Submitted by Yardbroom

In a recent heated debate on Barbados Underground, a contributor in his or her efforts to denigrate Africa, used statements to suggest; there was no art there, nothing of note ever constructed, mentioned wars, people being killed, internecine fighting and corrupt governments.  The identity of the person is not important, they will not be named by me.  I will concentrate on the veracity of the statements or otherwise and in so doing draw on historical examples with evidence to support what I submit.

It is true there have been brutal wars in Africa and some corrupt governments, perhaps more than a fair share, but they are not exclusive to Africa…I seek not to condone but state truth.  There is no better place to start, than at the beginning.

A few black African families set out on a journey from around the Rift Valley in East Africa – the “precise” date is unknown but Homo Sapiens have been around for approx some 200,000 years – it was not a direct journey they meandered, but because of those families we are “all” here.  “Every” human being in the world, be they black, white, Indian, Chinese or of mixed race are descendants of those African black families.  It cannot be argued against, it is in our DNA.  If the world should last for 50 million more years, that established “fact” cannot change, “all” of us are Out Of Africa, yes the human race.

Now to matters more prosaic, Art, ” The Benin Bronzes are a collection of more than 1000 brass plaques from the Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Benin.  They were seized by a British force in the “Punative Expedition” of 1897 and given to the British foreign office.  Around 200 of these were then passed on to the British museum in London, while the remainder were divided between a variety of collections”…

“The seizure of the Bronzes led to a greater appreciation in Europe for African Culture.  Bronzes are now believed to have been cast in Benin since the thirteenth century, and some in the collection date from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.”  Wikipedia

For those not familiar with the geography, Nigeria includes the area of the Kingdom of Benin.  Would you believe it, between the 1950s and 1970s Nigeria “bought” back 50 of the bronzes.  Is it not ironic an African Government had to buy back part of its treasures that were “plundered” in the first instance…but that is colonialism.  The treasures were not only seized but the King of Benin had his palace burnt to the ground.

The point is, beautiful things came out of Africa, and as is often the case credit is not generally given, some people do not want to even believe they were done by Africans.  ( Google them on the internet sometime they are a joy to see)  African scholars must now travel to London to see these beautiful works out of context and location and very few people think consciously of Africa when they are being viewed.  Before I leave this subject I will allow you to ponder the words of Darshana Soni in reference to the Benin Bronzes:

“They symbolise a historical and social significance which the aesthetic and monetary value they hold in exile would never compensate.”

The history of black people did not start with slavery and they should never allow themselves to be seen through that narrow, limiting and constricting prism.  To those black Barbadians and others, not so black, but who are willing to admit publicly that they too are part of the whole.  You have nothing to be ashamed of…yes, go tell it to the children that is “History” unadorned truth.

Permit me to gently touch construction.  What was once called Rhodesia is now named Zimbabwe…unfortunately now a troubled land.  Why was the name changed from Rhodesia glorifying Cecil Rhodes 1853-1902 – founder of the diamond company De Beers – colonial empire builder.  “The Great Zimbabwe” or “stone buildings” is the name given to the stone ruins spread out over 722 ha area within the modern-day country of Zimbabwe, which itself is named after the ruins.  It is near the town of Masvingo, which before majority rule was called Fort Victoria.  The word “great” distinguishes the site from many hundred small ruins, known as Zimbabwes, spread across the Zimbabwe high veld.” Wikipedia

“It is believed “construction” started in the 11th century and continued for over 300 years” the ruins that survived are entirely built of stone.”  All Africans did not live in mud and grass huts, some obviously did and perhaps a great many, but people sometimes see most prominent what they want to see.

After the discovery of the ruins in “The Great Zimbabwe” “some” so called European scholars went into contortions trying to prove they were not built by black Africans.  They could not bring themselves to admit such a thing, they clouded their language and said they were not built by Sub-Saharian Africans, no one south of the Sahara could have built such buildings.  They really meant, not the very “black Africans”, they could not deny the Egyptians and the history of ancient Egypt which stood tall in North Africa, but enough was enough.

“However in 1929 Gertrude Caton-Thompson was the first to conclusively state that the site was indeed created by Africans.  Since then artifacts and radia carbon dating have proved that the oldest remains date back to the 1200s.” Wikipedia

We are what we are, like a tree whose leaves turn many colours in the Autumn, but the “roots” are the same.  We black people have no reason to excuse ourselves for being here.  We strode out across the world, we made beautiful things built edifices, made mistakes, sinned and were sinned against, but we are here, we are survivors and because we have survived there is a world for “all” of us.  That is not opinion or hyperbole it is a historical fact, it is in “our” DNA.  Tell it to the children it is “our” History “All” of us.