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“Let me mention and clarify my presentation before Congress, and how it relates to this work. I appeared on July 7th, 1987, before a Congressional Committee that was overseeing the work of the Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Commission. I was called upon to show due cause why they should not refer to Columbus’ accidental stumble into the Caribbean as a discovery. I pointed to the fact that Columbus was the first to suggest there were Afrikans in the Americas before him. The Afrikan voyage is significant.

“I also pointed to the fact that the International Congress of Americanists, meeting in Barcelona as early as 1964, had ruled ‘there cannot now be any doubt that there were Old World visitors to the New World before 1492.’” (Interview with author.) This caused congress to change the terminology of Columbus’ adventure from “discovery” to “voyages.”

After his book was published, changing the course of American history and how it was taught, Van Sertima realized he would not be published again. Knowing there was so much more information to be researched and published on the Afrikan presence in the world, he created what are now considered the most important journals on Afrikan world history and culture.

“I got involved in The Journal of African Civilizations, which has produced more than a dozen volumes, nine of which are titled. I have stretched tentacles into Europe, into Afrika, into the Caribbean, all across America, to draw from the very best of our scholars. We, and I really mean we, have developed a kind of school. It has made a tremendous difference.

“There’s the book Blacks in Science: Ancient and Modern, which is now accepted by nearly a hundred schools and universities. There is African Presence in Early Europe; African Presence in Early Asia; African Presence in Early America; Great Black Leaders, Ancient and Modern; Black Women in Antiquity; Great African Thinkers; Nile Valley Civilizations; Egypt Revisited; and Golden Age of the Moor.” (Interview with author.)

Van Sertima was one of the few scholars who dared to address our relationships, related to history. “We must realize that scholarship is not a separate entity from our relationships. You see, one of the things that leads to extremely difficult relationships, and this is not something that is going to vanish overnight, is self-contempt. This is very deep among Afrikan-American and Afrikan Caribbean people. Our historylessness (and by that I mean our assumption that we have no significant history), our lack of belief in ourselves, our lack of belief in having something of value, something substantial of value to support us leads to all sorts of anxieties, angers, insecurities that are bound to affect relationships.

“No relationship, therefore, in a highly troubled psyche, a shattered psyche, no relationship with people who nurse or nurture troubled or shattered psyches can be easy relationships. That is why it is so critical to use history to rebuild, to bring a healthier wholeness to that psyche. So even though, directly, no one could come and tell you, ‘Well look, if you study this history you are going to have a better relationship.’ The study of history can give you a sense of wholeness. Can give you a different quality of mental health. It will almost inevitably lead to healthier relationships.” (Interview with author.)

Dr. Ivan Van Sertima will live throughout the ages. He left us a plethora of work that will be significant during any period. He was one of the most prolific scholars we had in the modern era. His scholastic impact on American history and the Afrikan world will be studied as long as there are educational institutions of higher learning. On top of all of that, he was a beautiful human being.

Copyright 2004 Kwaku Person-Lynn, Ph.D. Dr. Kwaku Person-Lynn can be contacted at word at drkwaku.com.

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The following essays are from a new book in progress, Revolution In History, Culture & Critical Issues: Quick Notes. It will include several of my best works.

In the 15th and 16th century, written history underwent a massive campaign of misinformation and deception. With the European slave trade in full swing, Afrikans were transported to various parts of the world and were stripped of every aspect of their humanity, and in most of western civilization, were no longer considered human. This triggered a wholesale interpretation of history that methodically excluded Afrikans from any respectful mention, other than a legacy of slavery. This can result in being taught, or socialized, from one perspective. In this instance, historical information tends to flow strictly from a European perspective. No judgment of right or wrong is being made here, only that the breadth was very narrow in scope.

The Moors Bring Civilization To Europe

The story of the Moors in Europe is one of the greatest stories in world history. Europe would not have advanced as it has if not for the Afrikans, who originated in the Nile Valley, trekked into Europe, and were known throughout the world as the Moors. Their sojourn into Europe began in 711 A.D., when an Afrikan general named Tarik ibn Ziyad, of which Djabal Tarik (Tarik’s mountain), or the Rock of Gibraltar is named after, crossed the Iberian Peninsula from Afrika into Spain.

Europe was in the crux of the Dark Ages, suffering from a massive intellectual, scientific, social and cultural decline for almost a 1000 years. This primarily occurred when the Anglos and the Saxons defeated the Roman Empire and destroyed whatever gains Europe enjoyed from Roman ingenuity.

When the Moorish Afrikans entered Spain, they brought Europe up to a level of civilization it had never experienced. Jose V. Pimenta-Bey, in his article “Moorish Spain: Academic Source and Foundation for the Rise and Success of Western European Universities in the Middle Ages” states, “For behind Europe’s ‘Scientific Enlightenment,’ we find many African Muslims. In fact, we find that the very foundation and structure of ‘Western’ Science and Academe is built upon the erudition of these people known as Moors. (See Golden Age of the Moors edited by Ivan Van Sertima)

The influence of the Moors spread throughout Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and England. Twelve of Europe’s greatest known universities were established during the Moorish occupation to translate and study Moorish texts. The universities of Rome, Oxford, Cambridge, Lisbon and Salamanca are among this group.

The totality of what the Moors contributed to Europe’s revival are too numerous to list here, but an attempt will be made in order to visualize the scope and breadth of how they brought Europe back to life.

Starting with basic survival, the Moors showed the Europeans how to increase the fertility of their soil to sustain larger growth and harvest. They introduced such items as: rice, cotton, oranges, bananas, coconuts, maize, medical herbs and introduced food preservation and storage in order to survive the harsh winters. The Moors introduced the use of water wheels, aqueducts, paved streets and windows. The houses in Cordova were “air conditioned in summer by ingeniously arranged draughts of fresh air drawn from the garden over beds of flowers, chosen for their perfume, and warmed in winter by hot air conveyed through pipes bedded in the walls.” (See “The Moor: Light of Europe’s Dark Age” by Wayne Chandler in Golden Age of the Moor) Bathrooms were supplied with hot and cold running water.

In fact, the Moors established hundreds of bathhouses in Spain. Cleanliness was almost as important as eating, but also for health reasons. “Europeans offered no scientific reason for 'infection.' Let us again remember that the Catholic masses did not view bathing and personal hygiene as vitally important to good health and the prevention of disease.” (Pimienta-Bey)

Europeans were accustomed to drinking out of gold and silver goblets. The Moors introduced crystal glasses and plates. They also introduced a technique used today, where to place plates, glasses and silverware on tables for meals.

Science was primitive and undeveloped in Europe. They were still debating if the world was flat, until the Moors showed them that the world was round. The Moors brought chemistry. The Moors brought medical science to Europe. “For seven centuries the medical schools of Europe owed everything they knew to Moorish research. Vivisection as well as dissection of dead bodies was practiced in their anatomical schools, and women as well as men were trained to perform some of the most delicate surgical operations.” (Chandler)

Chandler continues, “Cordova had 417 mosques and 300 public baths. The number of houses of the great and noble were 63,000 and 200,077 of the common people. There were upwards of 80,000 shops. Water from the mountains was distributed through every corner and quarter of the city by means of leaden pipes into basins of different shapes, made of the purest gold, the finest silver, or plated brass as well into vast lakes, curious tanks, amazing reservoirs and fountains of Grecian marble.” This was accomplished no where else in Europe.

During their leisure time, the Moors introduced the intellectual game of chess to the Europeans, the guitar, the classical style of guitar playing, flamenco dancing, added an extra string to the lute giving it a more vibrant sound and changed fashion from two seasons to four seasons. Miles Davis, in his autobiography, comments on the music. “The Black Moors were over there in Spain because Africans had conquered Spain a long time a go. In the Andalusian area you have a lot of African influence in the music, architecture and in the whole culture and a lot of blood in the people. So you had a black African thing up in the feeling of the music in the bag pipes and trumpets and drums.” (See Miles: The Autobiography).

As an aside, William Shakespeare wrote an ode to his Moorish mistress, Lucy Morgan of Clerkenwell. (See “African Women in Early Europe” by Edward Scobie in African Presence in Early Europe)

The Moors advanced medicine to its highest form. “Moorish physicians used drugs, surgery, and cauterization; medicine was a highly techn ical profession complete with extensive training and a code of conduct. European healing practices at the time still largely relied upon charms and amulets; socially and politically powerful clergy frowned upon and repressed medicine, thereby leaving the field in the hands of quacks and barbers.” (See Muslim Spain by Anwar Chejne) “The Moor s were the first to trace ‘the curvilinear path of rays of light through air,’ this discovery in about 1100 is a prerequisite to the design of corrective eyeglasses.” (Chandler) For centuries the mastery of Moorish medical works was required for obtaining medical degrees at Europe’s most prestigious universities. They also brought quadratic equations, geometry and trigonometry to Europe. Their architecture and interior decoration of houses and palaces was of the highest standard in the world. (Pimienta-Bey)

When the Moors were defeated in 1492 A.D., the Christian Europeans, who resented the threat of the Moors advanced civilization, plundered most of the progress the Moors had established. For instance, when the Moors were driven out of Europe, they left 70 libraries in Spain alone. The European Christians destroyed everything, burning thousands of books and decades of knowledge. The same as when they destroyed the great library, with thousands of volumes, in Alexandria, Kemet (Egypt). But even in defeat, it was the Moors who sparked European exploration in the world by bringing them the compass, astrolabe, rudders and sails of the large ships.

Europe and the world are supremely indebted to the contributions the Moors have made. Unfortunately, this is not reflected in the history books or classrooms. It is a history that cannot be denied.

©2004Kwaku Person-Lynn

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In essence, what occurred was the total, complete erosion of being full human beings. What ranks as one of the most bizarre debates in world history is the founding government of the Unites States actually debated what percent of a human being Afrikan people were.

After a vigorous and heated congressional discussion, the so-called founding fathers settled on a compromise of 3/5ths of a human being. Since Afrikans were no longer considered full human beings, they were not entitled to any of the rights or privileges afforded Europeans who migrated to America. Even European indentured servants had more rights and were not only restricted to primarily seven year or so contracts, but many were given land at the end of their service. Afrikans, for the most part, were committed to slavery for generations. If the mother was a slave, the child was also considered a slave. This transitions us to the genesis of how the term ‘Negro’ became common usage to describe enslaved Afrikans.

Spain and Portugal, in the 15th century, were battling over newfound territories that almost caused all out war between the two. At the time, the Pope in Rome was perceived as the supreme ruler over Europe. To settle the dispute between the two nations, the Pope divided the world between his two most powerful Catholic nations; the East went to Portugal, while the West went to Spain. Portugal had already settled in the West with Brazil, so a separate arrangement, the Treaty of Tordesillas, allowed Portugal to continue ownership of Brazil. Later, England, Germany, France, Sweden, Holland and Denmark decided not to respect the Pope’s decision and began their world exploration, ultimately involving themselves in the Atlantic slave trade.

As they all came upon new lands, assessing the value of their resources: human labor was required to turn these new lands into profit making ventures, establish new settlements and convert the so-called indigenous ‘pagans’ into Christians. The indigenous peoples of the western hemisphere did not work out for various reasons: unable to adapt to European diseases and labor regimen, unwillingness and/or inability to do the work, uprisings, runaways and suicides.

To solve this problem, in 1455, the Pope passed the papal bull edict stating, “You are authorized to reduce to servitude all infidel people.” Infidel people were defined non-Christians. This sentiment hit the continent of Afrika very hard, with the process later becoming a racial enterprise. This set in motion the beginning of the Atlantic slave trade; illegally transporting millions of Afrikans to the Americas and West Indies for almost three hundred years.

The Spanish, who dominated the West for a time, did not call their enslaved Afrikans by the name of the nation or continent they belonged to, accept to record where they were captured or bought. They described them by the color of their skin. In the Spanish language, ‘Negro’ means black. Over the centuries, enslaved people of Afrikan descent, who were completely transformed into the human beings plantation owners wanted them to be, adopted many of the same terms used by Europeans to describe themselves. Negro was used to describe a slave; being a slave was Negro; being Negro was a slave.

Unfortunately, people of Afrikan descent, up until the last three decades, knowingly and unknowingly, used this term as a symbol of pride, even naming some of their most cherished organizations with this term, giving witness that a slave mentality still existed. Collective descriptions of people are usually associated with their land of origin. There has yet to be found a Negroland. Every term possible has been used to avoid the only term that properly describes Black people, Afrikan.

Centuries of negative propaganda, books, articles, and films related to Afrika and its people caused this. While of elementary school age, a white boy, thinking he was cursing me, called me a “Black Afrikan.” At the time, that was equivalent to the infamous ‘n’ word. Even today, many people of Afrikan descent will cringe if called an Afrikan. This is due to lack of knowledge. Of course, if born in America, one is considered an American citizen, today that is; this was not always true for Afrikan people. It does not define one’s ancestral origin. The term American Afrikan, American born Afrikan, accurately describes the twoness of the geographical realities.

Every level of scholarship, not necessarily in this manner, states that the Creator decided that the original human beings would be Afrikans, and that all human beings evolved from Afrikan people. Realizing that civilization started in Afrika: philosophy, science, mathematics, medicine, architecture, agriculture, spiritual thought, along with a host of other human gifts, can restore a person of Afrikan descent’s concept of self, and completely eradicate any se nse of collec tive inferiority or low self-esteem. Knowing that virtually all world cultures owe some aspect of their existence to Afrika, can resurrect a worldview entirely different from a European-centered orientation most have been educated in. Those facts allow the mind to open to the possibility of feeling what it is like to begin to understand what it is to be Afrikan, while also understanding that this begins with a spiritual core. Until that happens, too many of us will grin and shuffle along actualizing the world’s most meaningless term, Negro.