From http://www.cwo.com/~lucumi/timbuktu.html
THE GLOBAL AFRICAN COMMUNITY
H I S T O R Y N O T E S
The Sankore Mosque in Timbuktu
THE GREAT UNIVERSITY OF SANKORE AT TIMBUKTU
A BRIEF NOTE
By RUNOKO RASHIDI
DEDICATED TO DR. ADELAIDE SANFORD,
DR. ASA G. HILLIARD III & DR. PATRICIA McGRAW
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"Until the lion has his historian, the hunter will always be a hero." --African Proverb
Timbuktu was more than merely a great intellectual nucleus of the West African civilizations of Ghana, Mali and Songhai--it was one of the most splendid scientific centers of the time period corresponding to the European Medieval and Renaissance eras. Indeed, under the reign of Askia Muhammad I, also known as Askia the Great, it was celebrated as one of the world's most significant seats of learning. Among it most formidable scholars, professors and lecturers were Ahmed Baba--a highly distinguished historian frequently quoted in the Tarikh-es-Sudan and other works.
The collection of ancient manuscripts at the University of Sankore at Timbuktu leaves us in no doubt about the magnificence of the institution and permits us to reconstruct this side of her past in fairly intimate details. In testament to its glory, for example, an old West African proverb states that, "Salt comes from the north, gold from the south, and silver from the country of the white men, but the word of God and the treasures of wisdom are only to be found in Timbuktu."
Once, an aspirant to the throne of the mighty Songhai Empire collected an army with which to dispute the reigning dynasty. Pausing at Timbuktu, and have toured the university campus, visited the library, met the faculty and conversed with the Head Chancellor of the University of Sankore, the prince requested the Chancellor to write a formal letter to his rival to the throne, saying that he, "Bankouri, renounced the throne that he might follow the life of a student in this city of books."
SOURCES:
African Glory, by J.C. DeGraft-Johnson
Timbuctoo the Mysterious, by Felix Dubois
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From http://www.cwo.com/~lucumi/india3.html
Santal Tribal Woman
LOOKING AT INDIA THROUGH AFRICAN EYES
By RUNOKO RASHIDI
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On April 13, 1999 I returned from a successful tour of India entitled "Looking at India through African Eyes." It was a sixteen day educational tour designed to explore the historical, cultural, social and anthropological components of ancient and modern India from our own perspective--an African perspective. The tour was coordinated by Allen Travel Service--an African-American travel service based in Washington, D.C. that handled all of our travel needs. It was my first tour and my third trip to India overall. The tour was of historic significance--being the first such trip planned and actually carried out. On the tour, accompanied by numerous local people and sixteen African-American brothers and sisters (all experienced travelers), we visited many of the significant temples, tombs, castles, palaces, museums and assorted great monuments in India, including the Taj Majal (reputedly built out of grief for an Ethiopian woman) and described as "poetry in marble," Amber Fort and the Palace of the Winds, the National Museum in New Delhi, the massive Konarak temple in Orissa, the Buddhist temple caves at Ajanta and the magnificent colossal rock cut temples at Ellora. In Patna, in Bihar, we stood on the banks of the Ganges River. We visited the major cities of Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Patna, Calcutta, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Trivandrum, Mumbai, Aurangabad and the abandoned city of Fatehpur Sikri.
Overall the people of India were kind and considerate towards us. The Black people of India themselves (the original inhabitants of the land) were wonderful to us and embraced us as family. Among the Black folk we interacted with were the Dom, Santals, Mundas, Dravidians, Dalits and Adivasis (Tribals). We visited them in their homes, offices and villages, rural communities and urban slums, university and academic settings. During our travels we encountered a mosaic of Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Parsis, Sikhs and Animists. Some of them engaged in the religious practices of our ancient African foreparents. Sometimes the sense of oneness and community seemed almost mystical and magical. Most of the time the spiritual connections between us werr also tangible. Everywhere we went we reestablished bonds of brotherhood, sisterhood and familyhood. The individuals in our group were treated like visiting dignitaries, as ambassadors, and I was treated like a prince. At times it was overwhelming.
We were guests of honor at numerous receptions, cultural programs and educational forums, many of whom were sponsored or initiated by the publication Dalit Voice: The Voice of the Persecuted Nationalities Denied Human Rights, founded and edited by V.T. Rajshekar. Everywhere the Ancestors and Great Ones were with us. At a major reception in New Delhi the keynote speaker, Union Health Minister Dalit Ezhilmalai, focused on the life of Malcolm X. At a program in Bhubaneswar the moderator, Dr. Radhakant Nayak, who reminded us of John Henrik Clarke, closed the afternoon with a stirring recital of Claude McKay's glorious poem of resistance "If We Must Die!" In Trivandrum I was presented with three ceremonial Ankhs made of coconut shell and adorned with red, black and green beads. At an airport reception we were greeted with shouts of "Free Mumia Abu-Jamal!"
We were hosted by Black youth groups who told of their life stories and village origins, their hopes, their dreams and aspirations. We were entertained by scores of singers and drummers and dancers. We met with Black women's groups who performed skits portraying family life and a vibrant new spirit of resistance to domestic violence and centuries-old oppression. We visited some of the most downtrodden communities on earth, witnessed the miseries of the Black Untouchables of India and were guests on university campuses. In a program in Chennai we were hosted by Bishop Ezra Sargunam of the Evangelical Church of India where I was the guest speaker with Dr. K. Ponmudy, a major Dravidian scholar, in a program designed to address the Black and Dravidian movements.
In Orissa I saw and photographed the blackest human beings I've ever seen. In fact, it was my impression that the blackest people were here the most highly esteemed and considered better than the others who were not so dark! In one city, at an elaborate and heartfelt public ceremony, we presented school supplies to the entire student body of an aspiring educational institution followed by cash contributions for the continuation of the work. We saw ourselves not merely as tourists but at visiting family members come to try to make things better.
"Looking at India through African Eyes" was a resounding success and an incredible high. I came away from India convinced that African people around the world are on the rise and that there is a revolution going on in the hearts, souls and minds of Black people everywhere. It was a great triumph and for me personally clearly only the the first in a series of tours to India and other sojourns with African people around the world. Africans Unite!
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Also see following:
HISTORY NOTES: CASTE AND RACE IN INDIA
LECTURE NOTES: THE AFRICAN PRESENCE IN INDIA - A PHOTO ESSAY
HISTORY NOTES: THE AFRICAN PRESENCE IN INDIAN ANTIQUITY
NOTES FROM A BROTHER IN INDIA: HISTORY AND HERITAGE
NOTES FROM A BROTHER IN INDIA: THE BIGOTRY OF HINDUS WITH REGARD TO SKIN COLOUR
HISTORY NOTES: DR. CHEIKH ANTA DIOP AND THE CULTURAL ROOTS OF THE DALITS: INDIA'S BLACK UNTOUCHABLES
NOTES FROM A BROTHER IN INDIA: BIGOTRY OF HINDUS WITH REGARD TO SKIN COLOUR & HISTORY AND HERITAGE
HISTORY NOTES: A PLEA FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AT THE WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM
HISTORY NOTES: PAN-AFRICANISM IN SOUTH ASIA
HISTORY NOTES: THE BLACKS OF THE EAST BENGAL: A NATIVE'S PERSPECTIVE
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http://inventors.about.com/od/blackinventors/a/Black_History.htm
http://raceandhistory.com/selfnews/viewnews.cgi?newsid1056550527,73033,.shtml
http://negroartist.com/negro%20artist/presence%20africaine/index.htm
http://www.raceandhistory.com/historicalviews/2007/1306.html
http://www.trinicenter.com/FirstChinese.htm
http://www.trinicenter.com/articles/1949.html
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