Cheikh Anta Diop, the Revolutionary Historian and Scientist, Who Flipped Our Understanding of History Downside Up.
“If Africa is the birthplace of Man and Humanity, is it not also logical that Africa is the birthplace of Civilization?” - Cheikh Anta Diop
Born on December 29, 1923, Cheikh Anta Diop grew up during a time when European “scholars” believed in a biological hiearchy of races with themselves at the top, Afrikans at the bottom, and every other race in between. During this period, these “scholars” claimed they had answered the most fundamental questions pertaining to the Development of Human Civilization and the Origin of the Human Race. Providing no scientific justification, they claimed white people were either the original form of humans; or were a separate species and did not share common ancestors with all other races of people of the world.
Again, providing no scientifc justification they believed the development of civilization started in Europe, specifically Greece; that human organization, government, science, religion, literature etc were originally Greek/Western conceptions; and that it was Europeans who spread these ideas to the world; completely disregarding and ignorant of the independent development of civilization in Afrika and in many other parts of the world. This ignorance led to the delusional, yet widespread belief that Ancient ‘Egypt’ (Kemet), located in Afrika, was not established by Afrikans but instead by a “Hamitic” people, who were apart of the Caucasian race.
Because of the revolutionary scientific work executed by Cheikh Anta Diop, these unscientifc racist ideas are no longer explicitly circulated within society and have been largely debunked in all serious circles of scholarship.
Why were these racist ideas ever in circulation? Because from the 16th to early 20th century, colonists from Britain, France, Spain, Portugual, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands etc were going around the world with the intention to subjugate and rob non-white people of their wealth. To make themselves feel better, these colonists made up the false, fairy tale, convenient, and racist idea that non-white people did not have the capacity to govern themselves. Therefore, their labor, land, and natural resources ‘truly’ belonged to ‘white’ Europeans, which caused the same Europeans to even go to war with each other over the control of the resources of Afrikans, Middle Easterns, East Asians, Indians, Native Americans etc.
This was the deeply ingrained belief that Cheikh Anta Diop was determined to expose for the lie it was and disprove through hardcore evidence coupled with robust scientifc research and study. His objective was to uncover the Truth and expose the foolishness regarding the original form of man, the founders of Ancient Kemet, and the true source of European civilization. Revealing that the narrative of the ‘hierarchy of races’ and white people being the original humans on Earth was a fantasy and only made up to rationalize and make sense of the crimes of the colonists.
During the early 20th century, Afrikan scholars, like Diop, educated at some of the ‘top’ universities the western world had to offer, began going against the grain and thinking critically about the world and the role of Afrikans in it. These scholars learned that Afrika, long taught to be at the margins of civilizational development, actually was at the center of it all. The continent which people were trained, both consciously and subconsciously, to view as inferior was actually the birthplace of mankind and civilization. This History was not yet made mainstream nor widespread, nor was it fully constructed, yet bits of it were awaiting to be discovered by determined, and serious scholars in their pursuit of the Truth.
Diop was an early advocate of the Out of Africa scientific theory which set forth the idea, through archeological evidence, that Humankind originated in Afrika. This theory was based upon the discovery of human fossils in the eastern region of Afrika, which are the oldest human fossils ever discovered. From this framework, Diop argued that Ancient Kemet, one of the greatest and earliest recorded civlizations in human history, were originally populated by ‘Black' people; as people living in this tropical region, out of biological nececcsity, developed high levels of Melanin to protect them from the harmful rays of the Sun.
Diop’s line of logic for proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Black/Afrikans were the founders of Ancient Kemet were as follows: For one, Ancient Kemet is located in Afrika. Two, the original population of Afrika possessed dark pigments, which is what we would consider or classify today as “Black”. Three, this early group of Afrikans began in the Great Lakes regions in Southern/Eastern Afrika, located at the end of the Nile. As this group began migrating throughout Afrika and throughout the rest of the world, they must have migrated through the Sahara and up the Nile Valley. Therefore, an early population of Afrikans must have settled all along the Nile Valley extended all the way up to Upper and Lower Kemet. Four, the Greeks, who wrote extensively concerning Ancient Kemet, described the inhabitants of Ancient Kemet as Black, wooly haired people, who were similar in skin tone to Ethiopians, which was a word for Black. Five, the Ancient Kemetic people depicted themselves, through their own artworks, as deeply melanated people. Diop went on to provide many other evidences and logical propositions to conclude and prove that Ancient Kemet was undoubtedly founded by Black Afrikans. And it was Ancient Kemet which ended up being the source of Western Civilization, as attested by the Greeks themselves.
The world has a funny and ironic way of working. The same science European “scholars” believed only they were capable of developing and practicing, is the same discipline which was used to prove and assert that the people they believed contributed the least to the world was the same people science proved built the foundation of European civilization. Elaborate scientific, religious, philosophical, and mathematical thought was born in Afrika thousands of years before the start of its wide circulation in Europe.
Diop used his knowledge of Chemistry, History, and Anthropology when he set out on his course to discover whether or not Ancient Kemet, situated in Afrika, was indeed a Black/Afrikan creation and development. Today, it sounds pretty common sensical that a civilization existing in Afrika would have been founded by Afrikans; yet during the life of Cheikh Anta Diop the false, racist, and delusional notion that Black people were inferior; belonged to a separate stock of “humanity” with their own original ancestors; were cursed; and later migrated into Ancient Kemet after it was already founded by Eurasians was unfortunately deeply ingrained inside the minds of students and teachers.
Diop’s revolutionary scholarship shook the world in the same manner that Muhammad Ali shook the world when he knocked down Sonny Liston. Except, instead of a fighter, Cheikh Anta Diop knocked down 200+ years of widely accepted racist ideas. Methodologically, what was revolutionary about Diop’s approach was that he used a multi-disciplinary approach to develop a well-rounded conclusion. Through these scientific areas of studies, Cheikh Anta Diop was able to confirm beyond reasonable doubt that Ancient Kemet, existing thousands of years before any European civilization, was indeed a Black/Afrikan established Civilization:
Anthropolgy: Observing mummies and skeletons belonging to the Ancient Kemet era, Diop analyzed their physical posture and recognized the physical or skeletal similarities to Afrikans living in West, Central, and South Afrika.
Biology: Due to the ability of melanin to be preserved for millions of years, Diop tested the level of melanin within the preserved bodies of mummies and found a level of melanin which could only be found in dark skinned populations.
Linguistics: Studying the language of Ancient Kemet, Diop found great similarites between the language of Kemetic people and the language of various peoples in West Afrika; particularly among the Wolof, his ethnic nation. Words like Ka, Ba, Sa, Min etc are familiar words in the lexicon of various Afrikan nations.
Cultural Studies: The recognition and observation of various cultural practices of Kemetic life and their similarities to the distinct cultural experiences and practices of various Afrikan people, such as: matriarchial social structures, style of dress, libation rituals, religious concepts, and artistic creations.
Historical Accounts: Examining the historical documentations of Ancient Greek writers who lived during the latter part of the Ancient Kemet era, Diop found many statements confirming the Black/Afrikan origin of Ancient Kemet. Particularly, Herodotus, who is known as the “Father of History” in Western scholarship, attested to the fact that the Ancient Kemetic people were indeed “dark skinned with wooly hair”; primary features of Black people.
Self-Representation: On the walls and inside the tombs of Ancient Kemet, the people, through painting, depicted themselves and their stories constantly and throughout. Diop observed that the Kemetic people often artistically depicted themselves with dark skin tones and physical features which uniquely represented Black/Afrikan people.
PART II
Born in Senegal, West Afrika on December 29, 1923, Cheikh Anta Diop was raised Muslim, in a family full of Islamic scholars who were also members of the Mouride Brotherhood; a famous Islamic collective based in West Afrika. At this time, Senegal was under the colonization of France and was in actuality then known as ‘French West Afrika’. Growing up, Diop attended traditional Islamic schools, which was based on writing in Ajami and Arabic, Islamic history, scientific achievements, and interpreting the Quran. The region in which he was born is famous throughout his country for producing Islamic scholars and oral historians.
According to Pathé Diagne, a close associate of Cheikh, Diop “had kept the essentials from a childhood deeply marked by a Murid education that professed an an autonomous black Islam, with its literature and poets in Wolof.”
In 1946, Diop traveled to Paris to study Philosophy, Chemistry, Physics, History, “Egyptology”, Linguistics, Anthropology, Economics, Sociology, and other fields of interest. Not only did he study physics, chemistry, history etc he also taught these subjects at the University level. During this time, his objective was to use his diverse studies to re-tell the narrative about the origins of Mankind, the contributions of various peoples to the development of Mankind, and how we veered off into a weird world of white supremacist rhetoric. Specifically, Diop was interested in the cultural, scientific, and artistic development of the human race. Where do our ideas concerning civilization and its development truly come from? What are the foundational ideas of human civilization? How did these ideas come about? Who came up with these ideas? How have different cultures around the world contributed to the development of the human race? Diop obtained his PHD in 1960.
Another one of Diop’s revolutionary theories; revolutionary in respect to the extensive scholarship which backed his theory, was the proposition that there was a cultural consistency across most of Afrika and this linked connection derived from the Nile Valley; the cradle of Afrikan Civilization, according to Diop. This connection, he believed, was greater than our unique, gifted differences. The remnants of ancient Egyptians civilization had been spread throughout Afrika, as the original inhabitants migrated throughout the continent. Due to the cultural connection between various Afrikan Nations and Ancient Kemet, Diop was able to propose the idea that Ancient Kemet, due to its cultural elements was distinctively Afrikan.
Cheikh Anta Diop completely reshaped the narrative or story concerning the development of Humanity. Not only was Afrika the birthplace of humanity, it was also the foundational source of much knowledge, innovation, ideas, and disciplines that spread throughout the world, particularly Europe. This included ideas concerning mathematics, governance, astronomy, writing, religion etc.
Cheikh did not simply state his beliefs, he provided scientific evidence, both historical and physiological, to affirm his theory. Not simply relying on imagination and faith; but on hard core material evidence. Using mummies, bone measurements, blood types etc; Diop not only revolutionized History he also revolutionized scientific research or the scientific method by fostering greater collaboration between different fields of science.
This scientifc proof rejected the idea that civilization, knowledge, and technologies spread from Europe to Afrika; instead it proved, through scientific enquiry, that the spread of civilization actually began in Afrika, particularly along the Nile valley, and, through Greece, spread to Europe. These findings, produced by Diop, have now become the norm in the scholarly world; yet has still not been fully adopted in mainstream media and public school education. It is no coincidence that the reluctance to fully adopt his ideas is tied to Western Europes continued domination of the of the worlds resources. Although the explicit narrative of white supremacy is no longer tolerated, the narrative is still implicit throughout society.
Diop’s greatest motivation was being able to provide a historical foundation to inspire Afrikans today in the arts and sciences. Which to a large degree, was successful. Nearly hundred years after Diop was born, it is no longer a question whether Ancient Kemet and all of its glory was established by Black/Afrikan people, and this fact has inspired millions of Afrikans today in our collective pursuit to return to our ancestral glory.
The foundation of every Afrikan nation, he believed, should stem from Ancient Kemet. As this is not only our greatest achievement, but one of the greatest achievements to humanity. As Greece and Rome is used as the foundation for Western civilization, or Ancient Persia used as the foundation of Iran, or the Arabic Golden Age for current Arab nation, or Ancient Chinese Civilization used for modern China; Diop passionately felt Ancient Kemet should be the basis of modern day Afrikan Civilization. Because it was OURS. And was one of the most beautiful testament to God and Mankind the world has ever known.
“The general problem confronting Afrikan history is this: how to reorganize effectively, through meaningful research, all of the fragments of the past into a single ancient epoch, a common origin which will re-establish Afrikan continuity…” - Cheikh Anta Diop
“The history of Africa will remain suspended in air and cannot be written correctly until African historians connect it with the history of Egypt” - Cheikh Anta Diop