Zahi Hawass courtesy, nationalgeographic.com

Cheikh Anta Diop courtesy, L'Evenementwww.evenement-bf.net/pages/culture_86.htmWe get so anxious as Black people, Negroes, Coloreds, Nekkros, African Americans, "African-Descended Peoples", Diasporic Tribes, "Children of the Diaspora" or whatever you wish to call us. We as a diasporic people are all of that, and more, are we not? About identity, we are so easily spun off into Cartesian circles of confusion, conflict, doubt, anger, recrimination, and shame.Take the curious case of Baba, Cheikh Anta Diop.No sooner had I mentioned Diop's name in passing in a blog posting of mine than a brief but insistent string of comments on said blog post began, focusing upon Diop, as if my post had been about Baba Diop in the first place. It hadn't. It is a sure thing that if one mentions Diop, like mentioning certain other hot-button Children of the Diaspora such as Francis Cress Welsing, President Idi Amin, Nat Turner, Condoleeza Rice, Papa Doc Duvalier, or Michael Jackson, one will get a response; and that response will very often be very tendentious, as if your mention in passing of these people were the point of your discourse, for, indeed, these figures draw to themselves an animus that will make them be the point. This is so, because Black identity, like Black life itself, is mercurial, fragile, precious, and always under duress. We have very passionate and definite convictions, all of us, about who and what we are. This is as it should be. Diop, whether you honor him or distrust him, believe in his work or decline to so believe, Diop draws our energies to himself--Diop the man, as well as Diop the symbol of ingenious African Manhood. He even bears a resemblance to our fallen Prince, Patrice Lamumba.As I wrote of Diop in a brief 'add a comment' post a while ago:"...it cannot be denied that Diop's work on the African basis of civilization, though perhaps pushed a bit too far by him (the Leaky family projects, and other anthropological and geological evidence of late seem to suggest the possibility that Asia, not Afrika, was the cradle of the hominid homo habilis/homo erectus--of humanity) is brilliant and is valid. He exposed, through his sheer intellectuaism, the biases in previous research on Afrika...."Throughout the 1950s, 60s and into the 70s, research on and scholarship about Africa was crippled by White supremacist racialist 'typing' by Europeans such as Carleton S. Coon--whose "The Races of Europe," published in 1939, brainwashed the educators who taught my generation of public school students, into thinking ancient Europeans were a 'refined product' of racial progression while Africans, as he asserts in his "The Origin of Races," published in the 60's just in time for my generation to be besmirched by him, argues that Africans were ne'er do wells and primitives; in "The White Race and the New World" from 1939, he posits that the White races possess 'maximum survival' potential due to--you guessed it, their superiority--manifest destiny for the dscerning anthropologist. Due to an extant ideology of the 'superiority' of White civilization vs. the assumption of intrinsic 'inferiority' of the cultures south of Mother Sahara, Europeans had throughout the 19th and 20th centuries arbitrarily pronounced an arrangement of hierarchy in which most (sub Saharan) Black cultures were declared 'primitive' while so-called 'advanced' cultures were said to coexist soley because of so-called 'Caucasian clusters' presumed to exist within ancient Afrikan contexts (Egypt was assumed, under this ideology and theory, to be a 'White' civilization sprouted like a saving grace, like a beautiful white rose from amidst the dark detritus, choas, and brutality of surrounding African geography and cultures). Due to people like Coon, the assumption was that progress was brought to North Africa by "Hamitic" invaders (thus is explained, presumably, the Alexandrian period of the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt who were Greek in origin)--the children of Ham. White people.Egyptian monarchs, under this theory, were Caucasian, and were manifestly dominant over the witless, idle Black races, nations, and tribes of Sub Sahara.Diop's long ago rejection of these European racialists, prefigured in his book, "Nations Negres et Culture" (1954), presaged the later works of liguistic antropologists, geologists, and physical anthropologists of the last thirty years of post-racist research, most of whom have declared the lie that was Coonian dogma.African Archaeological Review published DNA evidence in 2004 which famously verified much of Diop's research and his ideas: European scientists had faked evidence, research, and physical findings in order to buttress their own racist theories about African primitivism.Diop proposed theories about African development in the Pleistocene period which Europeans had tried to theorize was a period of peculiar 'splitting' between two distinct human gene pools and two distinct human races: one 'civilized and developed' and the other 'primitive' and less developed. Diop's work on Nubian civilization specifically is stunning for its implications of very, very ancient Afrikan high civilization predating even Egypt.Right: Nubian pyramids of Meroe courtesy,http://wysinger.homestead.com/nubian105.htmlThis must be said: the recent spate of books, films, lectures, and radio blather cycling all around us about the phenomenal 'discoveries' of the pyramids of Nubia/Kush/present day Sudan, all of it was prefigured by Baba Diop! He was saying it decades ago! If for no other reason, he is to be honored for being the voice in the vanguard of a criminally delinquent western intellectual development.Finally, I'll say this:The efficacy of Diop's work can perhaps be inferred by the much publicized racism of Zahi Hawass, 'Undesecretary of the State of Egypt overseeing the Giza Monuments and the Antiquities'. Hawass denies the Black identity of ancient Egyptians, specifically objecting to the Afrocentrist assertion that Queen Nefertiti was Black. It has been charged by Afrocentrists, that Hawass bears some personal repsonsibility for the continued racist insensitivity toward the tragic loss of ancient archeological materials, artifacts, and evidence of the pre archaic existence of advanced Nubian civilization, through his refusal to acknowledge that the community of scholars he belongs to were instrumental in advocating the flooding of the former Nubian plains by the Aswan Damn project, which created a man-made Lake sinking Nubian architectural and anthropological relics under 200 feet of water reaching from Egypt to Sudan. Egyptian scholars of antiquity like Hawass refused to speak out against the tragedy of the water of that lake obscuring hundreds of Nubian pyrimids--their remains having outnumbered those of Egypt proper. The lake also reportedly led to the forced relocation of thousands native Nubians.Hawass' racism is par for the course. At first glance it may seem to North Americans to be petty on the part of afrocentrists to call him out this way, since he has never lynched anyone, never burned a cross, crescent, or star of david on anyone's lawn, and never called King Tut a 'nigger' (in fact, at an academic conference in Mississippi a few years ago a colleague of mine, a linguist from Georgetown University, a fellow Afrikan American, demanded to know why we "post colonial discourse brothers from Cornell talking all that post modernist and 'Afro-Asian' stuff" were being so hard on Hawass. After all, Hawass is a brother who protects the antiquities of Egypt from the White pillagers with ferocity and great love for the dignity of Egypt's heritage. Yes, he does. True, true, I told him).But there is a subtle nuance to be looked at here, and it relates to all that gets said about, against, and around about Diop: North African forms of oppression are not awlays as overt, as clear-cut as we here in the Anglo western portion of the diaspora are accustomed to. The sheer size and breadth of North America is such that population control is only a crucial issue to the oppressor in the urban centers of the US; for much of the US is rural, is lacking commercial development still, and is marked by vistas (take a road trip across the United States, seaboard to seaboard--north/south or east/west, either will serve--and you will see what I mean). Africa and Asia, Japan, the European centers, and even much of the Caribbean and of Central America are a bit different in this regard: there is less room. Oppression must take population density and population in relation to land mass very seriously. Thus, the management of populations is a special case in places like Egypt, Palestine, South Africa, and even in Great Britain, an entire country that can fit snugly inside Florida, only one of fifty US states.What am I talking about? What has this to do with Diop?Egyptian feminist writer, activist, and psychologist (yes, she is much like Frantz Fanon), Nawal El Saadawi, brilliant author of "God Dies By the Nile" has addressed the nuance I'm driving at. She has denounced the racism and the pacification and nullification that is greatly characteristic of north African forms of authoritarianism, sexism, and racism (as Hanan Ashwari too, has pointed out, and as we see with Israel's peculiar approach to pacification of, removal of, and dehumanization of the humanity of Palestinians in the occupied territories and in Jerusalem). This is exactly why ex PLO member Aida Saad now lives in Dubai and Nawal El Saadawi now lives part of the time in Egypt but part of the time in Brussels, Belgium for 'her own peace of mind,' as she puts it. Left: Nawal El Saadawiنوال السعداوىThe form that racism often takes for North Africans and for others on the continent is the sort of circumspect, parsimonious racism that Hawass exhibits against Blackness, and that Cheikh Anta Diop fought against through the simple act not of carrying a gun, or smuggling guns, but by challenging the intellectual underpinnings of xenophobia, bigotry, and most of all, CHAUVINISM.Diop is an important and early voice that long ago began the current fight to win the legitimacy of Black civilization in a nuanced way: by overturning the entrenched, discursive and procedural bigotry toward the very idea that Africans are descended from greatness, from cultures of epic proportion, and from profoundly complex and developed societies that pre-dated the archaic periods of Europe.Right: Pyramids of Nuri, Nubiacourtesy, http://wysinger.homestead.com/nubian105.html
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    "Diop draws our energies to himself--Diop the man, as well as Diop the symbol of ingenious African Manhood. He even bears a resemblance to our fallen Prince, Patrice Lamumba."

    Diop is the source of much confusion in this community. This is why I have never been "drawn" to him. I knew what he was all about before I read much of anything taht he wrote. Basially I avoid him like the plaque. But, you are right to say that many people forces a discussion about Diop even when such discussion is not at all appropriate.

    And, Diop is especially not much like Comrade Lumumba. Lumumba was a commited revolutioanry and uncompromising Pan-Africanist. Diop came to Pan-Africanism only late in life. Early, before he had had the opportunity to learn and clarify his thinking, he was definitely NOT a Pan-Africanist. All of his works concern themselves with the French notion of "Black Africa". It was not until he qualified himself in economics that he realized that the principle of economy of scales, Arabs and "Black" Africans had to Unite together to form one unified Africa. He then wrote a new foreword for his books in which he acknowledged the economy of scale principle. But, to be not confussing, all of his works should have been revised, rewritten.

    It is absolutelty essential that we understand this issue: economy of scale is central and crucial to Pan-Africanism. Basiscally, it says that we can do more economically, in terms of Economic Development, if we pool our resoeuces rather than divide them. The collective interest is superior to the individual or samll group interests. Small groups and smaller groups must surrender their interests to the interests of the larger group, the whole group, in this case, the whole African Nation. In other words, Bantus must surrender their interests to those of the African Nation. Therefore, it makes no sense for Dar Far to seek independence from Sudan, for instance. That would only divide the very limited oil reosurces thus forcing down the price of oil for both sides.

    Diop acknowledges that in order to reclaim and develop the Sahara Desert, there must be Unity between Arabs and non-Arabs in Africa. Both sides share the Sahara Desert. And, we need input and resources from both sides to deliver water and to plant vegetation. This is how Diops understanding of Economic Development led him to Pan-Africanism.

    "Due to people like Coon, the assumption was that progress was brought to North Africa by "Hamitic" invaders (thus is explained, presumably, the Alexandrian period of the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt who were Greek in origin)--the children of Ham. White people."

    First of all, let me note that Coon was not the first nor only such stupid and racist thinker in the previous century. Virtually all of the social sciences were dominated by such insanity at least back to social Darwinism. Again, it is to be noted that social Darwinism was the root theory of Nazism. But, modern social science, beginning with the great Pan-Africanist W.E.B. Dubois has proven social Darwinism faulty and incorrect.

    Diop, on the other hand, was limited at least in part by his French cultural experience. While modern science was proving social Darwinism wrong, Francophone Africans were busy concocting crazy ideas such as "negritude". This is what confused Diop. And, this is what delayed his Pan-Adfricanist development.

    It is to be noted that while Franciophone African Christians were hoodwinked and fooled by social Darwinism and "negritude", francophone Muslims were not. Thus, Algeria launched a war of natinal independence. And Sekou Toure led Guinea to be the only Franch colony to reject French colonioalism: "We prefer liberty in poverty to riches in slavery." This is what led Guine to Unity with Nkrumah's Ghana and Mali to form the Union of African States andf eventually the OAU/African Union. In other words, Islam has always been about unity, Islam resisted colonialism harder than any other religion, and Islam is at the basis of Pan-Africanism. To prove this one need only to know that Marcus Garvey was taught by Duse Muhammad Ali.

    "Egyptian monarchs, under this theory, were Caucasian, and were manifestly dominant over the witless, idle Black races, nations, and tribes of Sub Sahara."

    Of course, I will argue that Cleopatra was not 100% cuacasian. But, she was sufficiently causcasin to sell Africa and her own body to Mark Anthony and Julius Caesar. If anything, that proves her to be a most inferior of women. Yet, she is presented to us as smart and beautiful. Get that. An African monarch who betrays Africa is good. This is why we have stupid African women such as Aunties Condoleezza Rice and Anita Hill being rewarded to destroy that which is African. Cleopatra allowed Rome to take over Egypt and to enslave Africans. If anything, we should all hate her.

    "Diop's long ago rejection of these European racialists, prefigured in his book, "Nations Negres et Culture" (1954), presaged the later works of liguistic antropologists, geologists, and physical anthropologists of the last thirty years of post-racist research, most of whom have declared the lie that was Coonian dogma."

    No. What is happening here with Black Nations and Culture is "negritude" which is a reformulation of French racism. I have not and will not read the book. But, the title alone is a fallacy. I assume that he argues that African culture is good, not bad. Whoa! What insight! Of course French ethnocentrism makes that progress. But, it is still essentially a racist theory, the flip side of the same racist theory taht was there alone. The French were saying that French culture is superior. All Diop and his contemparies did was argue that African culture has value. This has led to the formation of such insanity as "cultural nationalism". "Cultural nationalism" has its place. But, it is poor politics. The "negritudist/cultural nationalsist politicians did not even have the insight to lead their countries to independence from France. Only the Muslims fought back. It was only after Muslim Guinea and Algeria led the way, that the people of the Frecnh colonies rose up and forced their so-called leaders to become indpendent. Thus, the politcal theory had to come from Islamic culture, not Diop and not Senghor or any of the other "negritidists/cultural natiopnalists".

    "...through his refusal to acknowledge that the community of scholars he belongs to were instrumental in advocating the flooding of the former Nubian plains by the Aswan Damn project, which created a man-made Lake sinking Nubian architectural and anthropological relics under 200 feet of water reaching from Egypt to Sudan."

    This is where the differences between cultural nationalists and negritudists is most manifest and pronounced and exposed. Not only are they not politcal, negritudists and cultural nationalists are not economic, neither. Thus, they seem to think that millions of Egyptians can eat artifacts instead of having a source of water to irrigate their farms and grow food to eat. Never mind that 200 feet of water will not harm the artifacts. It seems that the problem is they are too lazy to learn to swim and dive. If they were sincere in studying these artifacts, all they need to do is dive down to them. Thus, everybody would be happy. The poor masses of people would have water to irrgate their crops and the reserchers have would their arifacts to look at.

    But, every Pan-Africaist country in Africa has done Economic Development especially in irrigation. Ghana did the Volta River Dam Project. Zimbabwe is investing huge amounts in irrigation. This is because Africa is so close to the Equator. Thus their are huge and numerous deserts. Accoridingly, Egypt has always had to find ways to irrigate it's farms and the Aswan Dam Project is only the most recent effort. Plus, Libya's Man Made River is perhaps the most ilustrious example. As a Pan-Africanist, I am convinced that soon we must develop desalination as a major source of fresh water for Africa. This is already being done in the Peninsula. All true Pan-Africanists concern themselves with getting water into Africa. Thus, Diop becomes a Pan-Africanist when he realizes that we must develop Africa's deserts.


    "The sheer size and breadth of North America is such that population control is only a crucial issue to the oppressor in the urban centers of the US; for much of the US is rural, is lacking commercial development still, and is marked by vistas (take a road trip across the United States, seaboard to seaboard--north/south or east/west, either will serve--and you will see what I mean). Africa and Asia, Japan, the European centers, and even much of the Caribbean and of Central America are a bit different in this regard: there is less room."


    Okay. Except for one little "nuance": African's population has been removed and enslaved. Thus, Africa is one of the least populated areas of the world. Libya the thrid largest country in Africa only has a popultaipn of about 4-5 million inhabiants. In fact, we need to bring all of the diverse populations of Africa under one central unity in order to enjoy economy of scale vis a vis population size. Asia is much more developed than Africa. It can feed itself better than Africa even though the population density is extremely higher. To cammand and defend Africa's resources, we must Unite. This includes Diaporan Africans reclaiming Africa as our Motherland and making active and positive contributions towards Africa Economic Development. In this, we can certainly learn from the Japanese and Chinese. They sell us pork fried rice in order to ship boat loads of USA dollar back to Asia. Now, the USA has to go crawling and begging to borrow moiney from China and Japan and other Asian countries. Only recently, have the African refugees shown us how this works. Most send money to their relatives in Africa. All of us must do likewise. Although we do not know exactly who our relatives are in Africa, we do know how to donate money to African owned and controlled charities such as schools and orphanages. I salure Orprah for showing us how it is done. Plus, we could invest in various African businesses. Zimbabwe is especially in need of investors right now. Yet, I see so few Africans even coming up with a few dollars. One Project took 4-5 years to collect $1000. This is pathetic! It is a damn shame!


    "Se has denounced the racism and the pacification and nullification that is greatly characteristic of north African forms of authoritarianism, sexism, and racism (as Hanan Ashwari too, has pointed out, and as we see with Israel's peculiar approach to pacification of, removal of, and dehumanization of the humanity of Palestinians in the occupied territories and in Jerusalem). "


    Come on, African. Get real. Please do not confuse zionism with African athoritarianism. Of course, this is one of my major concerns. The army led the Egyptian Revolution and built the Aswan Dam. But, they have fought against the influience of Islam is in state afffairs. They may be correct in this. But, I doubt it personally. The zionists, on the other hand, are pratacing genocide against the Palestinians. There is no comparison to building Aswan Dam.

    I will go further and say that it is becoming increasingly clear that in order to move Africa much more rapidly towards Unification, we put on the heat from below. We must light a fire underneath African leraders, especially those like Uncle Julius Nyerere who insist on going slowly one region at a time. Africa must Unite now! And, we the people must make it happen. Brother Muamar Qaddafi has called on us to force the issue. But, it is all the more difficult under authoriatarian government. I can almost feel Gamal Nkrumah biting his tongue to avoid angering his governemnt in Egypt whenever he writes, which is almost every week.


    "Diop is an important and early voice that long ago began the current fight to win the legitimacy of Black civilization in a nuanced way..."

    But, where is the politcal and economic implementation of "legitmacy of "Black civilization?" The biggest problem I have with that approach to the study of African hisotry as opposed to say, Dubois or Booker T Washington, is it fails to account for the "nuanced" fact that Berbers and Moors have been in Africa for not less than 200,000 years. Thus, we develop a distorted mindset in which Arabs is alleged to have "invaded" and Africa and "destroyed" African civilaization. Nothing could be further from the truth. And, this is why Pan-Africanism is so slow in the African inteligentsia. There are simply too many lies, and myths floating around because too many African intellectauls are far too lazy to seriously study African history and report facts as facts.
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