Adjusting The Narrative Lens

The distortions of history produced in the West during a time when Africans were either enslaved or colonised have continued to direct the thinking of most modern historians.

- Molefi Kete Asante

I suspect that until we reset the social sciences, humanities, sciences and arts more closely to our own historical narratives we will continue to assume the role of junior brother and sister to other world narratives as if our own experiences, that is, those of our ancestors, are less important than others. 1 Hence, I have proposed a re-alignment of all forms of historical, philosophical, and economic investigations toward an Afrocentric orientation to knowledge and I have not been alone in this effort. 2

This begins with the proper interface to the emergence of homo sapiens on the continent of Africa whether in the Rift Valley or as has recently been asserted in Morocco. What we know is that homo sapiens appears between 350,000 and 200,000 years ago in Africa. There are no examples of homo sapiens earlier in other parts of the world. In fact, there are no instances where homo sapiens are found in Europe, Australia, Asia, or the Americas prior to Africa. Our species emerged in Africa and spent nearly two-thirds of human time on earth has been spent in Africa. One can reasonable assert that prior to 70,000 every human was black; one can definitely say that all homo sapiens were Africans.

Cheikh Anta Diop’s work, The African Origin of Civilization established the fact that humans in Africa also created the first civilisations on the earth. 3 It is not simply the fact that homo sapiens first stood up erect on African soil but that homo sapiens first named god, first built barges, first domesticated animals, first built villages to protect humans from other animals, first decided what was edible and what was poisonous to eat, and so forth. The organisation of collective protection measures, administration of rational forms of punishment for bringing shame to the community, and the exploitation of the resources of nature for food, were all related to the growing ability of human beings to develop civilization.