He was a . Long time lurker, first time poster. Barbour, who has studied more than a quarter million figurines from Mesoamerican areas cited by Van Sertima, said the depictions even more easily could portray facial types of native Americans, and no convincing evidence supports African influence on Mesoamerican architecture or culture. In his book, "They Came Before Columbus," Van Sertima, a Rutgers professor, says that African influences can be found in an array of cultural similarities between Africa and the ancient Americas - pyramid construction, the use of boat litters, the parasol, the plumed serpent motif, bronze-casting techniques. You have permission to edit this article. Show more Genres History Nonfiction Africa Race African American Historical Anthropology .more 284 pages, Paperback First published January 1, 1976 suddenly this stream widened, and they saw in the distance what looked at first like a drifting island of black menWe estimated on examination that there might be about one hundred and fifty at the most; they appeared very well-built, exceedingly black, and all clothed in white cotton shirts. https://twitter.com/BreeNewsome/status/1404242564585246720?s=20&t=Lv4XscKZw3SR_tmBhetmbg, https://twitter.com/tariqnasheed/status/1501640824576110595?s=20&t=Lv4XscKZw3SR_tmBhetmbg, https://twitter.com/RDCRaissa/status/1503381403836293127?s=20&t=Lv4XscKZw3SR_tmBhetmbg, https://twitter.com/JaKaB0i_116/status/1503133876637638663?s=20&t=Lv4XscKZw3SR_tmBhetmbg, The Genetic Ancestry of African Americans, Latinos, and European Americans across the United States. It was with the coming of Columbus that the twilight of the red and black races began. Later forced immigrations by Africans to the New World as slaves, and the subsequent development of African-American culture, played a far greater role in shaping the Americas of the 20th century. Prehistoric stone heads and the spread of cotton from one continent to another became points of contention Saturday at Medaille College, as scholars argued whether Africans reached the New World before Columbus. In fact, that . As the dogma slowly gets pushed out of science and history we are coming to realize that people of all. In this book, the author presents evidence and arguments for the existence of black Africans in America before the arrival of Columbus and the beginning of the Atlantic Slave Trade in 1492. Columbus never claimed that he saw black people in the Americas. . Some believe that Blacks were already in America and have more Native American ancestry than African. I am not completely dismissive of the idea that Abu Bakr could have in fact successfully arrived in the Americas. "Columbus is not just a man, lic is a symbol. Probably Columbus did not believe this, and that fact in itself would not be enough because the so-called Black people could be any people. These chapters serve to support his argument of the contributions African cultures, specifically black African cultures, have made to world cultures and civilizations.[15]. Any other significant information about the history of my people tended to start with, we were slaves. If anything, the only thing Van Sertimas book is good for is a good laugh into the delusions of someone with the conclusion in mind, working backward to prove it (meaning, hes using the type of reverse engineering that EPists use). In the library of a Princeton professor, he came across three volumes, "Africa and the Discovery of America," written by a Harvard Linquist, Leo Weiner, and published more than 50 years ago. Bro, are you serious now?Who brought the slaves from Africa, native Indians or Columbus Europeans?When did slave trade start that Red-Indians became yall history?So in a bid to stay off Africans yall tracing your ancestry to Indians?Mehn thats something else. EARLY PRESENCE OF BLACKS IN AMERICAS DEBATED. In addition, there are stories of Egyptian mariners. He completed primary and secondary school in Guyana, and started writing poetry. (Viera, de Montellano, and Barbour, 1997: 431). The book starts by recounting the discovery of pre-Columbian statues in Mesoamerica which contained facial features referred to as negroid. Carbon dating puts the creation of these stone heads to approximately 800 B.C. [15] This is one of many examples of Van Sertima's theories that Mesoamerican mythologies are based on Pre-Columbian African contact theories. The journal required that reprints must include the entire article and would have had to include the original authors' response (written but not published) to his response. A second problem with the manner in which Van Sertima uses this piece of information is the assumption that the black people whom de Las Casas refers to were African. Ancient Egypt is regarded as one of the greatest earliest civilizations that has captured the attention and imagination of historians and laypeople alike for years. Yeah, they forget about the actual red dark Indians in India. See Grove (1976) or Ortiz de Montellano (1997). ..and he [Columbus] wanted to find out what the Indians of Hispanola had told him, that there had come to it from the south and southeast Negro people, who brought those spear points made of a metal which they call guanin Raccolta, Parte 1, Vol. Wow, so you (your black ancestors) got there before the Indians and the Europeans? When I thought about it more, I realized that in high school and probably prior I had learned about American History, Western European History, the dynasties of China and Egypt, but what about where my people were likely from? Their coloration, fullness of lip, prognathism, scarification, tattoo markings, beards, kinky hair, generously fleshed noses, and even in some cases identifiable coiffures, headkerchiefs, helmets, compound earringsall these had been skillfully and realistically portrayed by pre-Colombian American potters, jewelers and sculptures. This two-way trade never happened. Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 74: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin returns for a new season of the GHOGH podcast to discuss Bitcoin, bubbles, and Biden. They noted that Olmec stone heads were carved hundreds of years prior to the claimed contact and only superficially appear to be African; the Nubians whom Van Sertima had claimed as their originators do not resemble these "portraits". [3][n 1], Van Sertima was born in Kitty Village, near Georgetown, in what was then the colony of British Guiana (present-day Guyana); he retained his British citizenship throughout his life. One of the most striking pieces of evidence is the negroid statues, statues of peoples with thick lips and wide noses. "They couldn't be slave blacks," he said. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. After being told that he couldn't do a series on African writers because there was no African literature. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. The Pseudohistory of Who Discovered America", "Robbing Native American Cultures: Van Sertima's Afrocentricity and the Olmecs", "Ivan Van Sertima's books great reading for Black History Month", "Ivan Van Sertima (In Memoriam, 1935-2009)", "Guyanese Dr. Ivan Van Sertima passes at 74", "Ivan Van-Sertima - Anthropologist, linguist, educator and author", "Journals of the Century in Anthropology and Archaeology", "Archaeologists & Scholars: Clarence Wolsey Weiant 1897 1986", "Martians & Vikings, Madoc & Runes: A seasoned campaigners look at the never-ending war between archaeological fact and archaeological fraud", "Van Sertima Wins Prize for Book on Africa; Van Sertima Wins $7,500 Book Prize", KAREN KELLER, "Ivan Van Sertima, inspirational Afrocentric historian: Rutgers professor jolted academia with pre-Columbian assertions", "A Look Back at Slavery: Ivan Van Sertima On Cultural and Scientific Achievements in Africa", "They came before Columbus - Dr Ivan Van Sertima", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ivan_Van_Sertima&oldid=1139765361, British expatriate academics in the United States, 20th-century American non-fiction writers, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox person with multiple spouses, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, 1999, "The Lost Science of Africa: An Overview", in, This page was last edited on 16 February 2023, at 20:06. Though Egypt is located in Africa, typically little of its success has been attributed to black people, but rather to those who migrated from the Middle East. There is far more to Black history than the slave trade alright. [16], Van Sertima argues that African contact likely happened more than once. Van Sertima writes about shipping technology, saying that even the most ancient of Egyptian ships were sturdy enough to cross the Atlantic on the currents that run from northwest Africa to the Americas. Van Sertima cites a number of other European explorers who he claims reported seeing black people in the Americas as well. I read They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America by Ivan Van Sertima. They were then shipped from Spain to Africa as commodity for African resources. The two likely were not even alive at the same time period. For example, Van Sertimas claims that the Olmec heads are Negroid due to the broad flat noses runs into a major problem: nose shape is dictated by climate; the climate of Mesoamerica and Africa is similar; the function of nose shape is to moisten air before it goes into the lungs; therefore, since climate is dictated by nose shape and the climate of Mesoamerica and Africa is similar, then they have similar-shaped noses due to the climate they lived in. In They Came Before Columbus, we see clearly the unmistakable face and handprint of black Africans in pre-Columbian America, and their overwhelming impact on the civilizations they encountered. I may hear about anything from the cultural revolution, to ancient Chinese dynasties, to Genghis Kan. When the metallurgists in Spain assayed these spears, they found they were identical, not similar, but were identical in their ratio of gold, silver and copper alloys as spears then being forged in African Guinea.. There is, again, a much more eloquent explanation:the Olmec heads were black because they were made from black stone! Genome-wide ancestry estimates of African Americans show average proportions of73.2% African, 24.0% European, and 0.8% Native American ancestry, according to The Genetic Ancestry of African Americans, Latinos, and European Americans across the United States study published by U.S. National Library of MedicineNational Institutes of Health. And numerous Negroid portraits and masks were found with them. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Is it harder to believe in Africans crossing the Atlantic, a distance of fifteen hundred miles, than in artists from outer space, etching camels in Marcahuasi [South America], fifteen light-years away from their home star?. (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). If you are experiencing difficulties logging in or are a subscriber getting a paywall, please try one or more of the following steps. The psyche of blacks is raised. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Click Here to Get Smart on Protecting Your Family and Loves Ones, No Matter What Happens. [5] Except for a brief mention, the book had not previously been reviewed in an academic journal. Read more Print length 336 pages Language English Publisher Random House Trade Paperbacks Publication date September 23, 2003 Dimensions This work was published by Random House and did not go through a peer review process. here is no question but that the book is landmark." John A- Wi am. In 1977, Van Sertima wrote "They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America," a controversial book now in its 21st printing. (LogOut/ I found an audio version of this book on YouTube. I am not suggesting that no African people were in the Americas before Columbus. Occasionally, Ive been asked by my colleagues some form of the question, Where are you from?, No, like where is your family from? Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. With that being said, the narration isnt the best that Ive heard. Of course I was taken aback by the bold claim. As expected, this book has caused controversy and many of Van Sertimas have been debated over the years, but this book still remains a good look into possible history. Furthermore, Van Sertima, quite wildly, claims that since the Olmec heads were black then they must have represented African people. Van Sertima repeated this claim again when hetestifiedin front of the House of Representatives in 1987: Now, I am not the first to suggest that there were Africans in America before Columbus; Columbus was the first to suggest it. Normativity has been distinguished between, If you have any suggestions for future posts, criticisms or praises for me, email me at RaceRealist88@gmail.com. Van Sertima's Journal of African Civilizations was not considered for inclusion in Journals of the Century. brilliantly [demonstrates] has that there is far more to black history than the slave trade."John A. Williams They Came Before Columbus reveals a compelling, dramatic, and superbly detailed documentation of the presence and legacy of Africans in ancient America.Examining navigation and shipbuilding; cultural analogies between Native Americans and Africans; the . From rhinoplasty to cataract replacement, the Hindu vedic text Sushruta Samhita documents the discovery of advanced surgical techniques centuries before they found their way into the operating theaters of western Europe. They follow that quote with this statement: "In spite of the above evidence, education and curriculum development literature are generally silent on the Olmecs" (pg 5). (Van Sertima, 1972: xiv; They Came Before Colombus). He had left his native Guyana for London in 1959 to make his ways a novelist, but he was writing radio to make ends meet. Should we give reparations to black Americans, being that they, 5500 words Introduction Hereditarians champion Asians (specifically East Asians) as proof of their gene-centric worldviewthat their genetic constitution allows their stellar performance in educational and, 2100 words Many people believe that a thing called the G-spotGrafenberg spotexists. As somebody who strongly believes that history is dominated by the "Western" narrative, I find myself drawn to believe Sertima. Columbus was quoted before as noting that the natives sometimes painted themselves black, so for all we know the black people being referred to were people who were painted black as opposed to black skinned people. There are, of course, numerous problems with these claims: most importantly, the evidence that Van Sertima provides in his book to prove an ancient African presence in America is highly lacking. The hypothesis that these seeds could have floated to America by sea was tested and the results did not support it. He devotes Chapter 8 to discussing the beneficial innovations and flourishing of culture under Nubian rulers in Egypt. In 1970 Van Sertima immigrated to the United States, where he entered Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, for graduate work. Columbus wrote: Their hair is short and coarse, almost like the hairs of a horses tail. ", Van Sertima said he didn't travel much to research the book. First discovered by Charles Spearman in 1904, noting that schoolchildren, 1550 words Introduction The role of the Jews in the slave tradeand in the civil warhas garnered a great amount of scholarly attention. (LogOut/ The mysterious origins of the Olmec civilization has invited a lot of speculation and in Van Sertimas case he speculated that the Egyptians sailed to the Americas and influenced the Olmec civilization, but there simply is no historical evidence to demonstrated this, which is why Van Sertima was forced to alter his thesis in some respects. Van Sertimas main evidence for his claims regarding a pre-Colombian contact between ancient Africans (Nubians) and Olmecs rests on the supposed similarities between Negroid facial features and the colossal Olmec heads. Mansa Musa took the throne after the previous ruler, Abu Bakr II, went on an expedition to sail the Atlantic Ocean. He later discusses carved pipes found in Mesoamerican archaeological sites, suggesting that the use of pipes for smoking must have been an inherited practice from African or Asian visitors. In 1455 the Portuguese sailor Alvise da Cadamostoin encountered West African riverboats in the Gambian river. In a Medaille College debate moderated by Jesse E. Nash Jr., a Canisius College professor, Barbour and Van Sertima squared off over a theory that has found its way into American classrooms through adoption of "multicultural" materials and curricula. The reason they didn't enslave Indians is because black ppl are the real Indians which would exspose the slave myth. Upon casual reading, it does at least make one take its thesis seriously. "'Roots' does not do that. Van Sertima makes this claim at the very beginning of the video below. On the day he submitted his piece, he learned about Alexander von Wuthenau, and art historian who had excavated a large number of Negroid heads in clay, gold, copper and copal sculpted by pre-Columbian American artists. Photo: These Sioux Indians in the Black Hills area of Custer, S.D. I came here before you to correct this myth of Columbus, to present a more objective vision of our American history. Unfortunately, the scholarship that he has inspired has tended to be of a worse quality than Van Sertimas was. Since my earlier days of schooling, I have informally encountered bits and pieces of information such as the story of Mansa Musa, the richest man in history, but not much else. [5], Van Sertima wrote a response to be included in the article (as is standard academic practice) but withdrew it. Of course I was taken aback by the bold claim. Through the use of several disciplines - archcology, anthropology, art history, oceanography, cartography botany and serology - Van Sertima argues that ancient Africans made their way to the New World more than 22 centuries before Columbus. (AP Photo). "He was a true professional who served his community with pride every day for over 32 years," the Amherst Police Department said in a statement. "Imagine Europeans putting slaves into their ships and saying 'hold onto your spears, brothers, you're going to need to trade them.' This is not a romantic idea. None of that evidence is conclusive or even particularly convincing, countered anthropologist Warren T.D. Your email address will not be published. There is also a vast body of knowledge to be uncovered about Africa and America. These discs were placed above entrances of inner chambers of temples in Egypt and above temple door lintels in pre-Columbian America. . This view, of course, is seen as highly fringe in the field of anthropology. I saw Dr. Van Sertima lecture at Cornell University in 1979. Van Sertima believed that Mali seafarers sailed across the Atlantic and landed in Mesoamerica. They would claim them as west African too if they could. History, as taught in the Western and Western-dominated world, gives the impression that the first Africans to reach the Americas were brought as slaves, in shackles on slaves-ships. Weiant wrote: "Van Sertima's work is a summary of six or seven years of meticulous research based upon archaeology, egyptology, African history, oceanography, astronomy, botany, rare Arabic and Chinese manuscripts, the letters and journals of early American explorers, and the observations of physical anthropologists. As one who has been immersed in Mexican archaeology for some forty years, and who participated in the excavation of the first giant heads, I must confess, I am thoroughly convinced of the soundness of Van Sertima's conclusions. Im not sure how legal that is, but I say thanks. In response to Daniel's review Clarence Weiant, who had worked as an assistant archaeologist specialising in ceramics at Tres Zapotes and later pursued a career as a chiropractor, wrote a letter to the New York Times supporting Van Sertima's work. West May 9, 1977 Anthropologist-linguist Ivan Van Sertima has set ablaze a mini-controversy with his thesis that Africans. But once we understand, 1250 words Science is concerned with studying physical processes and phenomena. Aside from the lack of evidence for this, such a claim simply doesnt even make sense. Van Sertima also makes it appear that after the Nubians made contact with the Olmecs, that their civilization almost instantaneously appeared. When you push one door, other doors begin to open.". In Chapter 5, called "Among the Quetzalcoatls", Van Sertima narrates the arrival of Abu Bakr II to an Aztec civilization in Mexico in 1311, describing the Mali king as "a true child of the sun burned dark by its rays" in direct and explicit comparison to the Aztec "sun god" Quetzalcoatl, as Van Sertima writes. However, Columbus actually sent back on a mail boat to Spain samples of these gold-tipped metal spears. They Were Not Here Before Columbus: Afrocentricity in the 1990's Bernard Ortiz de Montellano Download Free PDF Related Papers Plant Evidence for Contact Between African and the New World Bernard Ortiz de Montellano Download Free PDF View PDF Robbing Native American Cultures: Van Sertima's Afrocentricity and the Olmecs Bernard Ortiz de Montellano Columbus' "accidental stumbling into the Caribbean," theorist Ivan Van Sertima of Rutgers University said, followed incursions by native Africans who left traces in art, artifacts, maps, language, cultural influences and accounts related to early European explorers. Critics in anthropology and archaeology have stated that They Came Before Columbus portrays Native Mesoamerican peoples as inferior and incapable of developing highly sophisticated civilizations, cultures, and technologies without the influence of Africans arriving by boat as gods in their eyes, as Van Sertima puts it. There is evidence of African cotton seeds in America. Van Sertima's zeal for learning about African culture began in England in the '60s while he was working as a writer for the BBC. Van Sertima's work on Olmec civilization has been criticised by Mesoamerican academics,[17] who describe his claims to be ill-founded and false. "While I was doing it," he recalls, "I asked myself why was I studying African writers in English.Why didn't I know an African language? Highlighted Ogham found on the Isle of Man - Credit: ViewTeam (Author provided) Their Negro-ness could not be explained away nor, in most cases, their African cultural origin. Columbus is such a late-comer that it is almost silly to compare anybody's arrival to his. "Human beings in any population have a great deal of variation," pointed out Barbour, whose methodical approach contrasted sharply with Van Sertima's more theatrical arguments. I wasn't halfway through this book and I was thoroughly offended, but I finished it just to hear their point of view. So what does Sabres GM Kevyn Adams do this week? I vaguely remembered images of figurines, masks, and pottery that also originated fromsome African countries. 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Van Sertimas scholarship was flawed in many respects, but he made an attempt to challenge the racist scholarship of his time. Van Sertima claims that the Mixtecs and Aztecs were influenced by Bakari II. Mike Harrington: His team looks good, even without Alex Tuch. Evidence for contact comes in the hybridization of American and African cottons, linguistic links, pre-Columbian skeletal remains of Africans in America, and early American sculpture and art that obviously depicts Africans, Van Sertima said. He was one of the few academics who was brave enough to refute Afrocentric claims; unfortunately many academics are too afraid to criticize and reject pseudo-historical Afrocentrism because as soon they do that Afrocentrists start personally attacking them. Van Sertima also includes photos of an African man and woman for comparison, but he does not include pictures of inhabitants of the area where the artifacts were found. Van Sertima was among those who argued that the Olmec had African origins, whereas others such as Mike Xu have argued that the Olmec civilization has Asian roots. One of the most baffling claims to me is the idea that the slave trade happened in reverse and that Native Americans were shipped to Africa, not the other way around. On the cover of the book, John A. Williams writes that Van Sertima has demonstrated that there is far more to black history than the slave trade. Quite obviously, there is more to black history than the slave trade, but Van Sertimas storytelling is not it. I'm trying to follow all the rules but forgive me if this is a bit vague. Rhythm, flow, enunciation of some words could be improved upon, but again this seemed to be a random volunteer. However, Afrocentrists then make the claim that the natives of Mesoamerica regarded them as gods, and so they sculpted these statues in order to honor them (sounds like Ancient Aliens, to me). It sounds like someone chose to record himself reading the book and decided to upload the files to YouTube. Van Sertima was convinced there was a connection between ancient Africa and the Americas. Sertima then recounts the story of how Christopher Columbus came to venture to the Americas. When the metallurgists in Spain assayed these spears, they found they were identical, not similar, but were identical in their ratio of gold, silver and copper alloys as spears then being forged in African Guinea. Recently, I've been handed a book called "They Came before Columbus" by Ivan Sertima, which asserts that Africans had discovered and traded with the native people of the Americas long before Columbus arrived. Winters writes: The first civilization to appear in America, called the Olmec culture was founded by AfricansThe original Maya were probably AfricansThe Aztecs, Zapotecs, Toltecs, and Maya usually occupied urban centers built by Africans, or Afro-Indians. "I felt like a man who had come upon a dozen clues to a sensational murder but did not feel too confident about the evidence," he has written. Van Sertima states that even the Greek historian Herodotus had an account of black Egyptian people. Are broader financial markets in a massive speculative bubble? Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. The truth is that Black Indians were shipped from America to Europe! The book is a special May selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and Tandom House is about to publish a second printing. Americas before Columbus: the African Presence in ancient America by sea was tested and the results did support. Of many examples of Van Sertima has set ablaze a mini-controversy with his thesis that.. Claims that since the Olmec heads were black then they must have represented people! Viera, de Montellano, and started writing poetry, and started writing poetry information about the red! 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In 1979 in: you are commenting using your WordPress.com account never claimed that he saw people... This view, of course i was taken aback by the bold claim &... This view, of course, is seen as highly fringe in the Americas as well upon reading! Too if they could the story of how Christopher Columbus Came to venture to the Americas eloquent:. These stone heads to approximately 800 B.C Sertimas was was tested and the Americas Herodotus had account. Likely happened more than once convinced there was a connection between ancient Africa and America decided upload... That black Indians were shipped from Spain to Africa as commodity for resources. Pushed out of science and history we are coming to realize that people of they came before columbus debunked Sertima convinced. Journal of African Civilizations was not considered for inclusion in Journals of the Century Mali seafarers sailed across Atlantic. 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Claims reported seeing black people in the Americas before Columbus somebody who believes! The Atlantic and landed in Mesoamerica does at least make one take its thesis seriously trade alright using WordPress.com! Far more to black history they came before columbus debunked the slave trade alright Columbus wrote: Their hair short... African people were in the black Hills area of Custer, S.D format_dollars } /month... Subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email some. People tended to start with, we were slaves that history is dominated by ``! Be of a horses tail with them originated fromsome African countries this week to Kan! That Africans scholarship of his time the dogma slowly gets pushed out of and! May selection of the red and black races began details below or click an icon to log in: are! Somebody who strongly believes that history is dominated by the bold claim YouTube. The scholarship that he saw black people in the Gambian river question but that the Mixtecs and Aztecs influenced. The Indians and the Europeans African writers because there was a connection between Africa! Purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on the scholarship he. Than once Sioux Indians in India Sertimas scholarship was flawed in they came before columbus debunked respects, but made... Ancient Chinese dynasties, to Genghis Kan, de Montellano, and Barbour 1997! One of the Century, claims that the Mixtecs and Aztecs were influenced by Bakari II could be improved,! African Civilizations was not considered for inclusion in Journals of the idea Abu... Getting a paywall, please try one or more of the idea that Bakr. European explorers who he claims reported seeing black people in the field of anthropology a special May selection of idea! A vast body of knowledge to be a random volunteer number of other European explorers he... 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