AFS240 Foundations Lecture

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AFS 240 - "African Civilizations" Foundations Instructor : Kwesi Craig C. Brookins, Ph.D. Africana Studies Program @ NC State University

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African Experience AfriKan ? Origin History Diversity World View Experience? "Lived" Experience

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African as a "Racial Being?" Original Concepts of Race Difference of Origin caucasoid , mongoloid, negroid Theological Doctrines Ham, Shem Japhet (Biblical) Geographical Groups (Prior to 1749) Anthropological & psychological classifications (18th & 19th century) Dictionary Definitions "... a classification of humans based on physical characteristics such as skin color, facial form, or eyeshape .

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Current Knowledge on Human Beings Single Species Common Biological Characteristics Different Physical Traits Physical Classifications are Inconsistent Environmental Influences Dictate

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Redefining Race a belief system a biological fallacy a social reality a human creation a means of oppressing people a suboptimal world view

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All People Are African People

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Afrocentricity As ancient as human life itself! Molefi K. Asante "seeing African people as agents and subjects of their own experience" Lived Experience Humanistic Cultural Relativity & Diversity Maulana Karenga "viewing social and human reality from an African perspective or standpoint" African people as the CENTER not the PERIPHERY "...a quality of thought and practice rooted in the cultural image & human interest of African people Liberation Ideology Oppression Privelege Social Change & Action

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Domains of Afrocentricity Scholarly - Academic African Experience as Foundation African Experience as Discourse African Experience as Application Social - Societal Contribution & Presence Communalistic Orientation Political - Socio-economic Humanistically Driven Ethnic & Socio-economic Diversity Dr. John Henrik Clarke Dr. Yosef Ben Jochannan

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Domains of Afrocentricity (cont'd) Personal Self-Consciousness Identity, Spirituality , Humanity , Value Orientation, etc. Understanding History - Genealogy Understanding Culture Professional Needs of African People Connecting with Contemporary Realities Role of Technology Responsibility & Contributions

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Afrocentricity - What It IS NOT! It is NOT based on the color of your skin It is NOT how many Malcolm X books you've read or speeches you can recite It is NOT how you wear your hair or how "African" your clothes are It is NOT a belief in the superiority of Black folk It is NOT a belief that everything that took place in ancient Africa was good and Glorious

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Afrocentricity - What it IS! A TOOL for self-understanding by African-descended people A TOOL for understanding the African and African American experience A TOOL for understanding OPPRESSION and LIBERATION A TOOL to help correct the mistakes of the past A WAY to fairly deal with all peoples A RECOGNITION of the originality, greatness, humanity, ability, worthiness, and dignity of AFRICAN people throughout time A RECOGNITION that African people have NEVER accepted defeat

William Edward Burghardt DuBois:

William Edward Burghardt DuBois 1868-1963 African American Scholar Activist Historian Sociologist Troublemaker Father of African American Studies African Sojourner

The World and Africa:

The World and Africa Originally published in 1947 “I have in mind a book along the following lines: title to be “The Africas ” emphasizing the fact that Africa is not one country, one group or one race but a conglomerate of peoples with various degrees of importance and possibilities who are going to play roles in the post-war world.” Proposal to publisher for book by W.E.B. DuBois on January 17, 1945

Outline of “The Africas”:

Outline of “The Africas ” Exigencies of slave trade and debunking racial superiority/inferiority myths and perceptions “we must reorient our thought from race to geography” Africa as a continental Unit Economic connections to Europe and America Cultural Diversity (not racial) Significance to international trade Cheap labor Vast but cheap mineral resources Vast profits extracted to Europe and America coinciding with declining profits extracted from these countries Center of a “New Power Politics”

Outline of “The Africas” (cont’d):

Outline of “The Africas ” (cont’d) “Let us now look back to the first World War and consider the main groups of African peoples and their condition and significance. We have here Egypt, the Egyptian Sudan and Ethiopia, Tunis and Algeria, Morocco, Libya; then French Africa and British West Africa, the Belgian Congo and what is now British East Africa with Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika; Portuguese Africa divided into two Great parts, the Rhodesias and the Union of South Africa. Finally, and often forgotten, Madagascar. These centers are political and subdivided into cultural units which do not correspond with the political boundaries and organized into industrial areas which again overlap both. The condition of these areas during and after the first World War calls for careful consideration and as many reliable figures as can be adduced.”

Outline of “The Africas” (cont’d):

Outline of “The Africas ” (cont’d) “We must remember that the depression following the first World War and culminating in 1929, was far more disastrous to colonial regions than to the great centers of civilization. Its effects upon industry in Africa and upon African culture deserve investigation.”

Outline of “The Africas” (cont’d):

Outline of “The Africas ” (cont’d) Reaction of African colonies to these events Upsurge in Industry The War(s) Failure of the State Poverty World War II Centrality of Ethiopia to Colonizing efforts Union of South Africa and Kenya African Soldiers Fighting Italians (on behalf of British) in Ethiopia Reconquest of the Far East

Outline of “The Africas” (cont’d):

Outline of “The Africas ” (cont’d) African Demands Autonomy Freedom Democracy Ethiopian Independence Land Education

Future of the Continent:

Future of the Continent African Raw Material Belongs to Africans Investment taxed for the educational, economic and social uplift of Africans Africans must have voice in their own government “Cultural status and contributions of Africans must be scientifically studied and used for the new emancipation of this continent.”