Customer Reviews

Destruction of Black Civilization : Great Issues of a Race from 4500 B.C to 2000 A.D.

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This book has created within me a need to search more about African and African American history. This is the real stuff, the people, places and things beyond, Martin Luther King, George Washington Carver, and Marion Anderson, Montgomery Alabama, and the "60". No, disrespect to any of these but we are too often taught that these people, and things happened in a vacuum without any reference of what happened before them or at the same time.

The most important thing Dr. Williams does for all people is to answer the question of how did Africa get to the point it currently is in. He pulls back the covers to reveal that the rest of the world did not just pass Africa by, but actively saught to keep Africa back. First, Arabia then Western Europe and its satalites have been robbing and suppressing Africa for centuries.

This book is a must read, if you want to understand where we are now and how we got here.

The average reader of this book always misconstrues it's purpose. The purpose of this book is not to be descriptive, but prescriptive. In other words, The Destruction is not meant to serve solely as a history book. The book's purpose is to provide Afrikan people with an historical background into Afrikan-specific problems of the past, while at the same time, giving viable solutions to what Afrikan people should do to solve the same, lingering problems that slavery, colonialism, and neo-colonialism are very definitely at the root of. One of Mr. Williams' most brilliant observances is the politcal role that Arabs and Islam have played in and among Afrikan people. He cogently and correctly exposes how Afrika and her people have been historically duped and demeaned, not only by Europeans [Chrisitans] and Asians, but by Arabs also. This one issue has been the most talked about, but the least understood. To extract the true essence and point of book one need but look at its subtitle - "Great Issues of a Race from 4500 B.C. to 2000 A.D." That says it all right there. Chancellor Williams, visionary that he was, knew that by the start of the new millenium, Afrikan people would be suffering the same problems that Afrikan people of 4500 B.C. suffered unless . . . we took a step back and gave a critical, crucial, and correct analysis of the problems that confront us. At the end of the book, Williams offers what he refers to as "The Master Plan"; to give Afrikan people a blueprint toward true power and an understanding of who they are and who they still have to be in this world. An most excellent read that prompts you to move from theory to practice!!

Chancellor Williams does an excellent job of not only identifying the issues that we have endured as a people but he leaves you with something unique..... An Answer. How often have you read a book telling us about all the problems in Black America and abroad but then leave you with a feeling of " O.K. what do we do about it?" Well this book does just the opposite. You are left with viable solutions. A most-excellent book!!

This book without a doubt is one of the most carefully researched books I have ever read. I love the way that Mr. Williams carefully breaks down the history of the early African and traces them throughout their history. He gives proficient details about the accomplishments and failures of the early African people.
There is a reoccurring theme in this book. Indigenous Africans gain power and indigenous Africans lose power. That statement sums up this book briefly. Mr. Williams goes into detail to explain how a black Egypt could be viewed by the world as being white. The answers to this question can be found starting with chapter two entitled Ethiopia's Oldest Daughter: Egypt. In this chapter, he proposes "the mulatto problem" which I feel is key in understanding how the face of early Africa was changed. When other groups of people came in from the east the Africans allowed them to assimilate into their culture. There were many interracial unions, which allowed for a mixture of kin. This mixture of kin is what lead to the demise of the total black African state. Time and time of again people who did not have a natural birth right to any African state were allowed to do so based on marriage or kinship. This is why Mr. Williams study shows how indigenous African flip-flop control of power so frequently. Whenever indigenous African took control of Egypt the power was relinquish due to an interracial unions or kinship not to mention the violence and acts of war. Again, in many ways this scenario is a reoccurring them throughout this book. The early African inability to hold on to what was natural his has cause others to question whether he should be given any credit at all. Mr. Williams traces what happen and he gives excellent details.
The period of this book is from 4500 B.C. to 2000 A.D. At first glance, some might consider Chancellor Williams to be somewhat of a prophet. This book was published in 1987 yet Mr. Williams boldly took the contents of his study all the way back to the traceable beginning of civilization into the future. Why? When people are asked why do they study history one of the most popular answers is "So that we will not make the same mistakes of the past" In his study Mr. Williams found throughout history African/African-American people had been making the same basic mistakes. It was a trend that kept repeating its self for over 5000 years. Mr. Williams understood that this cycle could not be stop in one or two generations. This is why I feel that he had such a large time period. History is change over time and sadly Mr. Williams looked out and saw no change over time.
The structure of this book is very good because Mr. Williams gives detail into the workings of early African civilization. He talks about all of their early accomplishments and all of their failures. He gives the facts as he discovered them, but at the end, his does something different. He offers a plan to help aid all Africans and to help them break the cycle that is obviously holding them back.
This book strength is one of its weaknesses. This is a very detail study which is good because it gives us a very clear understanding as to what actually happen to the early Africans, but this book is written with so much detail that at times it beings to drag and gets a little dull. In my opinion, a book has to read as to keep the readers attention much like an action movie is designed to do and at times, this book could not keep my attention.

I first read this book about 20 years ago (I was 15). At the time I was starved for more than the typical drivel perpetrated against the youth in our public schools; e.g. Africans were little more than savage jungle dwellers which were freed from the bondage of their ignorance to be domesticated in America, and more assorted racist/supremacist nonesense.

Well, this book was just what I was looking for, but I was not emotionally prepared for it so I did not digest it completely at the time. 6 years later I sat down to read it again with greater success. To say that some of the other reviews appear to have been made by people that simply weren't prepared to absorb everything between the pages of the book would be fair. With that said, I highly recommend this book to anyone that desires to have a deeper understanding of many of the factors that have contributed to this current conundrum we know to be the state of the global African Diaspora and its descendents.

It's truly a great place to start. Professor Chancellor Williams is not a mere brilliant writer who has gathered data from the four corners of the world to his ivory tower in the rarified halls of academe. He actually spent 16 years in study and anthropological research digging for the facts with his own two hands. He didn't rely on the labor of other published researchers, though he did study them, he got his hands dirty to acquire first hand knowledge. This book is not the collected ruminations of yet another armchair activist wanna-be, but rather it is the culmination of over a decade and a half of information gathering with the expressed purpose of informing a race of people about who they really are and have been, and perhaps who they might be.

If you should choose to purchase this book, I congratulate you and advise you to prepare yourself for a very illuminating experience.

-Peace

The average reader of this book always misconstrues it's purpose. The purpose of this book is not to be descriptive, but prescriptive. In other words, The Destruction is not meant to serve solely as a history book. The book's purpose is to provide Afrikan people with an historical background into Afrikan-specific problems of the past, while at the same time, giving viable solutions to what Afrikan people should do to solve the same, lingering problems that slavery, colonialism, and neo-colonialism are very definitely at the root of. One of Mr. Williams' most brilliant observances is the politcal role that Arabs and Islam have played in and among Afrikan people. He cogently and correctly exposes how Afrika and her people have been historically duped and demeaned, not only by Europeans [Chrisitans] and Asians, but by Arabs also. This one issue has been the most talked about, but the least understood. To extract the true essence and point of book one need but look at its subtitle - "Great Issues of a Race from 4500 B.C. to 2000 A.D." That says it all right there. Chancellor Williams, visionary that he was, knew that by the start of the new millenium, Afrikan people would be suffering the same problems that Afrikan people of 4500 B.C. suffered unless . . . we took a step back and gave a critical, crucial, and correct analysis of the problems that confront us. At the end of the book, Williams offers what he refers to as "The Master Plan"; to give Afrikan people a blueprint toward true power and an understanding of who they are and who they still have to be in this world. An most excellent read that prompts you to move from theory to practice!!

It is unfortunate that the outstanding research by Chancellor Williams is hurt by the poor aesthetics of the book.

In the third edition, the small font makes the pages look like nothing but tedious text. In the body of the text are typographical errors, typesetting mistakes and the font jumps into another style for no apparent reason. All of those journalistic transgressions fall firmly on the desk of the publishing company, Third World Press.

The information contained in the nearly 350 pages is nothing less than eye opening. Williams follows the footprints - oral & written histories, archival information buried in government files and research at archaeological sites - that weren't obliterated by the Europeans and Arabs to uncover the majestic black African societies and the real events that led to their destruction.

Particularly impressive is the life of Queen Nzinga, a list and explanation of the African Traditional Constitutional and Customary Laws and the extraordinary leadership from the King-General, Shyaam the Great.

Williams briefly chronicles the travails he had in dealing with a variety of government entities and admits that health problems precluded him from writing a multi-volume set of the history. He also warns the reader that there are repititious parts in the book, but I found those sections more like a tool for reinforcing the major points of a topic.

This isn't history found in school texts, which makes the Destruction of Black Civilization a very important read. I find it sad that the errors in the current edition ultimately makes this landmark publication a very tough, if not impossible, read.

This book goes into depth to explain what happened to Africa. It talks about the psychological brainwashing of Africans, how they were conquered, what started the slave trade, how the great African civilizations fell. The book goes into great detail to the tragic invasions on African people.

The author also speaks about the black egyptians great civilization and how scientists and historians try to deny that ancient Egypt was black/African in origin. The author also talks about Songhay, Ghana, Mali, Kuba ect.

Excellent read for those interested in how a great continent of great people went to royalty to slaves and even sometimes losing the ability to even read and write and what must be done to unite black people. Good read for blacks and non blacks. The truth hurts and shall set your mind free.

Dr Chancellor Williams has presented a forthright and honest body of work so significant in the quest to understand our history that few even come close in comparision. To the Black man, it is essential reading. To the White man, it is a challenge to at least consider and reflect upon. To mankind, it is a cherished contribution to enlighted participation in civilized societies.

This book is mind-blowing. It tells the story of the greatest tragedy in human history. How could the cradle of civilization- the home to all culture and religion- fall into ruin as it has? Chancelor Williams will tell you.
The book is uplifting as it recounts the glorious history and culture of our blessed ancestors. But then the book is depressing and anguish causing as it tells the tale of our destruction, which was at the hands of European white "Ice People", but also with the connivance of our own kin, which makes the tale even sadder.
Only through education, knowlegdge and pride will we as a people reclaim our glorious birthright. You have to know the past to have a future.