TRIBUTE TO DR. IVAN VAN SERTIMA—GREAT MAN AND SCHOLAR
It gives me very great pleasure to pay tribute to a great man in the land of his birth, especially at such an auspicious time--the fiftieth anniversary of the national independence of Guyana. My only regret is that I am not here with you—in this country that has produced so many remarkable people--to deliver these remarks in person. Nevertheless, I salute the organizers of this wonderful program and wish you all the best. As for Brother Inuni, I hold you in the highest esteem.
To me, Ivan Van Sertima was more than a great scholar. He was a colleague, a mentor and a friend. Along with such men as Chancellor Williams, John Henrik Clarke, Cheikh Anta Diop, Walter Rodney, Asa G. Hilliard III, Jan Carew, Yosef ben-Jochannan and Frances Welsing, he is sorely missed.
With absolute certainty it can be stated that, due to his consistent and unrelenting scholarship over the past half-century in the rewriting of African history and the reconstruction of the African's place in world history, particularly in the field of the African presence in ancient America, Ivan Van Sertima cemented his position as one of our greatest scholars. Indeed, during this turbulent and exciting period, he was in the vanguard of those scholars fighting to place African history in a new light.
Ivan Van Sertima was born in Kitty Village, Guyana, South America on January 26, 1935. He was educated at the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University where he graduated with honors. The cornerstone of Dr. Van Sertima's legacy will probably be his authorship of They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America. According to Ivan:
"The African presence in America before Columbus is of importance not only to African and American history, but to the history of world civilizations.”
On July 7, 1987 Dr. Van Sertima appeared before a United States Congressional Committee to challenge the Columbus myth of the discovery of America. In November 1991 he defended his thesis in an address to the Smithsonian Institute. In this arena Ivan Van Sertima emerged as an undefeated champion.
As for the book itself, Uncovering the African Past: The Ivan Van Sertima Papers, this work is a tribute to the towering scholar Dr. Ivan Van Sertima. As his most prolific student it is a work that I am most proud of. The Ivan Van Sertima Papers is a unique work, beautifully illustrated with original photographs. It covers the major arenas of his scholarly life and looks at the immense contributions that African people have given to the world.
In closing, I would state the obvious--that a people should never forget their history. They should never forget their great men and women.
They should never forget their great scholars. This effort is an attempt to prevent the memory of one such man, one of our greatest scholars--Ivan Van Sertima--from fading into the oblivion of the night.
To Ivan Van Sertima we say, well done. Your work will never be forgotten. We salute and honor you.
Runoko Rashidi
Paris France
May 5, 2016
https://theblacklist.net/
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