THE GLOBAL AFRICAN COMMUNITY
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THE GLOBAL AFRICAN PRESENCE:
ABSTRACT OF A SLIDE-PRESENTATION LECTURE
The Global African Presence is a slide-presentation lecture focusing on the African presence around the world, ancient and modern, but with an emphasis on antiquity. It examines the African origins and evolution of humanity, the African origins of and presence in classical civilizations, and the present locations and conditions of African people. It is a broad ranging and lucid presentation of sixty to ninety minutes duration. It is Pan-African in character and approach, and features Runoko Rashidi's very best visuals.
When we speak of the African presence globally we are referring to all of the Black populations that have peopled the planet within both the prehistoric and historic periods. We are using the words African and Black interchangeably, as synonyms. This includes Africans as the first modern humans, the subsequent migrations and movements of African people, and the later involuntary arrival of African people around the world as the result of enslavement.
The presentation seeks to help identify where African people are and have been, to continue to change the way Africans are viewed in the world, and to help reunite a family of people that has been separated far too long. The presentation is further unique in that it is significantly based on recent first-hand travel experiences and observations in Zimbabwe and Namibia, Thailand and Cambodia, India and Fiji, Australia and the Netherlands, Guyana and Trinidad, Barbados and Curacao, Russia and Costa Rica. It will deal with such themes as ethnicity, racial groupings and human migrations and will synthesize nearly three decades of studies in anthropology, ethnology, history, archaeology, and photojournalism.
The major focus will obviously be Africa at the center, but a central thrust will be towards illustrating those Africans that have been and are now scattered outside of the continent and their relationships to it. It will also include a fitting, though brief tribute to those African Ancestors who have paved the way in this field of scholarship including J.A. Rogers, Drusilla Dunjee Houston, George Wells Parker, Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins, Cheikh Anta Diop, John G. Jackson, Chancellor Williams, and John Henrik Clarke.
To schedule lectures, for information on educational tours, to purchase audio and video tapes Runoko Rashidi can be easily reached via the Internet at runoko@yahoo.com or call Runoko at (210) 648-5178. You may write Runoko at Runoko Rashidi, Box 201662, San Antonio, Texas 78220.
Copyright © 1998 Runoko Rashidi. All rights reserved.
Revised: September 11, 2002.
Webpage design: Kenneth Ritchards