Background
Cheikh Anta Diop was born at the end of 1923 in Diourbel, Senegal, a city reknowned for spawning great Islamic philosophers and historians.
( Now in its 30th printing, this classic presents histori...)
Now in its 30th printing, this classic presents historical, archaeological, and anthropological evidence to support the theory that ancient Egypt was a black civilization.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1556520727/?tag=2022091-20
( This comparison of the political and social systems of ...)
This comparison of the political and social systems of Europe and black Africa from antiquity to the formation of modern states demonstrates the black contribution to the development of Western civilization.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1556520883/?tag=2022091-20
( Challenging societal beliefs, this volume rethinks Afri...)
Challenging societal beliefs, this volume rethinks African and world history from an Afrocentric perspective.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1556520484/?tag=2022091-20
anthropologist historian physicist politician
Cheikh Anta Diop was born at the end of 1923 in Diourbel, Senegal, a city reknowned for spawning great Islamic philosophers and historians.
He received his higher education at the University of Paris (France), where he earned a doctorate of letters and was active in African student politics.
Upon returning to Senegal, he joined what is today the Institut Fondamentale d'Afrique Noire, where he founded and ran the only carbon-14-dating laboratory in Africa. Diop experienced the great explosion of independence which began in early 1958 in Ghana. The hope that this movement created soon turned sour, as former European colonial powers, unseen, remained in control. Diop led and founded two political parties in Senegal: the Bloc des Masses Senegalaises in 1961 and a few years later the Front Nationale Senegalaise, both of which were outlawed by the government on the grounds that they threatened destruction of the existing order. Diop, however, left his mark in the realm of the reassessment of the role of black people in world history and culture. Among Diop's books is Anteriorité des civilisations nègres: Mythe ou vérité historique (1967; Roots of Black Civilizations: Myth or Historical Truth). In 1981, Diop's Civilisation Ou Barbarie ("Civilization or Barbarism") appeared. Some consider it his greatest work. Diop intended it as the intellectual summation of his previous research. Shortly before his death, he spoke of devoting the rest of his life to a master plan that would preserve Africa for Africans. He passed away on February 7, 1986.
In 1966 at Dakar the World Festival of Negro Arts honored Diop as "the black intellectual who has exercised the most fruitful influence in the twentieth century. " Cheikh Anta Diop has been awarded the Grand prix de la mémoire of the GPLA 2015; and the University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar bears his name.
( This comparison of the political and social systems of ...)
( Now in its 30th printing, this classic presents histori...)
( Challenging societal beliefs, this volume rethinks Afri...)
Combining an unusual breadth of knowledge-including linguistics, history, anthropology, chemistry, and physics-he uncovered fresh evidence about the ancient origins and common principles of classical African civilization. He believed that people who feel they possess no past of their own tend to be absorbed and assimilated into the governing system, and are made to feel inferior because of this apparent deficiency. In fact, Diop argued, African culture and history was older than any other, and influenced the course of other cultures more than usually given credit. Diop's argumentative thesis stressed the great contributions of Egypt, in particular, to the origins of culture and science, and asserted that Egyptian civilization was of black origin, a theory that has since been corroborated with anthropological evidence. Diop also challenged the prevailing view that the flow of cultural influence was from the north, the European or "Hamitic" areas, southward to the more primitive areas. He instead believed that the beginnings of civilization arose below the Sahara. The center of a storm of controversy, Diop nevertheless opened up new paths of exploration, gave a new generation redemptive faith in its roots, and presented, if nothing else, a poetic image of greatness. In its daring, this dream of a lofty cradle of civilization may come closer to truth than the prosaic rebuttal of its critics, and as discoveries continue to be made, it proves itself more real than any dream.
Quotations:
"Ancient Egypt was a Negro Civilization. The history of Black Africa will remain suspended in air and cannot be written correctly until African historians dare to connect it with the history of Egypt. "
"Intellectuals ought to study the past not for the pleasure they find in so doing, but to derive lessons from it. "
"The generation that followed did not have the same concerns; none of its members attempted to follow the example of the past generation. There was no longer anyone with the noble determination to get to know the great men of the world, or if there were some individuals consumed with this curiosity, they were few in number. From then on, there remained only vulgar minds given over to hatred, envy and discord, who took an interest only in things which did not concern them, gossip, slander, calumny of one's neighbors, all those things which are the source of the worst of our troubles. "
"Africa can and will only advance through African integration, which can be realized through the Federal United States of Africa. "
"European languages must not be considered diamonds displayed under a glass ball, dazzling us with their brilliance. "
"In practice it is possible to determine directly the skin colour and hence the ethnic affiliations of the ancient Egyptians by microscopic analysis in the laboratory; I doubt if the sagacity of the researchers who have studied the question has overlooked the possibility. "
"Humanity's moral conscience progresses, slowly yet surely. .. "
