CHEIKH ANTA DIOPThe Pharoah of Knowledge

http://afgen.com/cheikh.html

On the 7th of February, 1986, Africa lost one of her illustrious sons, Cheikh

Anta Diop, an exceptional African whose singular destiny and contributions

were in tune with an Africa sometimes (promising), hopeful and some times

despondent.

While leaving us, Professor Cheikh Anta Diop bequeathed to Africa a

heritage of liberation without precedence: the knowledge of one's origin.

Cheikh Anta Diop Diop, Cairo 1974 in one of his very appearances in the

International Colloquium about Ancient Egypt populating and deciphering

of Meroitic writing. It would not strike the mind of any historian of the

ancient Mediterranean civilizations to deny the crucial role played by black

Egyptian peoples, in deed Ethiopians, in the development of sciences, arts,

techniques, and it was from distant antiquity. The idea of "black tabula rasa",

(Africa devoid of history (culture); in short, devoid of humanity, dear to

colonial histography is largely posterior.

Cheikh Anta Diop led throughout his life a pathetic struggle so that Africa

might at long last get rid of the claws of cultural alienation which had lasted

far too long, so that they would again become masters of a history which

they had not lost before colonialism. "Black nations and culture" was within

the context of an intense ideological struggle opposing the most awakened

and conscious elements, the most politically awakened of the African elites

to the tenants of colonial order who, to be witnesses to its collapse, were

nonetheless less solid and untouchable.

The European Africanists schools (all tendencies mixed) were unanimous in

rejecting, more often without examining, the fundamental theses of Cheikh

Anta Diop relating to the "cultural unity" of Africa to the migrations which,

taking their source from the original neolithic basin had ended up in the

present peopling of the continent; to the continuity of the national historical

past of Africans. It is that, in the eyes of some, the works of the Senegalese

historian appear a dangerous precedent susceptible, like every pioneering

and innovative work, to incite dangerous vocations. This concern was based

on at at least one point: the disintegration by Cheikh Anta Diop of the

fundamental postulates of the European Africanist discourse. Thus we read:

"This false attribution of values of Egypt qualified as white to a Greece

equally white reveals a deep contradiction which is not the least proof of the

black origin of Egyptian civilization" (Nations Negres et Culture, page 40,

Vol II, Presence Africaine, 3 em edition).

Cheikh Anta Diop in his last lecture in Paris before his definitive back in

Senegal in 1960.In that fragment Cheikh Anta Diop links up the well being

with the "umbilical cord" which links "black" ancient Egypt to the rest of the

continent. similarly, the insoluble contradiction which made that pharaonic

Egypt, the mother of civilizations, does not the least objectively belong to a

continent judged to be savage, primitive and barbarous, finally finds a

rational solution.

In that regard, to measure the same time the revolutionary character of

Cheikh Anta Diop's thesis and the extent of the mystification of colonial

histography, let us listen to Frederich Hegel, its most qualified and profound

representative: "She (Africa) is no part of the historic world, she neither

shows movement nor development........., that is to say, from the north

originates the Asiatic and European worlds. Cartage was in that regard an

important and transient element. But it belongs to Asia a Phoenician colony.

Egypt would be examined through the passage of the human mind from the

east to the west, but it does not depend on the African mind." (La raison

dans L'Histoirem, p 269, collection 10-18).

Through this odious falsification of history, which Karl Max qualifies a

idealist, a road was made which led to the myth of anti historicity of the

African continent; which continent is seen to be, in perspective of Cheikh

Anta Diop, the cradle of all civilizations.

It is against such allegations, qualified rightly, by the first historian of

African renaissance Cheikh Anta Diop, as "fascist" and "racist" (in the sense

that they implied the incapacity of Africans to create viable political

institutions), that his major work "Nations Negres et Culture", reacted. It can

be deplored that his prodigious erudition, his epic style, his liberating breath

had not inspired all the African intellectualls of that epoch. Worst still,

African history as it is taught today in our schools does not take the Negroid

dimension of ancient Egypt.

But an important question arises: in what measure do the works of Cheikh

Anta Diop allow to respond to the challenges of the future? For Theophile

Obenga, a disciple and a companion of the author, "with Cheikh Anta Diop,

history is not defined as the study of the past of human kind, but as the

construction of the future in the name of life."

Cheikh Anta Diop, young student in Paris Cheikh Anta Diop was not only

an intellectual, he also had a past as a man of action who did not hesitate to

embrace political militantism when he judged it necessary. It was in that

regard that he published scathing and brilliant articles in "La voix

d'Afrique", a journal of students of the RDA (Rassemblement Democratique

Africain). One of his articles appeared in February, 1952, and already he had

put (at an epoch where most African parliamentarians opted for a policy of

compromise - not to say betrayal) on the agenda the question of

independence and the federation of the ex-colonies.

One sees it, the political doctrine of Cheikh Anta Diop, consigned to "the

economic and cultural foundations", having as a philosopher's stone the

notion of unity under its federal or confederal; form. A certain number of

factors converged to render indispensable a political unity: the imperatives

of economic independence, industrial development, the inconstances of

political entities issuing from colonialism, and the cultural unity of Black

Africa.

These theses, to say the truth, are neither new nor original. One remembers

the iterinary of Kwame Nkrumah, almost all of whose works and, in

particular the famous book entitled "Africa Must Unite", offer a brilliant

illustration. Nevertheless, in the light of the political experiences of African

states since 1960, one realizes that as regards the economic, political and

cultural necessities of unity in order to formulate an ideology of

development and liberation, they are notoriously insufficient. Such a move

can only end up in a voluntarist and idealist practice which substitutes the

categorical imperative of unity for contradictions and objective movements

of African societies - the pseudoSenegambia Confederation is a patent

example of it. Here resides one of the major contradictions which

undermines the work.

In effect, no infallible mathematical law has yet demonstrated that because

the ancient past of a people was brilliant, so its future must, with the fatality

of bronze law equally be. Undoubtedly, it has to be underscored (and

deplored) that in his persistence, by the way quite judicious, to defend the

thesis of "Black Egypt", the author did not analyse the concrete social

realities of the African peoples in a satisfactory way; far from being

homogeneous, far from constituting the only and same group of democratic

and colonized, (who were disunited by interests fundamentally antagonistic,

which explain the present impasses having names such as Rwanda-Burundi,

Nigeria an so on and so forth. Only these contradictions explain the

relatively inefficient character of an action which, at the RDA, as at the level

of the Senegalese block of masses (which later became RND - National

Democratic Assembly), only realized ephemeral successes. It is now the lot

of today's African generation and that of tomorrow to tap the energy

emanating from the monumental heritage that Cheikh Anta Diop has

bequeathed to us, to propel Africa into the first row of the international

community in order to remake it as a continent of inventions and liberty.

This is the challenge that the pharoah of knowledge (the ancestor of our

future) has bequeathed as heritage to the African youth.

FOROYAA

(Freedom)

February, 1997

ISSN: 0796-0573

A Brief Biography of Cheikh Anta Diop .

Cheikh Anta Diop with his children. July 1983 in Brazzaville."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."

--Cheikh Anta Diop

Cheikh Anta Diop, a modern champion of African identity, was born in

Diourbel, Senegal on December 29, 1923. At the age of twenty-three, he

journeyed to Paris, France to continue advanced studies in physics. Within a

very short time, however, he was drawn deeper and deeper into studies

relating to the African origins of humanity and civilization. Becoming more

and more active in the African student movements then demanding the

independence of French colonial possessions, he became convinced that

only by reexamining and restoring Africa's distorted, maligned and obscured

place in world history could the physical and psychological shackles of

colonialism be lifted from our Motherland and from African people

dispersed globally. His initial doctoral dissertation submitted at the

University of Paris, Sorbonne in 1951, based on the premise that Egypt of

the pharaohs was an African civilization--was rejected. Regardless, this

dissertation was published by Presence Africaine under the title Nations

Negres et Culture in 1955 and won him international acclaim. Two

additional attempts to have his doctorate granted were turned back until

1960 when he entered his defense session with an array of sociologists,

anthropologists and historians and successfully carried his argument. After

nearly a decade of titanic and herculean effort, Diop had finally won his

Docteur es Lettres! In that same year, 1960, were published two of his other

works--the Cultural Unity of Black Africa and Precolonial Black Africa.

Cheikh Anta Diop (with the placard) and his wife Louise Marie (in the

right), demonstrating in Paris for African politicians' release 50s During his

student days, Cheikh Anta Diop was an avid political activist. From 1950 to

1953 he was the Secretary-General of the Rassemblement Democratique

Africain (RDA) and helped establish the first Pan-African Student Congress

in Paris in 1951. He also participated in the First World Congress of Black

Writers and Artists held in Paris in 1956 and the second such Congress held

in Rome in 1959. Upon returning to Senegal in 1960, Dr. Diop continued his

research and established a radiocarbon laboratory in Dakar. In 1966, the

First World Black Festival of Arts and Culture held in Dakar, Senegal

honored Dr. Diop and Dr. W.E.B. DuBois as the scholars who exerted the

greatest influence on African thought in twentieth century. In 1974, a

milestone occurred in the English-speaking world when the African Origin

of Civilization: Myth or Reality was finally published. It was also in 1974

that Diop and Theophile Obenga collectively and soundly reaffirmed the

African origin of pharaonic Egyptian civilization at a UNESCO sponsored

symposium in Cairo, Egypt. In 1981, Diop's last major work, Civilization or

Barbarism: An Authentic Anthropology was published.

Dr. Diop was the Director of Radiocarbon Laboratory at the Fundamental

Institute of Black Africa (IFAN) at the University of Dakar. He sat on

numerous international scientific committees and achieved recognition as

one of the leading historians, Egyptologists, linguists and anthropologists in

the world. He traveled widely, lectured incessantly and was cited and quoted

voluminously. He was regarded by many as the modern `pharaoh' of African

studies. Cheikh Anta Diop died quietly in sleep in Dakar, Senegal on

February 7, 1986.

Here are some of the major works of Cheikh Anta Diop translated into

English.

There are however other important works that are published in journals such

as dosage test. A technique developed by Diop to determine the melanin

content of the egyptian mummies. The irony of this new technique was later

adopted by the U.S. forensic department to determine the racial identity of

badly burnt accident victims. Yet to date they have never acknowledged the

author of this test!

The African Origin of Civilization, Myth Or Reality

The African Origin of Civilization, Myth Or Reality.

The book presents Dr. Diop's main thesis that historical, archaeological and

anthropological evidence supports the theory that the civilization of ancient

Egypt, the first that history records, was actually Negroid in origin.

Lawrence Hill Books

ISBN 1-55652-072-7

Precolonial Black Africa

Precolonial Black Africa.

In the book, Diop compares the political and social systems of Europe and

black Africa from antiquity to the formation of modern states.

Lawrence Hill Books ISBN 1-55652-0088-3

Black Africa, The Economic and Cultural Basis for a Federated State

Black Africa, The Economic and Cultural Basis for a Federated State.

In the book, the late Cheikh Anta Diop presents a dynamic and convincing

arguement for the creation of a unified black African state and there is an

interview by Carlos Moore on Diop's vision of Africa's emergence as a

major world power.

African World Press ISBN 0--86543-058-6

Civilization or Barbarism - An authentic Anthropology

Civilization or Barbarism - An authentic Anthropology

This last work of Cheikh Anta Diop is a summation and expansion of his

two previous volumes -Precolonial Black Africa (1987) and The African

Origin of Civilization (1974) - offers a refined statement of his life's work, to

prove the primacy of African culture by proving that ancient Egypt was a

black society, first in many cultural achievements later claimed by the

following Indo-Aryan cultures.

ISBN: 1556520484

Publisher: Chicago Review Press, Incorporated Pub.

downloaded: 9/6/05

Source: http://home3.inet.tele.dk/mcamara/index.html

Cheikh Anta Diop and Two Cradle Analysis:

Conceptualizing Enslavement within

Afrikan and European Cultural Thought and Practice

 

Karanja Keita Carroll

 

Cheikh Anta Diop (1989) proposed a mode of macro-historical

analysis, which is commonly referred to as the Two-Cradle Theory.  The

Two-Cradle Theory will be employed to analyze the conceptions of ‘slavery’

within European and Afrikan cultural thought and practice.  This

comparative analysis will examine ancient civilizations, which in turn

should exemplify a broader view and explanation for the subconscious

manifestations of more recent institutions of ‘slavery’. I suggest that the

foundation for the enslavement of Native Americans and subsequently

Afrikans in the ‘New World’ can be found within the particular

conceptualization of slavery that originally manifested in European cultural

thought and practice.  Just as 18th and 19th century forms of ‘slavery’ or

servitude in Afrika can be linked to Afrikan cultural thought and practice, or

in many cases to Islamic cultural thought and practice.  

 

Elucidating the foundation and discplinary basis

of Black Studies via the works of Cheikh Anta Diop

By Karanja Keita Carroll

            Most discussions of Cheikh Anta Diop limit him to his discussion of

Ancient Egypt as a classical Afrikan civilization.  Even scholars within

Black Studies begin and end with the scientific evidence that Diop provided

on the race and culture of the Ancient Egyptians.  This limited use, analysis

and application of the works of Diop stagnates our understanding of his

contributions to Black Studies and knowledge production, in general.  As

Black Studies continues to create and recreate new interpretations of

knowledge and the Africana experience, we must reevaluate the role of

mentioned and unmentioned contributors to our discipline.  Therefore, in our

attempt to further establish the basis of Black Studies, as a culturally specific

discipline, I would argue that we look at the works of Diop for a solid

disciplinary foundation.  This paper attempts to analyze the methodology

and philosophy of Diop, in order to further substantiate the disciplinary basis

of Black Studies.

Foundations for Black Studies:

Reevaluating Cheikh Anta Diop's Two Cradle Thesis

By Karanja Keita Carroll

            Most discussions of Cheikh Anta Diop limit him to his discussion of

Ancient Egypt as a classical Afrikan civilization.  Even scholars within

Black Studies begin and end with the scientific evidence that Diop provided

on the race and culture of the Ancient Egyptians.  This limited use, analysis

and application of the works of Diop stagnates our understanding of his

contributions to Black Studies and knowledge production, in general.  Most

relevant to the discipline of Black Studies is Diop's use and manipulation of

culture as a tool of liberation.  In fact, in an interview with Carlos Moore,

Diop stated, "There is no doubt that culture will be used as a weapon in this

struggle, this is indispensable.  That is why it is important that this weapon

be at all times adapted to the struggle for national liberation" (1991, p. 114). 

This speaks to the power which Diop As Black Studies continues to create

and recreate new interpretations of knowledge and the Africana experience,

we must reevaluate the role of mentioned and unmentioned contributors to

our discipline.  Therefore, in our attempt to further establish the basis of

Black Studies, as a culturally specific discipline, I would argue that we look

at the works of Diop for a solid disciplinary foundation.  This paper attempts

to analyze the methodology and philosophy of Diop, in order to further

substantiate the disciplinary basis of Black Studies.

Cheikh Anta Diop, Cultural Identity and the future of Black Studies

By Karanja Keita Carroll

            Most discussions of Cheikh Anta Diop limit him to his discussion of

Ancient Egypt as a classical Afrikan civilization.  Even scholars within

Black Studies begin and end with the scientific evidence that Diop provided

on the race and culture of the Ancient Egyptians.  This limited use, analysis

and application of the works of Diop stagnates our understanding of his

contributions to Black Studies and knowledge production, in general.  As

Black Studies continues to create and recreate new interpretations of

knowledge and the Africana experience, we must reevaluate the role of

mentioned and unmentioned contributors to our discipline.  This paper uses

Diop's model of Cultural Identity to show how certain curricula and course

offerings fit within this construct.  Ultimately, this paper will show the

relationship between self-knowledge, cultural knowledge, cultural identity

and Black Studies.

Cheikh Anta Diop and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel:

A comparative analysis of their philosophies of history and the role of

Afrika

 

By Karanja Keita Carroll

Introduction

            Afrika, the birthplace of humanity and the continent with the longest

earth’s history continues to fascinate researchers and advance analysis, from

the works of the African Studies Association to the developmental initiatives

of the International Monetary Fund.  While it would be logical for Afrikans

to be the most influential in steering the course of Afrikan Studies, sadly to

say, this is not the case.  For sometime, it has been steered by the thoughts

and philosophies of people of non-Afrikan ancestry.  The most influential

and problematic of these non-Afrikan thinkers was George Wilhelm

Friedrich Hegel who lived from 1770 – 1831.  Hegel’s impact on Afrikan

Studies began and possibly continued a new course of Afrikan history that

was anti-Afrikan and quite disparaging to people of Afrikan descent. 

Hegel’s arguments and ideas about the role of Afrika in world history were

influential in validating the enslavement of Afrikans, Western Christian

indoctrinization, colonialism, neo-colonialism and the present debacle over

globalism.  Similar Hegelian motivated arguments continue to destroy

interpersonal relationships between Afrikans and non-Afrikans the world

over. 

Hegel’s impact on Afrikan history is found throughout colleges and

universities, who continue to use Hegel as a model on Afrikan history. 

Other colleges and universities, continue to hire professors and create

initiates based upon Hegelian historical assumptions.  None of these

professors, departments, centers and/or institutes view Afrikan history from

the cultural perspective of Afrikans, but rather impose non-Afrikan

standards as a universal human norm. 

While Hegel has been influential in steering the direction of Afrikan

historiography, the work of Cheikh Anta Diop has begun to place Afrikan

history within its own cultural, philosophical and continental context.  Thus,

one can argue, that Diop’s work has begun to place Afrikan history within

its correct cultural context.  While Diop’s original arguments and ideas were

initially produced in French, it was with the English translation of his major

works that scholars across the Afrikan diaspora began to know and

understand a logical, but yet practically unused approach to Afrikan

historiography.  This approach to Afrikan history was centered upon the

cultural connections between the numerous Afrikan cultures.

It is between Hegel and Diop that the warring ideals of Afrikan

historiography have begun and continue to be fought throughout Afrikan

Studies today.  Many say that much of what is written today regarding

Afrikan Studies, and particularly Afrikan history, is only a footnote to

Hegel.  In this intellectual climate the reassessment and usage of the works

of scholars such as Diop is necessary. 

            With the rise of Black Nationalism, Black Studies and other critical

intellectual movements throughout the Afrikan diaspora many have begun to

challenge and question many Eurocentric assumptions.  In relation to Hegel,

Keita (1974) an Afrikan philosopher, in an article entitled “Two

Philosophies of African History:  Hegel and Diop”, sketches a basic outline

comparing both Hegel’s and Diop’s philosophy of history. Other scholars

such as Kuykendall (1993) have analyzed the works of Hegel and have been

very critical of Hegel’s discussion of Afrikan history and culture. 

Recently, with the usage of Afrocentricity as a tool of analysis

(Asante, 1990) a contemporary comparison, which uses this framework is

necessary.  Afrocentric analysis argues that the researcher use Afrikan

culture and history as one’s tool of analysis when interpreting and judging

Afrikan phenomenon (Asante, 1990, pp. 5-6).  This logical form of analysis

is somewhat missing, or misplaced, throughout the works of both Keita and

Kuykendall.  While both researchers contribute to a basic understanding of

the relationship between Hegel and Diop, it is their lack of usage of the

Afrocentric paradigm which requires an extension of this comparative

analysis (Mazama, 2001). 

This work attempts to reinterpret the dialogue regarding Afrikan

historiography, from both Hegel and Diop, in light of the Afrocentric

perspective.  This analysis attempts to look at the philosophies of history

proposed by both Hegel and Diop using the Afrocentric paradigm.  An

overall synopsis of Hegel’s philosophy of history and the place of Afrika

within world history will be our starting point.  Secondly, Diop’s philosophy

of history will be analyzed along the same lines.  Comparative aspects of

Hegel’s and Diop’s philosophies of history will be analyzed, critiqued and

further built upon. 

Cheikh Anta Diop and Pan-Africanism: 

Creating Bonds of Unity, Always in Familiar Waters

 

By Karanja Keita Carroll

 

“First thing when you wake up,

say mama God knows I love you.

Before you pick up your tea cup,

remember to talk to the Father too,

thanking him for everything

and give I-s for the rising.

On yours knees while we pray, each break of day

and chase the devil away.

If we wanna save the world,

we gotta save the children.

Set an example for the children to follow,

make a better tomorrow…”

Luciano – "Save the World" on A New Day (2001)

 

In a separatist understanding of Pan-Africanism one often limits Pan-

Africanism to a political, ideological and/or abstract concept. This act is

quite detrimental to the fact that Pan-Africanism is a way of life, a mode of

reasoning and a necessary tool for African world liberation. By stepping

away from the normal discussion of Pan-Africanism as a political

mechanism, this present discussion attempts to locate elements of Pan-

African symbols, ethics, values and morality. This will be looked at in light

of Cheikh Anta Diop’s discussion on African matriarchy. By using Diop’s

argument to create a framework and criteria for African matriarchy, three

African world cultures are analyzed. These cultures consist of the Caribbean

country and city realities of Lindsay Barrett’s (1974) Songs of Mumu, the

African American Gullah culture of Julie Dash’s (1991) Daughter’s of the

Dust; and a fairly recent ethnographic analysis of the Oru of Oguta Lake by

Sabine Jell-Bahlsen (1997). These three cultures exemplify at some level,

the connections that we are able to create around the idea of Pan-Africanism

symbolism, ethics, values and moral systems. Before analyzing these works

we must first understand the author’s framework and basic assumptions. As

initially stated, this will begin with Cheikh Anta Diop’s thesis found in

many of his works but specifically outlined in The Cultural Unity of Black

Africa: The Domains of Matriarchy and Patriarchy in Classical Antiquity

(1989).  

Works Cited

Diop's Contribution to Pan-Africanism and Pan-Africanist Ideology:  An

Introduction

By Karanja Keita Carroll

Amongst many scholars Cheikh Anta Diop’s Pan-Africanist approach

to scholarship is often neglected. This is evident by the lack of attention that

is given to Diop’s work from those who consider themselves Diopian. One

example of this can be found in Ivan Van Sertima’s Great African Thinkers,

Vol. 1: Cheikh Anta Diop (1986). In this volume the only article that

directly focuses on The Cultural Unity of Black Africa, Diop’s primary Pan-

Africanist text, does not give any serious analysis to Diop’s reasoning for

African matriarchy, one basis for African unity. Nor is African matriarchy

the focus of any of the other essays. Neither does this text give an analysis

of Diop’s conceptualization of cultural identity. These two areas of Diop’s

scholarship (African matriarchy and cultural identity) are pervasive

throughout all of his works and are Pan-African in nature. The closest this

volume comes to touching upon Diop’s approach to Pan-Africanism is an

interview conducted by Carlos Moore for Afriscope magazine. Because

Diopian scholars limit their analysis only to Diop’s contribution to Ancient

African Civilizations and the exact science, they have done a disservice to

Diop and have overlooked his contributions to African world history. I

would argue that understanding Diop means that one must use a holistic

approach when studying his work. If we are to accept Diop, we must accept

all of him, including all his arguments, faults and contradictions.

In studying Cheikh Anta Diop’s contributions, we must first

understand how people know of Diop, and then use this as a segue into an

analysis of his contributions to Pan-African scholarship. Many people know

Diop because he was able to provide empirical evidence to show that the

Ancient Egyptians were Black Africans. His most widely known argument

is that, Ancient Egypt was a Black African civilization. Diop went even

further and argued that Egypt is to Africa, what Greece is to Europe. In this

he meant Africans should be able to use Egypt as a cultural, social and

scholarly foundation much as Europe has been able to use Greece for the

same liberating reasons. In Diop’s own words he states,

For us, the return to Egypt in all domains is a necessary condition for

reconciling African civilization with history, in order to be able to

construct a body of modern human sciences, in order to renovate

African culture. Far from being a reveling in the past, a look toward

Egypt of antiquity is the best way to conceive and build our cultural

future. In reconceived and renewed African culture, Egypt will play

the same role that Greco-Latin antiquity plays in Western culture.

(1991, p. 3)

Most scholars who focus on Diop limit their analysis to this aspect of his

work. However, Diop was a multitalented and multitrained scholar, whose

education was not only in history and Egyptology, but also in linguistics,

anthropology, classics, archeology, prehistory and philosophy, among other

areas. Diop’s interdisciplinary training allowed him to create numerous

theoretical arguments with empirical evidence to support his position.

The most disregarded of these arguments, can be found in The

Cultural Unity of Black Africa: The Domains of Matriarchy and Patriarchy

in Classical Antiquity (1989), Precolonial Black Africa (1987), Black Africa

(1987), and Towards the African Renaissance (1996). The primary focus of

this paper will be a holistic analysis of the relevance of Diop’s

conceptualization of African matriarchy, cultural identity and their relevance

to African cultural unity.

In order to begin a discussion on Diop’s contribution to Pan-African

scholarship, one must first understand what is Pan-Africanism. John Henrik

Clarke, explains Pan-African by stating, “’Pan’ means all. Pan-African

means all African people. It refers to the oneness of all people of African

descent and it infers African world unity” (1991, pp. 98-99). According to

Dr. Clarke we are looking to see in Diop’s scholarship at what level is he

able or does he attempt to unify African people. P. Olisanwuche Esedebe

refers to Pan-Africanism as “a political and cultural phenomenon that

regards Africa, Africans and African descendants abroad as a unit. It seeks

to regenerate and unify Africa and promote a feeling of oneness among

people of the African world. It glorifies the African past and inculcates

pride in African values” (1994, p. 5). From Esedebe we will be looking to

see at what level can Diop’s contributions see Africa, Africans and diasporic

Africans as a unit. Does he attempts regenerates and unifies African people?

Finally, at what level does he glorify the African past and African values? I

would argue that Diop has approached Clarke’s Pan-African and Esedebe’s

Pan-Africanism in the most historically accurate fashion.

There are two intended objectives of this paper. The first is to see

how Diop was able to use matriarchy as a tool to create African cultural

unity. This will be done through an analysis of some of Diop’s most

neglected texts, but also some of his more popular work. The second

objective is to see how Diop was able to use his conceptualization of cultural

identity, to create a second basis for African cultural unity.

            Among the different schools of Pan-Africanism, I would argue that

Diop is a culturalist. Diop knew the importance of culture and understood

its usefulness in creating African unity. In an interview when speaking

about culture and its role in African liberation, Diop states,

It is indispensable to spell out in what context we are discussing

culture… To my mind, the notion of culture is tied to the emergence

of a multinational state embracing almost the entire continent. This

means that the cultural question can only be fully appreciated the day

we will succeed through struggle and victory over colonialism

achieving national independence at the continental level. There is no

doubt that culture will be used as a weapon in this struggle, this is

indispensable. That is why it is important that this weapon be at all

times adapted to the struggle for national independence, for culture

shall, essentially, be in the service of the struggle for national

liberation. (1991, p. 114)

 It is from this fundamental tenet that we begin to evaluate Diop’s

contribution to Pan-African scholarship.

Culture, Cultural Identity, and Cheikh Anta Diop

By Karanja Keita Carroll

  The eminent multi-trained scholar, Cheikh Anta Diop holds a central

place in the scholastic endeavors of African-centered scholarship. The

majority of scholars who use the arguments and research produced by Diop

focus only on his arguments regarding the race and culture of the Ancient

Egyptians. Because of the centrality of Egypt to Afrocentric scholarship

these scholars limit their usage only to this element of Diop’s work. In

doing this we often neglect the most important arguments put forth by Diop,

those regarding culture and cultural unity.

On Diop’s second attempt at his dissertation, which would be rejected

much like the first attempt, he produced the arguments and evidence that

would culminate in The Cultural Unity of Africa: The Domains of

Matriarchy and Patriarchy in Classical Antiquity. This text was first

published in French by Presènce Africaine in 1963, under the title: The

Cultural Unity of Negro Africa. Two more publications in English would

soon follow and this allowed for the accessibility of these very important

ideas.

This paper attempts to access the arguments of Cheikh Anta Diop in

The Cultural Unity of Black Africa, particularly those which are in reference

to what he terms the Southern Cradle. By analyzing Diop’s arguments and

evidence the author attempts to strengthen his original argument.

The sole foundation which Diop placed his arguments on, was the role

and function of matriarchy in African culture. According to Diop the role of

matriarchy separates African cultures from all other cultures, especially

those of Europe which are characterized by patriarchy. By using matriarchy,

Diop was able to create a mode of analysis based upon the characteristics

which matriarchy creates. These including gender equality, an optimistic

worldview, etc.

The first objective of this paper is to attempt to access the arguments

given by Diop in his explanation of the Southern Cradle/Africa. Secondly

this paper attempts to understand Diop’s use of the concept, culture. In

Diop’s Civilization or Barbarism, Diop creates a criteria for cultural identity,

which can be applied to African people in their process of self-liberation.

The author will look at all the elements of Diop’s understanding of cultural

identity and all the ends of which it could bring. The final results of this

paper should allow an understanding of the usage of the concepts: culture

and cultural unity, in the scholastic endeavors of Cheikh Anta Diop.

____________________

Diop, Cheikh Anta. (1989). The cultural unity of Black Africa: The

domains of matriarchy & patriarchy in classical antiquity. London:

Karnak House. 

Cheikh Anta Diop's Cultural Unity Thesis, Culture and an African

Worldview: 

Understanding the Connections

 

By Karanja Keita Carroll

In our affirmation of an African Worldview it is of great importance

that we understand the foundation upon which this worldview stands. One

way of approaching this subject is through an analysis of Cheikh Anta

Diop’s (1989) Cultural Unity of Black Africa: The Domains of Matriarchy

and Patriarchy within Classical Antiquity.

Inherent within Diop’s argument is the relationship between the

concepts of culture and worldview. By defining these concepts we come

closer to understanding their relationship to Diop’s thesis. Culture can

neatly be defined as the way of life of a people. Worldview can agreeably

be defined as the particular belief systems and assumptions of a people.

Diop used a comparative historical approach to ground his argument.

This present investigation looks only at the Southern cradle (Africa), for our

appreciation of an African Worldview.

Diop’s central argument is based upon the relationship between

human beings and their environment. From this point, he analyzes how

people react towards their environmental surroundings and the

behaviors/beliefs that manifest because of these surroundings. The

environment of the Southern cradle (Africa) can be characterized as having

warmth, sunlight, flowing bodies of water, abundant vegetation, etc. These

environmental conditions in turn create agricultural subsistence, mother-

focused societies, a balance between male and female social functioning,

burial of the dead as a form of ancestor worship, among other

characteristics. These characteristics and the behaviors they produce create

a worldview that is based upon balance, unity, harmony, interdependence

and an all-encompassing optimistic spirituality.

The final outcome of this paper should allow one to see the

inextricable relationship between African culture, an African Worldview and

the arguments Diop proposes in the Cultural Unity of Black Africa. In

summation, Diop’s cultural unity thesis is the basis for the construction of

the particular culture of a people. This culture in turn perpetuates and

determines a particular worldview.

____________________

Diop, Cheikh Anta. (1989). The cultural unity of Black Africa: The

domains of matriarchy & patriarchy in classical antiquity. London:

Karnak House. 

_____

Diop, C. A. (1989). The cultural unity of Black Africa: The domains of

matriarchy & patriarchy in classical antiquity. London: Karnak

House.

 _____. (1991). Civilization or barbarism: An authentic anthropology.

New York: Lawrence Hill Books.

 _____. (1996). Towards the African renaissance, essays in culture &

development: 1946-1960. London: Karnak House.

Works Cited

Amadiume, I. (1987).  African matriarchal foundations:   the case of

Igbo societies.  London: Karnak House.

Amadiume, I. (1997).  Reinventing Africa:   Matriarchy, religion &

culture.  New York:  Zed Books.

Ani, M. (1994).  Yurugu:   An African-centere critique of European

cultural thought and behavior.  Trenton:  Africa World Press.

             Diop, C. A. (1974).  The African origin of civilization:   myth or

reality.  Brooklyn:  Lawrence Hill Books.

             Diop, C. A.  (1987).  Black Africa:   the economic and cultural basis

for a federated state.  Brooklyn:  Lawrence Hill Books.

             Diop, C.A.  (1987).  Precolonial Black Africa.  New York: 

Lawrence Hill Books.

             Diop, C. A. (1989).  The cultural unity of black Africa:   the domains

of matriarchy and patriarchy in classical antiquity.  London:  Karnak House.

             Diop, C.A. (1991).  Civilization or barbarism:   an authentic

anthropology.  Brooklyn:  Lawrence Hill Books.

Obenga, T. (1998).  African philosophy in world history.  Princeton: 

Sungai Books.

Works to be Cited

 

Aristotle’s Politics.  H. G. Apostle & L. P. Gerson, Trans.  (1986). 

Grinnell:  The Peripatetic Press.

 

Bierbrier, M. L. (1999).  A historical dictionary of Ancient Egypt. 

Baltimore:  The Scarecrow Press, Inc.

 

Brewer, D. J. & Teeter, E.  (1999) Egypt and the Egyptians.  Cambridge: 

Cambridge University Press.

 

Cobb, T. (1858).  An Historical Sketch of Slavery, from the Earliest

Periods.  Philadelphia:  T. & J. W. Johnson & Co.

 

Diop, C. A. (1989). The cultural unity of Black Africa: The domains of

matriarchy & patriarchy in classical antiquity. London: Karnak House.

 

_____. (1991). Civilization or barbarism: An authentic anthropology. New

York: Lawrence Hill Books.

 

Loprieno, A. (1997).  Slaves.  In S. Donadoni (Ed.), The Egyptians  (pp.

185-219).  Chicago:  The University of Chicago Press.

 

Finley, M. I., ed. (1960).  Slavery in Classical Antiquity:   Views and

Controversies.  Cambridge:  W. Heffer & Sons Ltd.

 

Fustel De Coulanges, N. D. (1956).  The Ancient City:   A Study of the

Religion, Laws and Institutions of Greece and Rome.  Garden City: 

Doubleday Anchor Books. 

 

Garnsey, P. (1999).  Ideas of slavery from Aristotle to Augustine. 

Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press. 

 

General history of Africa II: Ancient civilizations of Africa. G. Moktar (Ed.)

Paris: UNESCO.

 

Isichei, E.  (1997).  A History of African Societies to 1870.  Cambridge: 

Cambridge University Press.

 

James, T. G. H. (1984).  Pharoah’s People:   Scenes from life in Imperial

Egypt.  London:  The Bodley Head.

 

Mcmunn, G.  (1974).  Slavery Through The Ages.  Totowa:  Rowman and

Littlefield.

 

Plato The Republic.  R. W. Sterling & W. C. Scott, Trans.  (1985).  New

York:  W. W. Norton & Company.

 

Watterson, B. (1997).  The Egyptians.  Cambridge:  Blackwell Publishers.

 

Zeitlin, I. M.  (1993).  Plato’s Vision:   The Classical Origins of Social and

Political Thought.  Englewood Cliffs:  Prentice Hall.

Writings

Currently, I am completing my dissertation in African American Studies,

tentatively titled “Theory and Theory Production in Africana Studies:   Cheikh Anta Diop’s Two Cradle Theory as a Metatheory ...

o astro.temple.edu/~karanja/writings.htm

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CHEIKH ANTA DIOP

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The Invention of Africa" and Intellectual Neocolonialism

... divides the African thinkers into two ... Aimé Caesar, Leopold Senghor

and Cheikh Anta Diop ... angles he apparently exudes the Diop project,

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