THE DESTRUCTION OF "A Foundation and new approach to the history of our race . .. It was pioneering research into unexplored areas. This book is not only BLACK CIVILIZATION urgently needed now, but it will be read by future generations ." -John Hendrick Clarke, President GREAT ISSUES OF A RACE African Heritage Association FROM 4500 B.C. TO 2000 A.D. "This book should be the basis for all the so-called Black Studies programs. This is the basic text, necessary for Afrikan mental development in the last part of the 20th century." -Imamu Amiri Baraka, Chairman The Congress of African People "Williams' directness, forcefulness, and the partial warmth of an insider whose own destiny and that of his people is at stake has strong impact. . . . The Destruction of Black Civilization is a balanced appraisal of an ancient and contemporary African history -The Black World "From a well documented chapter on Egyptian civilization, Chancellor Williams moves on through material that deals with the impact of Judaism and Christianity on the African migrations. . . .His claim that Islam helped the slavery of Black Africa is untrue because he used white text rather than accounts of non-whites academia and the truth ." -Muhammad Speaks "This book is a contribution to the understanding of Black civilization and the way of life of African people. For once here is documentation put forth by a Black scholar. More books of this kind are needed." -Wiley Smith III, Associate Director Institute of African-American Affairs, Kent State University . .It is a comprehensive analysis of our past and a most perceptive and relevant analysis of our present condition as a people. -Andrew J. Billingsley, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Howard University "Chancellor Williams comes to us at a time when his message, if interpreted correctly, can help us to understand Why We Lose- why the Black African man rests firmly on the bottom of Africa and everywhere else the African and his descendants reside . His book needs little analysis. It needs to be read . His message is sharp and clear for everyone to see. . . . He says that the central problem of 30 million Black Americans in the United States is unity-that we must unite or perish." -The Afrocentric World Review BY CHANCELLOR WILLIAMS Third World Press $16.95 THE DESTRUCTION OF I BLACK I CIVILIZATION GREAT ISSUES OF A RACE FROM 4500 B.C. TO 2000 A.D. by Chancellor Williams Y Illustrated by Murry`N. DePillars WTP THIRD WORLD PRESS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS Copyright © 1974, 1987 by Chancellor Williams Dedication All rights reserved. To the Black youth of the Nineteen Sixties for Beginning the Second No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in Great Emancipation-the Liberation of Our Minds and thus Changing retrieval systems or transmitted in any form, by any the Course of History. means, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission of the publisher. Published by Third World Press, P.O. Box 19730, Chicago, IL 60619. ISBN: - - ,/ 0-88378-042-9 (cloth) Cover Illustration by Murry DePi Manufactured in the United State 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 16 Preface While this book is still a summary of more detailed research, it seemed necessary to amplify certain questions and the answers to them. The widespread interest in and study of the book is deeply appreciated and rewarding to the author, and the letters from the prisons have been most touching and revealing . As noted elsewhere, I am keenly aware of many repetitions throughout the work, unavoidable because of comparative methods used, and others for emphasis-which may have turned out to seem over- emphasis. Contents PREFACE MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 13 PARTI THE PREVIEW 17 Origin and Development of Study- 18 Origin and Steps in the Study-20 Scope of the Study-21 The White Arabs-21 The European Journey-24 The Field Studies-26 The Theoretical Framework- 33 The Scholars' War on the Blacks- 35 The New Approach- 39 CHAPTER I THE OVERVIEW 48 Nature Joins the Attack-49 Pre-Conditions for Progress-53 The Conquest of the Blacks by Religion - 56 10 The Destruction of Black Civilization Contents 11 CHAPTER II CHAPTER VI ETHIOPIA'S OLDEST DAUGHTER: EGYPT 59 THE AFRICAN CONSTITUTION: The Great Deception-59 BIRTH OF DEMOCRACY 161 The "External Influence" Myth-64 Origin of African Democracy- 162 The Mulatto Problem-71 Early Education-166 "Black Egypt Turning Brown and White"-80 The Earliest Judicial System- 168 "The City of a Hundred Gates"-87 The Ancient African Constitution-170 Thebes and the Role of Religion-90 The Fundamental Rights of African People-174 CHAPTER VII CHAPTER III THE SCATTERING OF THE PEOPLE EGYPT: THE RISE ROUTES TO DEATH AND DESTRUCTION 176 AND FALL OF BLACK CIVILIZATION 96 Migrations As Cultural Decline- 176 The "Blackout" in Review-98 White Scholars As Authorities- 179 Ethiopia South-104 The Saharan Tragedy- 183 The Third Period of Great Rulers-106 Ethnology and the Migrations-187 Ethiopia Recaptures Egypt- 114 The Imperialists with the Pen- 189 To the Caves, to the Swamps-190 CHAPTER IV CHAPTER VIII THE FIRST CATARACT: THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE: THE BLACK WORLD'S NEW BORDERLINE 118 CASE STUDIES BY STATES 195 The New Borderline of the Blacks-120 They Called it "Ghana"-195 Scraps from Pre-History- 121 Mali-201 The "Children of the Sun"-122 Songhay- 203 The Development of Writing-127 The Black Revival of Learning- 205 Christian Africa-135 The Black Muslim Triumph and the End-209 The Remarkable Mossi-209 CHAPTER V CHAPTER IX THE TWO THAT CARRIED ON 136 CENTRAL AFRICA: The Semitic Storm from Axum- 138 The Growth of States-140 EVIDENCE FROM A SMALL STATE 220 A "Decisive Battle of History"-142 The Kingdom of Kuba-220 Black Makuria- 148 The Political Organization-226 The Arab Hordes-150 The Government of Kuba-227 How Slavery Came to be The Religion of Kuba-229 Confined to Blacks Alone-151 History and Philosophy-232 And Now-Alwa-155 Shyaam the Great-233 The Surprise Kingdom-156 The King-General-236 12 The Destruction of Black Civilization CHAPTER X WHITE DEVILS FROM THE WEST 243 The Kongo-Angola Story-245 Queen Nzinga: the Unconquerable-259 CHAPTER XI THE LAST OF THE BLACK EMPIRES 273 The Empire Builders-277 The Great Mutota-278 PART II CHAPTER XII A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE 293 The Summing Up-293 Maps and Illustrations A View From the Bridge-301 A View of the Motherland-307 CHAPTER XIII The Ethiopian Empire (Map) 60 THE BLACK WORLD AT THE CROSSROADS 310 Menes, Ethiopian King of Kings 62 The Motherland at the Crossroads-313 The Arab Settlement at Fostat 68 Wanted: Leaders and African Ideologies-315 The Pyramids of Giza 70 The Black Unity Threat-317 The Great Sphinx 72 CHAPTER XIV Early North Africa (Map) 97 ORGANIZING A RACE FOR ACTION 321 Queen Hatshepsut 108 Wanted: All Prisoners to Enlist!-323 War Council at Napata 116 Black Separatists-Who Are They?-326 Queen Candace 119 The Direction of Civilization-328 Meroe 124 The Liberation of Our Minds-331 Aspalta, King of Kush 128 CHAPTER XV The Queen of Ethiopia at Meroe 130 THE SHAPE OF THINGS A "Decisive Battle of History 143 TO COME: A MASTER PLAN 341 "We Have Come" 177 How to Begin-And by Whom?-347 Empires of Mali and Songhay (Map) : . . . 196 Structure by Divisions-350 Kingdom of Kuba (Map) 221 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 361 The Kingdom of Ndongo and Matamba SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 365 in the 17th Century 244 Queen Nzinga of Matamba 259 INDEX 371 Queen Nzinga of Angola 262 13 PART I "What became of the Black People of Sumer?" the traveller asked the old man, "for ancient records show that the people of Sumer were Black. What happened to them?" "Ah," the old man sighed. "They lost their history, so they died." -A Sumer Legend The Preview THIS WORK IS A SUMMARY OF THE 16 YEARS OF RESEARCH and field studies which were intended for a 2-volume history of the African people. The writing plan for the two volumes would have required at least another five years, even if the serious impairment of my vision had not occurred. In the meantime there had developed an urgent need for the results of my research which concentrated on crucial areas in the history of the Blacks that had been either unknown, known and misinterpreted, or known but deliberately ignored. My own history classes were only a part of the rebellion against the only kind of text- books available. It was a general rebellion against the subtle message from even the most "liberal" white authors (and their Negro disciples): "You belong to a race ofnobodies. You have no worthwhile history to point to with pride." The Destruction of Black Civilization, therefore, could not wait another five years just to be more detailed, impressive, or massive in scope, for a reinterpretation of the history of the African race could be compressed into a small work for background reading, and so written that black John Doe, cab driver or laborer, and Jane Doe, housemaid or waitress, as well as college students and professors, could read and understand the message from their forefathers and foremothers. 17 18 The Destruction of Black Civilization 19 The Preview ORIGIN AND I was convinced that what troubled me and what I wanted to know, DEVELOPMENT OF STUDY was what troubled the black masses and what they wanted to know . We In a small town surrounded by cotton fields in South Carolina, a little wanted to know the whole truth, good and bad. For it would be a con- black boy in the fifth grade began to harass teachers, preachers, parents tinuing degradation of the African people if we simply destroyed the and grandparents with questions which none seemed able to answer: present system of racial lies embedded in world literature only to How is it that white folks have everything and we have nothing? replace it with glorified fiction based more on wishful thinking than on Slavery-how and why did we become their slaves in the first place? the labors of historical research. White children go to fine brick, stone and marble schools nine months a My inquiry, therefore, was concerned with Black Civilization alone- year while we go to a ramshackle old barn-like building only five-and-a- what the Blacks themselves achieved independently of either Europe or half months, then to the cotton fields. Why? Asia. This was an entirely new approach to the study of the history of In the sixth grade one of our teachers, Miss Alice Crossland, helped the Blacks. It meant, first of all, segregating traditional African institutions me to become a sales agent for the Crisis and the Norfolk Journal and from those later influenced by Islamic Asia and Christian Europe. In Guide. This was like turning on the floodlights of heaven; for the books this way, and in no other, we can determine what our heritage really was on our race, listed on the back pages of the Crisis, started me off on their and, instead of just talking about "identity," we shall know at last never-ending search, raising more questions as I progressed through precisely what purely African body of principles, value systems or school, questions whose answers were even more perplexing. For, philosophy of life gradually evolved from our own forefathers over having read everything about the African race that I could get my hands countless ages, and we will be able to develop an African ideology to on, I knew even before leaving high school that (1) The Land of the guide us onward. In other words, there can be no real identity with our Blacks was not only the "cradle of civilization" itself but that the Blacks heritage until we know what our heritage really is. It is all hidden in our were once the leading people on earth ; (2) that Egypt once was not only history, but we are ignorant of that history. We have been floating all-black, but the very name "Egypt" was derived from the Blacks ; (3) alone, basking blissfully in the sunny heritage of other peoples! and that the Blacks were the pioneers in the sciences, medicine, archi- tecture, writing, and were the first builders in stone, etc. My research was a quest for some specific answers to very, specific The big unanswered question, then, was what had happened? How questions. Some of these were: (1) How did all-black Egypt become all- was this highly advanced Black Civilization so completely destroyed that Egypt? (Note at this point that mulattoes were classified as white white its people, in our times and for some centuries past, have found in Egypt, all North Africa, and the Middle East-a fact that still confuses themselves not only behind the other peoples of the world, but as well, Blacks in the United States where the very opposite policy was adopted.) the color of their skin a sign of inferiority, bad luck, and the badge of the (2) What were some of the specific details in the process that so slave whether bond or free? And, since I had learned that whites were completely blotted out the achievements of the African race from the once enslaved as generally as any other race, how did it come about that annals of history-just how could this he done on such a universal scale? slavery was finally concentrated in Africa on Blacks only? In short, no (3) How and under what circumstances did Africans, among the very books or other studies in high school and college answered or gave clues first people to invent writing, lose this art almost completely? (4) Is there to answers to the problems that puzzled me the most. For no matter a single African race, one African people? (5) if we are one race or one what the factual data were, all the books written about Blacks by their people, how do you explain the numerous languages, cultural varieties conquerors reflected the conquerors viewpoints. Nothing else should have been expected. And, considering how thorough-going was the and tribal groupings? (6) Since, as it seemed to me there is far more disunity, self-hatred and mutual antagonisms among Blacks than any capture of the minds of the Blacks, it is really not surprising that so many other people, is there a historical explanation for this? (7) And how, in Negro scholars still faithfully follow in the footsteps of their white puzzling contrast, is the undying love of Blacks for their Europeans and masters. Asian conquerors and enslavers explained?