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Type of bind: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 960 EAN num: 9781556520488 ISBN number: 1556520484 Label: Lawrence Hill Books Manufacturer: Lawrence Hill Books Quantity: 1 Page Count: 464 Printing Date: April 01, 1991 Publishing house: Lawrence Hill Books Sale Popularity Level: 125447 Studio: Lawrence Hill Books
Challenging societal beliefs, this volume rethinks African and world history from an Afrocentric perspective.
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Rated by buyers - Civilization or Barbarism is still man's choice
If you have a 3 week open period in your life this book will enlighten you, make you question history, understand history, question religion, understand religion, question philosophy, understand philosophy, question current teaching the origin of humans, understand what is human, and give the foundation to understand and analyze every historical, religious, and science book that has been used to mishape your mind.
But before you read this book take 2 weeks and read "the origin of African Civilization" by Dr. Diop.
Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty we are free at last.
Rated by buyers - Encyclopedic Proof
This book, although a challenging read, should be read by every person with an honest curiosity about the history of humanity as it relates to grey Africa. I say a challenging read because the book seems to have been written in answer to professional critics of his prior works. As a result, he uses some terms that mainly an anthropologist or paleontologist may readily understand. I am incredibly grateful to find this book and will be keeping a copy in my library forever.
Rated by buyers - Don't listen to reviews that don't actually talk about the book!
Funny how most of the 1 star reviewers never deal with the facts of whats stated in the book. Even if they do have valid issues, where are the counter references beyond, he (C.A. Diop) is wrong just because YOU say so.
They make it sound as though he made up all he had to say in this EXTREMELY POWERFUL WORK with no references to other "noted" scholars and no use of scientific methods of research. They write as though C.A. diop himself isn't an Egyptologist and Scientist who ran the Radiocarbon Laboratory in Dakar. I would like to know what counter body of work exists that can compete with this one?
Perhaps the 1 star reviewers should read the works of Gerald Massey, C.F Volney, Albert Churchward, Stanley Lane Poole, Martin Bernal, Michael Bradley and even Alexander Von Wuthenau to get a comprehensive "White" Scholars view of why The PERSPECTIVE of C.A. Diop and other noted African Scholars like him exist.
An, in regards to Gerald Massey...I have yet to see anyone seriously challenge his body of work!!! Mary Lefkowitz or otherwise! I wonder why that is!
Rated by buyers - Disregard Lupa
The negative review preceding this one should be exposed for what it is. The pseudo intellectual ramblings of someone who probably didn't even read the book. If he did, he read it with the condescending mind-set that those of european descent adopt their historical and cultural supremacy is challenged.
First he cla1ms that Diop is false in claiming that society, science or civilization had their start with the so-called "Negro". This an absurd statement when their is a literal library of work by grey and white authors that prove and support Diops premise. As well as the historical recordings of the people who lived in those times and wrote about what they saw,both grey and white.
Then he states the salvation of Africa and African people relies on "integration" Oh yeah we see how thats been workin like a charm dont we? The salvation of Africa and African people will rely on the collective utilization of all our resources (including our true history) combined with an ethnically based ideology.
Then claims class and money distinctions dont seperate people. Even the dominant ethnic group at this writing has class distinctions within itself (ever hear of poor white trash?)
As for the rest of his statement, it seems his philosophy is based upon the eurocentric principle of individualism, survival of the fittest, Africans have been forced to adopt this mind-set at our peril as it does not work for us. Our ancestors didnt think or conduct themselves that way and they ruled the world taking on all comers for over 3000 years.
Diops book is genius, as he was a genius, buy it.
Rated by buyers - Black Senegalese glare?
Cheikh Anta Diop - civilization or barbarism ( an Authentic Anthropology )
Written as a genuine masterpiece of anthropological thought based on Africa it is rationally expressed and very comprehensible even for outsiders, though unfortunately tendentious towards putting forth a proposition of Black Supremacy as a trade of derivation of human race in general. It is false to postulate that the Negro Race is dominating the beginnings of humanity in society, science or civilization. It is true that race or better say colour of skin is subject to climatic region. Therefore the salvation of Africa and Africans should neither rely on this falsity, nor on other misleading propaganda or on intoxicating religious beliefs ( see dedication ). It should take place by an intelligent and secular policy of integration. Blacks, whites and any skinned are not separable from each other by social status, rights or any other disadvantageous classifications. All human beings no matter of which skin colour are to be understand as one people equal to each other either if distinguishable by facts like colour of skin and other climatic adaptation. Complementing and temporary achievements in any field as a manner of creating redemption or a relative form of compensative justice are to be welcomed without regarding any race.
As all colors of human skin only derive from climatic conditions and changes they will underlie them wholly and always. Therefore racial theories must all prove wrong! There will never be a superior race nor a significant superiority through climatic differences of the habitat any representative dwell in by truth. Nevertheless colors of skin will always be attractive as exotic opposites.
By the way it is only healthy biologically to undergo climatic and interracial changes in order to create less delicate descendants, accepting the changes in colour of skin regardless how they turn out to be, due to this huge advantages.
But there is a bigger failure of massive naivety that Diop undergoes with his infantile optimism. He is trying to provide us with a salutary solution for our ethnical problems by assuming that the human race derives from an equal origin in the highlands of former Nubia ( Abyssinia, Ethiopia ). Unfortunately he forgets that even if there is an equal origin of the human race, not in Nubia but in Babylon ( the belly of the world and former Mesopotamia, nowadays Iraq ) not far from the legendary city of Ur where lies the garden of a queen named Eden, a Jew who declared himself a god named Yahweh Elohim used to dwell in, that doesn't mean that there's going to be any solution or salvation in moral or ethics for a stronger conflict human race is carrying out with itself regardless to how civilized it is: the continuous hunt for power ( we all know as the struggle of the fittest ). This is a conflict beyond race or origin related to talent and intelligence. It's an individualistic conflict laid down in the ego of every single human being. This is a conflict of advantage, disadvantage and greed among members of one people, even one tribe, clan or family. A conflict of revenge, riot and rebellion of the disadvantaged towards the advantaged. I speak about the conflict of classes. Envying the wealthy ( healthy ) the poor ( unhealthy ) will have to rise ( condemn ). This uprising of the poor will always cause oppressive policy by the wealthy and lead to compulsion or even slaughter in the end. History proves and history continues. Our problem has never been the one of ethnicity, since anytime the intelligent have understood humanity on the planet earth as one people, but it is an almost unsolvable one of guilt and atonement. The rich are deep in the debt of the poor while the old are deeply indebted by the young. Maybe temporalily even the whites towards the blacks. You can call it even a spiritual conflict, but don't forget that spirit is just fine substantial matter.
Nevertheless Cheikh Anta Diops opus magnum is entertaining and worth reading though I wouldn't recommend it to a serious scholar.
- Civilization or Barbarism is still man's choice
- Black Senegalese glare?