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Writings
of Runoko Rashidi
Introduction to African Civilizations /
African Presence in Early Asia /
Introduction to the Study of African Classical Civilizations
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Runoko
Rashidi Presents Slide Presentation
on The
Global African Presence
By Junious Ricardo Stanton
Researcher, historian, world traveler, and
lecturer, Runoko Rashidi came to Philadelphia as part of the
Praxis Institute's Afrikan Rites of Passage Systems 3rd
International Afrikan Rites of Passage Symposium. After spending
a week visiting various Philadelphia public middle and senior
high schools talking to students and sharing some of his 2,000
pictures and slides of African people and cultures from around
the world.
On Saturday June 7, Brother Rashidi
culminated his visit by giving a slide presentation at the
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and
Anthropology on the Global African Presence. The one and a half
hour visual presentation covered 5,000 years of history
documenting African genius and greatness the world over. Mr.
Rashidi's presentation started with a picture of a Egyptian
Pharaoh from the third dynasty then proceeded to show and
document African phenotypes throughout the continent of Africa,
Arabia, Asia, Australia, the Philippines, the Fuji Islands,
North and Central America.
Aside from his slide presentations,
Rashidi is also known for his collaborations with Dr.
Ivan Van Sertima as a contributor and editor of several
books including
Egypt Revisited,
African Presence in Early Asia
and
The African Presence
in Early America. He worked closely with Dr. Van
Sertima during the 1980's and then in the '90's he began
to travel and lecture all around the world. To date,
Rashidi has traveled to thirty-five countries and
lectured in twenty-six.
Much of Rashidi's presentation showed first
hand the African presence throughout Asia and the rest of the
world. "India has the largest concentration of Africans of
any place outside of Africa," explained Rashidi, whose
slides included actual photos of people throughout India,
Cambodia, and Viet Nam as well as pictures taken of temples and
art of black people in Russia, China and Japan.
He also has photographs of his trips to
Australia, the Philippines, the Fuji Islands, Mexico and parts
of South America. These pictures are of black-skinned, Africoid
people the world over. Rashidi has been studying and researching
for over thirty -five years. He is implacable in his love of
black people and his desire to see us overcome the legacy of
oppression not only in this hemisphere but all over the world.
"African people are oppressed in
America, the Caribbean, Central and South America, but they are
really oppressed in India and Australia. In Australia these
black men make up less than three percent of the population but
comprise over seventy percent of the prison population,"
Rashidi noted.
He closed his presentation with the
admonition, "All strong people emphasize their history, a
weak people do not. You can blame others for your victimization,
brothers and sisters, but for your salvation and liberation you
have to look to yourselves, and we can do that if we learn to
love each other all over again. The biggest thing to the
liberation of African people is to have an undying love for your
people. I believe in us and I believe we are walking on a
victorious path."
Baba Heru Tehuti Mesh the Executive
Director of the Praxis Institute's Rites of Passage
Systems sponsored Runoko Rashidi's week long visit to
Philadelphia. "This is part of our African Rites of
Passage Systems in celebration of our third annual
International African Rites of Passage Symposium. What
we're going to be doing over the next couple of years is
having speakers bureaus not only for community
presentations but also for in school presentations for
our students and youth. Bringing Baba Runoko was part of this
effort. He visited Sayre Middle School, Thomas Middle School,
Germantown High School, Elverson Middle School and Beber Middle
School. When He comes back next year we'll probably have him in
about twenty middle schools."
Explaining the scope of their program, Baba
Heru stated, "The Rites of Passage program is usually
seasonal. There are Rites of Discover Academies that lead up to
the Rites of Passage. Generally you can join a Rites of
Discovery Academy from January until about February or March.
Rites of Passage begins in around March and lasts through
August. All the students who were in Rites of Passage this
summer were already trained or prepared for it over the past
months. There is also our computer technology division which
runs from Penn State University teaching young people computer
repair. That program runs out of 4601 Market Street and it will
begin on June 24th."
The room was full for a rain-soaked Saturday
presentation. The program also included a very stimulating and informative walking tour of the
University of Pennsylvania's Khamitic Antiquities led by Prince
Badara Ndaw a student of the legendary trail blazing Senegalese
scholars Cheikh Anta Diop and Theophile Obenga. His explanations
gave a definite African-centered perspective on the exhibits,
the mummification and burial process displayed in the
museum.
So thorough and insightful was his presentation several
visitors who were not of African descent and who were not part
of the Praxis Institute's program joined our tour following him
and asking questions. The tour was so interesting and engaging
we overstayed the time and the guards had to ask the group to
wrap it up and leave the museum. Make liberal use also of
The
Global African Presence
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updated 5 February 2008 |
