Contents

Preface ...xm

An African Chronology xv

African Sources: An Introduction I

PART ONE The Creation of the Universe

The Heliopolis Creation Narrative 14

The Memphite Declaration of the Deities IJ

PHARAOH UNASVision of the Universe 17

PHARAOH TETIVision of the Universe 24

PHARAOH PEP1Vision of the Universe 27

PRINCESS NI-SEDJER-KAITomb Inscription 31

HOTEP-HER-AKHETTomb Inscription 3”

NEFER-SESHEM-RATomb Inscription 3~

NI-HERSED-PEPIMemorial Stone 34

The San Creation Narrative 35

The Khoi Creation Narrative 3 8

The Barozvi Creation Narrative 3 9

The Dogon Creation Narrative 4’

The Yoruba Creation Narrative 45

The Asante Tower to Heaven 50

The Asante Concept of the Creation of the Lesser Gods 51

JAMES WELDON JOHNSON

The Creation 53

PART TWO Religious Ideas

NEFER-ROHUThe Prophecy 63PAHERITomb Prayers 66Selections from the Papyrus of Ani 71

AKHENATENHymns to Aten j-jHAREMHABPrayer and Hymn 79

Penitential Hymns 82Selections from the Book of Henok (Enoch) 86

JOMO KENYATTAReligion and Ancestor Veneration 88

Asante Praise Poems to Tano River and the Earth 90

A Lodagaa Libation to the Ancestors 91

Asu SHAltDOW ABARIwRecurrent Themes in Ga Libation (Mpai) Oratory 92

Igbo Invocations 96WANDE ABIMBOLAWapele: The Concept of Good Character in Ifi Literary CorpusMENSAH SARBAHAkan Religion ‘07

PART THREE Culture and Identity

QUEEN HATSHEPSUTHer Assertion of Her Power 114

109

Contents

Yomba Praises to Ogm 117

IsIoonE OKPEWHOThe Resources of the Oral Epic 119

Kouroukan Fougan, or the Division of the World by Sundiata -131

J. P. CLARK-BEKEDEREMOThe Ozidi Saga 136

MAZISI KUNENEThe Rise of Shaka ‘5’

HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.A Myth of Origins: Esu-Elegbara and the Signifying Monkey I b-0

OLAUDAH EQUIANOIdentity, Culture, and Kidnapping 176

J. CASELEY HAYFORDIndigenous Institutions of Ghana 185

MARTIN DELANVThe Condition and Destiny of Africans in the United States 189

Hotmm A. BAKER, JR.W. E. B. Du Bois and The Souls of Black Folk ‘93

A,ME: ChAlRE

Notes on a Return to the Native Land 202

CHEIKH tiNTA DIOPThe Origin and I$story of the Black World 207

Au A. MAZRUIAfrica’s Tripartite Heritage: Towards Cultural Synthesis 210

JOHN HENRIK CLARKE

The Origin and Growth of Afro-American Literature 218

First Congress of Negro Writers and Artists ( 1956) 227

Second Congress of Negro Writers and Artists (‘959) 229

FRANTZFANONOn National Culture 236

AMlLcAR cAsRAL.Identity and Dignity in the Context of Struggle 243

WOLE SOYINK.African Classical Concepts of Tragedy 248

PETER SARPONGThe Akan Blackened Stool and the Odwim Festival 251

bU SHARDOW .tBARRY

The Ga Homowo (Hunger-Hooting) Cultural Festival 254

J. AFR~CANUS B. HORTON

Africa as the Nursery of Science and Literature -t,>i

contents vii

MOLEFI KETE ASANTEThe Principal Issues in Afrocentric Inquity 256THBOPHILE OBENGAGenetic Linguistic Connections of Ancient Egypt and theRest of Africa 262

P A R T F O U R ~Philosophy and Morality 283

J O H N MsrmThe Study of African Religions and Philosophy 287

KWAME GYEKYEThe Idea of African Philosophy 294PTAH-HOTEPMoral Teachings 306SlNUHEMy Victory over Circumstances 308AMENEMOPEInstructions for Well-Being 3’2The Pharaoh’s Speech at the Installation of Rekhmire as Prime Minister 326

The Doomed ‘Prince 329

The Story of the Two Brothers 332WEN-AMONMy Journey to Asia 335The Lion in Search of Man 340

LtoPoLD SEDAR SENCHORAfrican Socialism 342KWAME. NKRUMAHConsciencism 354The Zulu Personal Declaration 37’

CHINUA ACHEBEThe African Writer and the English Language 379Igbo Proverbs 385Luyia Proverbs 387African American Spirituals 388MARIA W. STEWART

On African Rights and Liberty 397M~ncus GARVEYPhilosophy and Opinions 402

~W. E. B. Du BarsThe Concept of Race 409ALAIN LOCKEThe Ethics of Culture 4’8WILLIAM E. ABRAHAM

The Life and Times of Anton Wilhelm Amo, the First African (Black)Philosopher in Europe 424

P A R T - F I V E Society and Politics

WENIAutobiography 446

HARKHUFAutobiography 449WILLIAM E. ABRAHAMTheory of Human Society 452

MENSAH SARBAHOn the Fame National Constitution 462

EDWARD WIL+~~ BLYDENMohammedanism and the Negro Race -4 70

EDWARD WILMOT BLYDENChristianity and the Negro Race 477

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Racial Accommodation 483BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

The Atlanta Exposition Address 489

W. E. B. Du BOISOf Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others

MONROE TROTTER

A Critique of Booker T. Washington’s Plan

AMY JACQUES GARVEYWomen as Leaders 503ABDIASDONASCIMENTOBrazilian Qui[ombismo 505Pan-African Congress Resolution (1919) ~5’7

Pan-African Congress Resolution (1945) 518

PAUL ROBESONThe Power of Negro Action 522

Declaration and Resolutions of the First Conferenceof Independent African States (‘958) 533

MA~LANA KARENGAThe Nguzo Saba (The Seven Principles): Their Meaning and Message 543

JULIUS K. NYEREREOne-Party Government 555

KWAME NKRUMAHThe Need for a Union Government for Africa 559

C. L. R JAMES

The Rise and Fall of Nknxnah 573

JAMES BALDWIN

My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversaryof the Emancipation 580

CORNEL WESTW. E. B. Du Bois: The Jamesian Organic Intellectual 583

PART SIX Resistance and Renewal 595

The Expulsion of the Hyksos 600

The Commemorative Stone of Thutmose III 602

THUTMOSE IIIAnnals 605

Pharaoh Piye and the Victory over North 609

KING KWAME ANSAThe Portuguese Fortress at El Mina 6x8

A Shona Song 619

NAT TURNERNarrative 620

DAVID WALKER

Appeal to the Coloured Citizens df the World:Our Wretchedness in ConsequenOe of Slavery 627

FREDERICK Doucu\ssFourth of July Oration 637

FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER

We Are All Bound Up Together 641

ANNA JULIA COOPER

Womanhood: AVital Element in the Regeneration and Progress of a Race 643

IDA B. WELLS-BARNETTLynch Law in All Its Phases 65’CARTER G. WOODSONThe Mis-Education of the Negro 656EMPEROR HAKE SELASSIEAddress to the League of Nations 664MARY McLeo~ BETHUNEMy Last Will and Testament 671M ARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.I Have a Dream 674FRANTZFANONColonial War and Mental Disorders 677

Revolutionary Culture and the Future of Pan African Culture 689Charter of the Organization of African Unity 698WALTER RODNEY

How Africa Developed before the Coming of the EuropeansUp to the Fifteenth Centuly 706MALCOLM xMessage to the Grassroots 7”’WALTER RO D N E Y

Towards the Sixth Pan African Congress: Aspects of the International ClassStruggle in Africa, the Caribbean, and America 729M ARTIN LUT& KING, JR.Letter from a Birmingham Jail 740

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.Negroes Are Not Moving Too Fast 751

ABDIAS DO NASCIMENTOCultural Revolution and the Future of the Pan African Culture 755ANci?iZY. DAVIS

Black Women and Music: A Historical Legacy of Struggle 765AWA THIAMBlack Sisters, Speak Out 778

The Million Man March/Day of Absence Mission Statement 780

Glossary of Names and Terms -791

Suggestions for Further Reading 801

Sources and Credits -809

I n d e x -817