture. He has written essays to express an Afrocentric perspective, often using the name Kofi Akuffo Ojise’. Kofi is the Akan peoples of Ghana name given to boys born on Friday, Akuffo means Ordained by God and Ojise’ means “messenger” in the Yoruba language of Nigeria.
HERE is a link to the video that will be shown.
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Other videos:
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Other videos:
One wades into the subject of race with some caution. It is so bound up with identity for many people that it can be difficult to have an objective conversation about it, let alone accept that the concept itself is a biological fiction. Race is a social construct defined by people not by nature. Nevertheless, as W. I. Thomas said, if people believe something to be real, it is real in its consequences. And since Europeans introduced the concept as a way of justifying their exploitation of others starting in the 16th century, the consequences of race have been all too real.
ReplyDeleteTo apply modern concepts of race to ancient Egypt is to create yet another fiction. The ancient Egyptians would have no doubt been comprised of a mix of physical characteristics that represented an adaptation to the northeastern area of Africa and probably would have been somewhat varied in appearance, as the historical record shows.
The motivations to perpetuate the idea that "blacks" and "whites" represent discreet racial categories are many and powerful, but they are not grounded in science. I believe it was Twain who once said that it's not so much what we don't know that gets us into trouble but what we do know that's not so. Our persistent belief in race may be one powerful example.
Thanks for the comment. Race distinction may not be as important now as it was 50 years ago, when this revelation was spreading in Black American communities.
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