Customer Reviews

Classical Africa

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Molefi Asante (born 1942) is an African-American scholar, historian, and philosopher, who is currently Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Temple University, where he founded the first Ph.D. program in African American Studies. He is also widely credited with being the founder of the "Afrocentricity" school of thought. (See his Afrocentric Idea Revised, for example.)

Here are some quotations from the book:

"The first women leaders that we know about were among the Africans of Nubia. No other ancient civilization can boast of as many queens as Nubia. At one time, scholars thought that Nubia had been ruled by queens only." (Pg. 64)
"For some reason that I do not understand, some historians in the past tried to show that the Egyptians and others interacted with the Axumites without ever going through or into any other part of Africa. On your map, trace a line from Axum to Kemet with your finger. Do you pass through Nubia? Can you get to Kemet without going through Nubia? It seems impossible and illogical to me." (Pg. 79)
"There were no written scriptures like the Bible or the Koran. The religion of Ghana was passed down from one generation to the next. Each family had one person who learned the traditions, rituals, and history. That person was important because he or she was responsible for passing all the religious information and beliefs down to others in the family." (Pg. 103)

Molefi Asante has done it again with this book. This book is a good introduction to Africa. He gives the main points of each area. He gives questions to make you think about what you've read. The pictures and the maps area absolutely beautiful. This is a book that you should have in your library. If you don't then it's your loss!