Enlightened

The African Diaspora was created in the New World by the 16 million Africans who survived the Middle Passage, a 1-3 month dreadful journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Once in the New World the question was asked, “Did Africans lose everything?” After listening to Dr. Mario Beatty’s lecture the answer is clear, Africans did not lose everything, instead they combined what they knew and created a new way of life which is directly linked to their past.

When Dr. Beatty first asked the question, “Did Africans lose everything when they were taken from Africa and brought to the New World?” Many students believed that they did lose everything and they weren’t alone for Dr. Beatty let us know that many scholars also believed that Africans had lost everything. These scholars wrote books that had a narrative of lost and they believed that everything that Africans believed in came from the white man or the master, including Christianity. However Dr. Beatty was quick to counter their belief by explaining to us how the African people did not lose everything. He did this by asking those students who did not believe that Africans lost everything, what aspects of our lives are influenced by African culture. The students answered by saying that African culture influenced our; “music, food, dance, art, pride, intellect, faith, dialect, moral value and our innate sense of togetherness and survival.” By asking these questions, Dr. Beatty opened our eyes and allowed us to identify and recognize our culture, which was not an exact replica of Africa but is directly linked to Africa, “Something Torn and New.”

After he explained to us that Africa was alive and flourishing in our culture he began to go in to depth, by giving us specific examples of where you could still strongly see Africa’s influence, his prime example was the Maroon Societies. Maroon Societies are, “Self governing African society that recreates a sense of Africa.” They are located in Brazil, Jamaica, Haiti and even in the USA. I had known about the Maroon societies in Brazil, Jamaica and Haiti but I was not aware that there were also these societies in America but when I began to think about it, it is more than likely that Maroon societies do exist here it is just another aspect of our culture that we have failed to recognize... until now.

To ensure that we truly understood that African culture was our culture, just innovated but still directly linked to Africa, Dr. Beatty gave us more examples of where African culture can be seen in our everyday lives. His first example was aspects of the African social structure which were transferred to America, for example; “The Powerful Mother, and the role of the Chief, King and Minister” all these things have truly come from Africa and I feel like this lecture has been an eye opener for us all to really recognize who we are, where we come from and what an huge influence Africa, and our ancestors have had on this world. His second example was Science and Technology. He spoke about African Remedies and how people such as Sharla Fett who wrote “Working Cures” has transferred her knowledge into a book and by doing so has helped to enlighten those who were ignorant to things that Africans have known for centuries. His third example was music dance and language, which are in my opinion the easiest to recognize in our culture. Although society tries to undermine things such as Ebonics, I think it is time for us to embrace it in order to ensure the survival of our culture which has survived for over 400 years.

Dr. Carr taught us that Africa is the origin of all human knowledge and that Africans have not lost their culture, we just fail to recognize it in our everyday life. Dr. Gbadegesin taught us about some fundamental principles, the principles of Ma’at, which were created by Egyptians, which was an example of how Africa is the origin of all human knowledge. This week Dr. Beatty taught us just how this knowledge, our culture and these principles made it to the New World and the fact that they are still alive and flourishing today. He stated, “African culture has continued in a very complex way and we need a different view that makes the connection.” Dr. Beatty encourages us to really think about our culture and to make knowledgeable connections and when we do so to share what we believe, so that we can help to teach and enlighten other.