Home Architecture Talk
Why are people like rickenbanger so ignorant about black historty?
". By the way, the "great Africa" idea is what's known as revisionist history. It's written to fit a current political ideal and not factual history." ahahhahaha Time for some real history but some people who lived during those days. \\\ Since then we have learned much, and we know today that the beautiful turbans and clothes of the Sudanese folk were already used in Africa before Muhammad was even born or before Ethiopian culture reached inner Africa. Since then we have learned that the peculiar organization of the Sudanese states existed long before Islam and that all of the art of building and education, of city organization and handwork in ***** Africa, were thousands of years older than those of Middle Europe. Leo Frobenius "When they [the first European navigators of the end of the Middle Ages] arrived in the Gulf of Guinea and landed at Vaida, the captains were astonished to find the streets well cared for, bordered for several leagues in length by two rows of trees; for many days they passed through a country of magnificent fields, a country inhabited by men clad in brilliant costumes, the stuff of which they had woven themselves! More to the South in the Kingdom of Congo, a swarming crowd dressed in silk and velvet; great states well ordered, and even to the smallest details, powerful sovereigns, rich industries, -- civilized to the marrow of their bones. And the condition of the countries on the eastern coasts -- Mozambique, for example -- was quite the same. I have seen in no part of Africa the Negroes worshipping a fetish. The idea of the'barbarous *****' is a European invention which has consequently prevailed in Europe until the beginning of this century. Leo Frobenius "Among the kingdoms of the rulers of the world, only Syria is more beautiful. Its inhabitants are rich and live comfortably."1 ~Mahmud Ka'ti, medieval Syrian scholar on Mali "…the Negroes (of Mali) are of all peoples those who most abhor injustice…Complete and general safety one enjoys throughout the land." ~Ibn Battuta, 14th century Arab who traveled to China, India, the Swahili Coast of Africa, North Africa, the Mid East, and finally West Africa2 "European travelers in the sixteenth century were impressed with the African kingdoms of Timbuktu and Mali, already stable and organized at a time when European states were just beginning to develop into the modern nation."3 ~Howard Zinn, famous modern day historian best known for his People's History of the United States Ghana (AD 5th-13th) A rich and powerful gold kingdom. "He is the richest sovereign on Earth." -Ibn Hawkel, 10th century North African geographer on Ghana's king Mali (AD 13th-15th) An empire larger than Western Europe. Its prosperity and morality gave the empire great international prestige. "It's inhabitants are rich and live comfortably." -Mahmud Kati, famous medieval Syrian scholar Songhay (AD 11th-17th) An Empire larger than Mali that was renowned for its scholarly culture and complex government. "(Surpassed) all other Negroes in wit, civility, and industry." -Leo Africanuas, 16th Century Spanish Moor Kongo (AD 14th-17th) A provincial government with an advanced system of checks and balances. Zimbabwe (AD 10th-15th) A feudal kingdom that has obtained fame for its large stone structures. Swahili Coast A very advanced merchant civilization that traded with India, China, the Mid East, the interior of Africa, and North Africa. Bornu (AD 13th-17th) One of the longest lasting kingdoms of all time. Renowned and feared for its armored knights and cavalry. Benin (AD 13th-19th) A highly organized forest kingdom that had much direct interaction with the first Portuguese merchants. They are renowned for their naturalistic art. Ethiopia, in the Middle ages A highly advanced Christian civilization known for its military might, close relationship with the Portuguese and magnificent architecture. Ancient Nubia One of the world's most powerful ancient kingdoms; it halted the Roman, Greek, Assyrian, and Persian conquerors- it even ruled over Egypt for a time. It built pyramids, palaces, and other great architectural feats. It also developed its own written language. Ancient Aksum (Ethiopia) One of the richest and most powerful kingdoms in ancient times; it even ruled over Southern Arabia for several centuries. It is known for inventing the first castle and developing its own written language. The Largest structure in the 4th century was found in Ethiopia http://www.endingstereotypesforamerica.org/image011.jpg The first castle in the world can be found in Ethiopia http://www.endingstereotypesforamerica.org/image005.jpg The Greek historian Lucian (125?-90) wrote that the Ethiopians (name for all black people), "Being in all else wiser than other men," invented astrology and taught it to the Egyptians. Aristotle (398-332BC) believed that, "The races that live in…. Europe are full of courage and passion but somewhat lacking in skill and brain power Many Arabs in the Middle Ages believed they were superior mentally to all people--they showed contempt for lighter and darker skinned people--although they seemingly held blacks in higher esteem than whites. The Muslim scholar Sa'id al-Andalusi wrote: "Whites lack keenness of understanding and clarity of intelligence, and are overcome by ignorance and dullness, lack of discernment, and stupidity. These Negroes...are people who have good laws."16 Donald Levine and Almeida described the Ethiopians as "very amenable to reason and justice…intelligent and good natured…mild, gentle, kind…"17 The memory power of Africans struck one European merchant as "beyond what is easy to image. John Hunwick, a history Professor at Northwestern wrote: "In India Black African slaves or freedmen played a considerable role, not merely as soldiers but also as administrators and rulers, in a number of states from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century "For the Ethiopians (Greek and Roman name for all Negroid people) are said to be the justest men and for that reason the gods leave their abode frequently to visit them."1 -Lactantius Placidus, a 6th century AD grammarian "The Negroes are of all peoples those who most abhor injustice…Complete and general safety one enjoys throughout the land (Mali Empire in West Africa)."2 Ibn Battua, 14th century Arab scholar who had traveled to China, India, East Africa, North Africa, and finally Mali. tobaeus recorded that the Ethiopians do not need doors on their homes and do not steal the possessions that their neighbors leave in the street. The Asian Mongols also believed that whites were innately inferior. Between 1237 and 1242 the Mongols ruled over Russia and much of central Europe. They grew wealthy selling white slaves. In the Middle Ages Russians and other Slavic people were the primary source of slaves in the Mediterranean world--The word slave even derives from the word Slav.13 To the surprise of many, there can be little doubt that black people in the Mid-East and Egypt owned white slaves. osa recorded that a people near Zimbabwe, "…are great traders."26 The "sophistication," of the West African forest people's agricultural, recorded Iliffe, "impressed fifteenth-century European
Public Comments
- What is your point? How is having wet dreams about how great Africa was thousands of years ago going to solve the fact that Africa is a starving, poor, failed continent?
- ahh my head hurts
- Preach brother!
