Commentary
By Clement Apaak, Coquitlam, Canada.
For those who have not followed my work, in person, in print, and over my radio show on CJSF 90.1FM, I am a human rights activist and a strong Pan-Africanist. I believe it is my responsibility to expose the stupidity that serves as the basis for the evil of racism against Blacks. This evil is everywhere, even amongst so-called academics like Dr. Watson, the American scientist who was a key member of the team that decoded the human genome.
While his scientific work showed that humans were equal, and that the basis for intelligence and creativity was neither genetic, nor racial, but driven by the environment and context in which one is born, Dr. Watson recently revealed his racist side, which was a monumental contradiction to his own work as a respected scientist. Watson made comments to the effect that African/Black people were less intelligent than white people.
Unfortunately, there are many more people like Dr. Watson than most of us could imagine. The recent re-emergence of the Noose, and the case of the Gina six in the US, as well as recent cases of racial profiling in both the public and private sectors of Canada are but a few examples in the last few months in North America.
The situation is not any better in Europe. Many black people have been attacked, some killed because they are black in Europe. Racism was very clear when the party that won the most seats in the recent Swiss election had promotional material in which black people were depicted as hellish. In every part of the world, including some parts of Africa itself, black people are still perceived by some, erroneously, as inferior, less intelligent, lazy, and unable to innovate, although the science by Dr. Watson, and empirical truth say the opposite.
Contrary to popular perceptions that Africa and black people have nothing positive to contribute and have not contributed to our world and its civilizations, the facts from archaeology, anthropology, art, music, dance, linguistics and now DNA all show that Africa is the continent that has given the most and continues to give to the world and our humanity.
In fact, the single most important gift of Africa and Africans to the world is the human race itself. So, next time you hear someone say Mother Africa, be aware that it also includes you as an offspring of the motherland of humanity; if it were not for Mother Africa, you will not be in existence. Africa is the home and origin of the human race.
Mainstream media, and academia are not going to tell you of your “African Connection”, or that your ancestors between 1.5 million and 100,000 years ago were African, except when you take a class in Archaeology. The differences in skin colour and facial morphology, such as the lips and the nose, are external adaptations to different environments, and at best superficial. All humans have emotions; fall in love, cry, laugh, and the list goes on and on.
In many ways the essence of racism against African/Black people by those who have a lighter skin, is foolish, and is based on ignorance of human history. DNA analysis of DNA humans inherit from their mothers shows that all the women of the world, regardless of their skin colour, can be traced to one woman and that the Black woman is closer to the common grand ancestral mother of all humans.
In an earlier article I co-authored for the Afro-News on the contributions of Africa and Africans to our common humanity, the focus was on the African contribution to Christian Europe. In that write up, we mentioned that: a Black Emperor of Rome, Septimus Severus rebuilt the Hadrian Wall and gave the people of the then Britain peace for 100 years; Princess Charlotte Sophia, an African-Portuguese royal, married England’s King George III (1738-1820), and her line gave us Queen Victoria, and her descendants Queen Elizabeth, and grandsons William and Harry.
I want to focus the rest of this article on the African contribution to the Muslim world, where, like the Christian world, people of recent African origin face the same kinds of discrimination, racism and abuse by some of their Arab brothers and sisters.
Africa and Africans traded with Arabs and the Muslim world as equal partners way before the arrival of European colonizers. In addition, Africans provided sanctuary for early Muslims, showing that Muslims and Christians are not enemies. Ethiopia, the oldest Christian Kingdom in the world since its King (Negus), Ezana become Christian in the 4th Century A.D., was where early Islam was helped to blossom.
It has been suggested that the man who re-built the Ka`ba in Mecca in 608 A.D. was an Aksumite from Ethiopia. His name was Bakum, and he used wood retrieved from a shipwreck to build it. In 615, at the time of the Prophet Muhammad’s mission, Ethiopians were involved in diplomatic activity with the Quraysh tribe, the mercantile rulers of Mecca. The reigning King or najashi of Ethiopia, whom the Arab chroniclers refer to as Ashama ibn Abjar offered asylum to Muslim political exiles.
The first hijra, or flight, in the 5th year of Muhammad’s mission (615), consisted of 11 men and 4 women. The second had over 100 Muslims, 83 of them men, they did not all return until 628. The najashi, in spite of gifts and representations from the Quraysh, refused to hand the Muslims over. At different times, many famous names in Islam were to seek the najashi’s hospitality, including Muhammad’s daughter Ruqayya, and two of his future wives, Umm Habiba and Umm Salama or Hind.
It was the Ethiopian Black King himself who contracted the marriage of Umm Habiba to Muhammad, which occurred when she returned in 628. Another famous exile was `Uthman b. Affan, who eventually became khalifa in 644. The conqueror of Egypt, `Amr ibn al-Asi, was actually received into Islam, if one credits the tradition by the najashi acting on behalf of the Prophet. Because of this kindness to his followers, Muhammad exempted Ethiopia from the jihad or holy war of Islam.
Therefore, no matter your current religion or ethnicity, next time you see an African/Black person, be respectful, for you are related to that person, have always been related and will always be. This is why I say we are all African; Mother Africa is the mother of all humanity, not just black people.
Clement Apaak(photo) is a very popular public speaker, DJ and MC. He is a motivational speaker and speaks on various subjects including on Africa, Black History, Human Rights and Peace. He is the producer and host of the African Connection radio show on CJSF 90.1FM every Saturday from 2-4 pm. Among his many titles, he is a member of the SFU Board of Governors and is the Founder of Canadian Students for Darfur. Contact him at caapaak@yahoo.ca or catch him on 90.1FM (www.cjsf.ca) or drop by his weekly Free reggae dance party at Chicago Night Club in New West Minster, Canada.
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