In this episode, Black history educator Brittany Wilkins explores Cheik Anta Diop's early life and education, tracing the roots of his intellectual journey. From his doctoral thesis, "Nations nègres et culture," to his extensive research on African contributions to science and civilization, Diop's work has left an enduring impact on the fields of history, anthropology, and Egyptology. His scholarship has played a pivotal role in reshaping the narrative surrounding ancient Egypt and the contributions of African civilizations to world history.
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Opening show quote:
When I was studying history, we were almost a spontaneous generation. We were told that the tall Negro wasn't indigenous to Africa. What interested me was finding the humble path to our distant ancestors. When I came across Egypt as my contemporaries know, I was troubled it didn’t interest me in terms of what I was looking for. The thread, the continuity, the restoration of historic awareness interested me. The historic awareness is the cement which brings a people together.
Introduction:
Welcome to Season 2 of The Coin Black History on the Other Side podcast. I'm your host, Brittany Wilkins—an author, black history educator, and founder of Historians Connect. As we celebrate the first fruits, we pay homage to the ancestors who dedicated their lives to service and social achievement, fostering historic awareness of the black race. Today, on his birthday, we honor the remarkable Cheik Anta Diop.
Who is Cheik Anta Diop?
Born on December 29, 1923, in the village of Thiaytou, Cheik Anta Diop was a prominent Senegalese historian, anthropologist, physicist, and politician. Despite enduring early childhood trauma with the loss of his father just 4 days after his birth, Cheik, the sole survivor among his siblings, was raised by his strong-minded and intelligent mother, Sokhna Maguette. Recognizing the value of education, she sent him to Diourbel school, a high school where he studied mathematics and philosophy. After earning his baccalaureate, he ventured abroad to France, enrolling in Sorbonne University in Paris, where he delved into philosophy, mathematics, and general and applied chemistry.
During his university years, Diop founded the African Democratic Assembly of Students in France, an organization that served as a resource to mentor, guide, and support students adapting to their new environment. In 1951, he led a demonstration advocating for the release of imprisoned individuals in Cote d'Ivoire. Diop also brought African linguists to France, delivering a mathematics lecture in Wolof and disseminating nuclear physics vocabulary in the same language.
Cheik Anta Diop's Accomplishments:
Diop dedicated his life to promoting the idea of African identity and challenging Eurocentric views of African history and civilization. His seminal work, "Nation Nègre et Culture," challenged Eurocentric perspectives on Ancient Egypt, spreading across universities in Paris and Africa. After defending his thesis, Diop returned to Africa in 1960, where he was appointed to the IFAN African Institute of Basic Research. His research on Malian archaeology and the establishment of a cutting-edge carbon dating facility at Dakar University marked significant advancements in African scientific capabilities.
Diop's carbon dating work played a pivotal role in dispelling the notion that Africans in Egypt were nonexistent. He conducted radiocarbon dating on ancient Egyptian tombs and performed melanin dosage tests on royal mummies, confirming their pigmentation levels. His multidisciplinary approach illuminated the black race's history in his book, "The African Origin of Civilization," fueled by his passion for pan-Africanism.
Beyond Africa, Diop traveled to the U.S., where former Mayor of Atlanta Andrew Young declared a day as Cheik Anta Diop Day and awarded him an honorary degree from Morehouse College on April 4, 1985.
As we reflect on the life of this great African thinker, let's celebrate Cheik Anta Diop as:
- A great African
- Life giver
- One of moral elegance
- A great thinker
- Intellectually curious
- A man of ideas
- Militant of freedom
- Pharaoh of knowledge
Closing show quote:
In closing, I leave you with this quote to ponder: "One must keep going forward. One cannot stop research and knowledge. One always needs a large reserve of knowledge to enable man to progress."
Source: Kemityu Documentary