THE BLACK MAN
FIRST CHAPTER.
“That time changes all things” is a saying so old and so true as to admit
of no argument. It is exemplified in so many different ways as to require
no comment, and yet when we hear the phrase used glibly and thoughtlessly,
every day, it is but natural to wonder if the one who uses it realizes
what he is saying, or rather, if he knows what those few commonplace words
mean, when used to form that sentence.
It is a foregone conclusion that he does not. He never stopped, “he, of
this enlightened age, I mean,” long enough to examine even a little of the
abundance of indisputable proof that the saying “Time changes all things”
applies to things and conditions, seldom if ever present, to his own
narrow mind, and far away and beyond even his meaner and low prejudiced
influence. If he did, his retrospective mood, would, before carrying him
back to the very beginning, suffer something of a shock, and his attitude
would change. Instead of delighting in history, modern, medieval and[Pg 16]
ancient, his attitude would change so noticeably that an observer would
imagine that his only interest was in tearing down and falsifying facts,
and concealing records that he could not falsify. When we hear or read the
sayings of some of our “misnamed” great men, but in reality disgustingly
conspicuous public figures, we are fully justified in making the charge of
falsifying and concealing such facts as they are not really ignorant of.
One of these conspicuous public characters delights in making the
assertion that the Hamite Ethiopian or Negro never amounted to anything,
or possessed anything, never occupied an eminence, save to which the
Semitic or white man had dragged or driven him up to. If ignorance alone
was responsible for this glaring falsehood, a great deal of sympathy would
go out to those who make the statement as well as those who believe it to
be true because of their ignorance. As harsh as it may seem sympathy would
be wasted for a great deal of the self asserted enlightenment of today is
but egotism. Much of the so-called wisdom is self praise for successfully
concealing, or at least surrounding historical facts with such mystery as
to place the descendants of Shem upon an eminence which is not justly his
and makes him in his own[Pg 17] opinion appear much larger than what he really
is. And yet with all the egotism, some knowledge of the true origin of
mankind exists, and it is this knowledge that causes the fasifying and
hiding as much as possible the true historical records, especially of the
black man. It cannot be said that the learned historical writers, the
great Divines, Theological students and lecturers of today are ignorant of
the history of Ham, the son of Noah, and his descendants, such as Nimrod,
the founder of the great ancient city of Babylon, and also Menes the first
King of Egypt and the founder of the great ancient city of Memphis.Ridpath says that the traditions of antiquity points to Memphis and Babylon as the fountains of human wisdom. If those above-named are ignorant of the history of the last-named, they are doing the world a great injustice in assuming the position of teacher and leader. If they are familiar with the history of the races and the deeds of men, they will no doubt have for them and their kind good and sufficient reasons for making false and misleading statements as to some historical records, and totally forgetting or demeaning others.
An early Queen of Egypt was a descendant of the Ethiopian or Negro race.[Pg 18] This is conceded by some of the modern writers; some of them going so far as to say that her skin was very black, and a few of them acknowledge that it was this black queen who placed the first fleet of war ships on the river Nile. They have no doubt traced this woman back to where they are satisfied that she was descended in a direct lineal line from Zipporah, the black and Ethiopian wife of Moses. We read very little of these two women, because modern writers seek to obscure them, and our ministers of the gospel never preach or lecture on that part of the Bible in which they are mentioned. WHY? Because, if they do they must give credit to black people. In this connection, I do not speak of Biblical history only. Were it not for the fact that the dimensions of this book would be extended far beyond what was intended, I could begin even with Hannibal, the Carthagenian General, and record the accomplishments of black men without the intervening of any long periods of time, down to the time of Alexander Dumas, Toussant L’Overture, and Alexander Sergievitch Pouskin, Russo-African poet. I could do more, I could come into the borders of this Republic and beginning with Crispus Octikus, or Alexander Hamilton—record the[Pg 19] accomplishments of these same black descendants of Ham, down to this day. This modern record would contain many references to both the war of Independence and the war of the Rebellion. It would also mention a great many black men who can never forget El Caney and San Juan Hill. Besides the heroes of war, modern history is replete with the names of black men famous in peace for their accomplishments in science and letters of art. Space will not permit me to dwell upon these men and their accomplishments and the towering obstacles in spite of which they succeeded. I could not fail, however, to mention Frederick Douglas who was one of the greatest statesmen America ever had, even though he was born a slave. Dr. Booker T. Washington was also born a slave, and is one of the greatest educators the world has ever known. As to the many other great things black men have done and are doing, I cannot fail to mention the north pole, for, if human beings have stood on the spot claimed as the north pole, the black man was preceded by no one. I speak of Mr. Matt Henson, the Negro, who, if indeed, the pole ever was reached, was one of the first of the only two “to date” to reach it.
[Pg 20]
PROF. W. S. SCARBOROUGH
Prof. W. S. Scarborough is head of the Classical Department of Wilberforce
University of Ohio, and Vice-President of the same institution. He, too,
is a great writer in defense of the Afro-American race. Here are some of
his remarks in his master-piece, “Race Integrity”: (See next page.)“The truth is that the term ‘Caucasian’ has little or no meaning as it is now used. The word itself is a conventional term given at the first by Blumenbach to designate what he considered the highest type of the human family, shown by a skull from Mount Caucasus. When we attempt to trace those who would claim the name as an expression of their superiority we find the type has disappeared. There is no pure specimen now in existence. And if we ask what is ‘white’ we can only say, ‘that it is a term used to designate the absence of color’—that is all, and no sign whatever of ‘race integrity.’ We have already indicated that science and investigation point to the fact that primitive man was not white. It is no new theory, but it has seemed convenient for the Saxon to let it rest as much as possible in discrete oblivion. Bishop H. M. Turner of the African Methodist Episcopal church has often promulgated it in his own inimitable way, and Moncure D. Conway has also declared that the white people of the world today are only a reflex leprosy and that the natural color is brown or black.”
[Pg 21]
SECOND CHAPTER.
HIS FIRST HOME
God but faintly revealed the puzzle of civilization to Noah and his three
sons, Shem, Ham and Japhet (Genesis 9th Chapter 1st seven verses), and it
became their duty to start to work on the first moves of the puzzle, as
well as to create nations. He, who would begin from the first, moves and
works the matter out to perfection.Ham, the father of the black man, located in Africa. Africa was his homestead, so to speak. David, the Psalmist, credited Ham with this territory in the 105th Psalm 23rd and 27th verses, and also in the 106th Psalm 22nd verse. Now, if this is not true, and we reject it on the ground of not being sufficient proof of the black man’s first and original home, we can on quite as good ground reject any and every other part of the Bible, for what I here state is no wild imagination, but FACTS taken from the Bible.
Cush, Mizriam, Phut and Canaan were the first sons of Ham (Genesis 10th [Pg 22]Chapter, 6th verse), and these four sons including Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, were the first to start work on the problem of civilization; in a word they were the pioneers and the very pillars of civilized governments.
Cush located in South Egypt on the River Nile. He became the father of the Ethiopians as well as the father of the Cushites through Nimrod who located on the Southern part of the Euphrates River. It is to be remembered that Nimrod is the founder of the Babylonian kingdom (Genesis 10th Chapter, 10th verse.) Mizriam located on the upper part of the River Nile, and he became the father of the Egyptians. Phut located in the Northern part of Africa. Canaan located in the land known as the old Palestine country, which is modern Turkey. Canaan became the father of the Canaanites (Genesis 10th Chapter, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th verses). According to the Bible the above is the exact location of the first sons of Ham, and the question which naturally follows is, “Was civilization born in their land and given birth by Ham’s first offspring?” It is conceded by John Clark Ridpath and a few other writers on ancient history that the Egyptians were the fathers of civilization, [Pg 23]according to the chronology of Manetho, an Egyptian priest. Egypt was founded in the year B. C. 3892, and Menes was the first mortal King. The all important question now arises, “Were the Egyptians descendants of black men, or were they descendants of white men? Were they descendants of Ham or Shem?” It is well known that students claim to be divided in their opinion as to the original stock from which the ancient Egyptians came. Ridpath, among others, says they were neither Semitic nor Negro, but concludes his remarks on the origin of the Egyptians by saying that the ancient Egyptians were considered a branch of that part of the Cushite family, which settled in Asia. Probably the little matter of the Cushites being the grand-children of Ham slipped Ridpath’s mind, else his statements would not have been so conflicting, because he just says that they were not Negroes, but ends his argument by saying that they were a branch of the Cushite family of Asia.
It requires no laborious research to establish the facts that Cush was the father of all Cushite nations. He was also the first son of Ham (Genesis 10th Chapter, 6th verse). Now then, if the Ethiopians and all other Cushite nations who sprang from this first son of Ham were not Negroes, will[Pg 24] some of our historians omit the word “probably,” so much used by them, and say what they were. It is fair to assume that with their boasted intelligence and superior brain power, by this time they would have been able to search out and connect at least some of the many facts, and plain, indisputable records in the Bible which leaves no room for doubt or “probably.”
We learn from the Bible that Ham is the father of the African family; the Ethiopian is the darkest or blackest tribe of the Hamites. Cush was the founder or father of this tribe. Moses selected his wife from this black or Ethiopian tribe (Numbers 12th Chapter, 1st verse). It must be plain to any one who will read the parts referred to in the Bible, that Ridpath’s contention that the Egyptians sprang from the Cushites was the wrong avenue to escape the blood of the Negro, or their relation to the black man’s family. I believe, however, that Ridpath wrote in good faith for the majority of the historical writers claim that the Egyptians descended from a white race, notwithstanding they admit that the Old Testament gives the truest, the most complete and reliable record on the origin of the Egyptians of any other book, so it is not unnatural to believe[Pg 25] that their opinions are influenced by racial prejudice.
Now it is true that the Bible contains the only authentic, and certainly the most ancient record of not only the Egyptians, but of all mankind, and I CAN and will PROVE by it that the Egyptian—Hamite—sprang from Mizriam.
According to the Biblical Gazette, the word “Egypt” is derived from the word Mizriam, and this word “Mizriam” was the name of one of the first sons of Ham (Genesis 10th Chapter, 6th verse). By the word “Egypt” being coined from the word “Mizriam,” it strengthens my contention that the Egyptian was descended from the black man. I will now dig down further into the rich earth of proof for more enlightenment out of the Book of Truth. By viewing the ancient Bible map of Africa and Asia, which map can be found in the back of the New Testament, one can readily pick out the spots upon which Shem, Ham and Japheth first located. You will notice that Mizriam, the second son of Ham, and the accredited father of the Egyptians located on the very spot, so to speak, where the great City of Memphis was built by Menes, the first King of Egypt. Again you will notice that all[Pg 26] the names within African borders are names of the sons of Ham, Shem and his offspring, located in Asia. Perhaps a better way to locate Ham, Shem and Japheth and their first offspring is first to read the 10th and 11th Chapters of Genesis, then locate their names on the map, and it will be seen that not a Shemite, or white man, originally located in Africa. All of the white men located in Asia, and according to the Bible white men never began to travel in Africa until Abraham’s time, B. C. 1921. The Egyptians lived in a high state of civilization near 2,000 years before Abraham’s first visit to Egypt, and the appearance of white people was a circus and a curiosity to the black people. Abraham realized this fact and commanded his wife to represent herself as his sister, because as he said, “she was fair to look upon,” white (Genesis 12th Chapter, 11th, 12th and 13th verses). This would indicate that the Egyptians were not white, and I will say without fear of my assertion being disproven, that until after the time of Abraham, the Egyptians were a simon pure black race. Shortly after Abraham’s visit, the Shemitic or white travellers began to pour into Egypt to such an extent that the Egyptians began inter-marrying with them, and of course,[Pg 27] this inter-marrying had its effect of contaminating the pure Negro blood, and this inter-marrying was the cause of the black man, or full blooded Egyptian losing the power of control in the Kingdom. In other words—this is the loop through which the Shepherd or white or Shemitic kings slipped through and took possession of the Egyptian kingdom.
[Pg 28]
DR. W. E. BURGHARDT DUBOIS
Dr. W. E. Burghardt DuBois is the most scholarly speaker and writer of the
Afro-American race. He is the author of the book “Souls of Black Folk,”
which is a marvellous book. On the following page are some of the phrases
from his famous address to the Social Study Clubs of Chicago University.February 13th, 1907, on Education and Civilization:
“The doing of the world’s work is a great duty and a great privilege. It is a thing not to be aimed at but to be aimed beyond. Just so soon as a nation or a country can put its foot upon this satisfaction of the lower wants and step upward to the greater aspirations of human brotherhood and the broader ideals of civilization, just so soon the real building of civilization begins. It seems to me, therefore, that the students of Chicago University and they that teach them, ought especially, on every occasion to impress this broader aspect of the race problem. That instead of putting it in its narrower, nastier channel, instead of stooping to listen to men, who themselves represent what is lowest and least in our national organization, that you should strive in every way to realize yourselves and to show others that this great broad question of humanity is not a question of petty crime, not a question of so many bales of cotton, not a question even of mere industrial development, but is a question of human aspiration, and that if here in America, on the very fore front of present advance, it is possible to murder the aspiration of 10,000,000 of men, then America is not yet civilized.”
[Pg 29]
THIRD CHAPTER.
HIS RULE IN EGYPT
Dr. Leonhard Schmitz, Ph. D., LL. D., F. R., S. E., says in his work on
ancient Egyptian history, that these Hyksos or Shepherd Kings were Semite
people. “White,” of course, and they comprised the 15th, 16th and 17th
dynasties, which covered 511 years. Now, during this period, Jacob and his
twelve sons and their families moved from Canaan to Egypt, and other
Semite or whites from Asia did likewise, because the white man had begun
to rule Egypt. At the 18th Dynasty, however, fortune turned against the
white rulers of Egypt, and the black men or the Negroes regained
possession of their country, and banished the whites from their land,
except the Jews, whom they held as slaves. They reorganized the Kingdom
with their own blood, “the blood of the Negro.” Aahmas was the first King
after the whites were driven out, and his wife was Nefruari, the Ethiopian
Princess, greatly celebrated for her dusky charms, her wealth and her
[Pg 30]accomplishments. The beginning of this reorganization of a period is
recorded in the 1st Chapter of the Book of Exodus, which shows that at the
beginning of the slavery of the Jews, God told Abraham that his people
would be held in bondage in Egypt for 400 years (Genesis 15th Chapter,
13th verse). Those 400 years marked the period of Egypt’s most rapid and
substantial progress, as Dr. Schmitz says in writing on ancient Egyptian
history, those years were the most brilliant in Egypt’s record, and the
period at which her art reached its highest point. It is but reasonable to
suppose this to have been so, for the Shepherd, or “white Kings” had
destroyed all of the former brilliancy of Egypt, and did not because they
could not do anything to replace or imitate its grandeur or beauty. The
black people when they regained possession of their Kingdom and again
began to rule, made slaves of the Jews and compelled them to do all the
heavy, dirty, unskilled labor, such as carrying bricks and mortar and
working in the field (Exodus 1st Chapter, 13th and 14th verses). While the
Egyptians turned their attention to science and art and reorganizing and
drilling their army, so as to be able to protect their country against all
nations. As Dr. Schmitz[Pg 31] says, the Eastern boundaries of Egypt were well
protected by strong fortresses. This is but natural, because on the East,
the Semitic or white races reigned, and no doubt they were unfriendly to
the Egyptians, or “black” people, because they had expelled the Shepherd
or “white” Kings from their land. Now, when the Egyptians had attained “in
that Age” to the highest degree of intelligence and wisdom, and were
possessed of the greatest human power, God deemed it wise to make His own
Infinite wisdom and power felt over that of human wisdom and power, by
using Moses as an instrument to knock at the door of the Egyptian
government and ask for the release of the enslaved Jews. Moses did not
appear in Egypt by any human authority, or power, but by the authority and
the power of God, for it would have been useless for not only Moses, but
for any nation or number of nations to approach Egypt with hostile
intentions, without God, because Egypt with her wisdom and power had the
world at her mercy. There it required God with His immeasurable wisdom and
power to overcome the wisdom and power of these black Egyptians. The
evidence of God’s power was displayed to the “Pharoah Meneptah,” who is
generally[Pg 32] conceded to be the “Pharoah of the Exodus,” by His, “God’s”
instruments, Moses and Aaron who were to appear before the Pharoah and
cast down their rods which turned to serpents (Exodus 7th Chapter, 10th
verse). When they had cast down their rods before Pharoah, and they turned
to serpents, Pharoah called the wise men, or magicians of Egypt with their
enchantments, and they cast down their rods which also became serpents
(Exodus 7th Chapter, 11th and 12th verses). This was the performing of two
miracles, one by God’s power, and one by human power. This vieing with
God, though only for an instance of time is what no white man has had the
power to do since his creation. But, however, God, in order to demonstrate
His supreme power, caused the serpents transformed from the rods of Moses
and Aaron to swallow the serpents transformed from the rods of Pharoah’s
or Egypt’s wise men (Exodus 7-12). This rod and serpent incident was the
beginning of a series of plague miracles (read the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th
Chapters of Exodus), which wrecked the Egyptians’ or black man’s kingdom,
and also destroyed that great power which he had over all other nations
and released the Jews from slavery.[Pg 33]The black man’s power, as the first power among the nations had now begun to decay, and as the black race began to die, as a power among nations, the white race began to rise to where it had never been before, but this was 2,500 years after the black man had worked out all the problems of civilization.
In reading Revelation, 13th Chapter, 11th verse, of St. John, the Divine, I am very much impressed by the description of one of his revelations which God unfolded to him, and which he describes as follows:
“I behold another beast coming up out of the earth and he had two horns, like lamb’s, and he spake as a dragon.” Now, to my mind, the foregoing vision of St. John the Divine, was this very country, the United States of America, revealed to him ages ago before this country was discovered and named, the two horns I interpret to be the two great political parties, that have done so much to corrupt this Government and misrule its people from their infancy to the present day. Again, the American Government spake like a dragon when it permitted slavery to exist, especially when its Constitution says “That ALL MEN WERE BORN FREE AND EQUAL.”
[Pg 34]Now, concerning the creating and enthralling of nations, their rise and fall, that is the will and the work of God. (75th Psalms, 6th and 7th verses.) (Jeremiah, 27th and 5th verses.) (Daniel, 2nd Chapter, 21st verse.) (Daniel, 4th Chapter, 17th verse.)
So, since it is true that the black man is the father of civilization, it is just as true that the white man is now at the helm, and the big “I AM” of the civilized world. But the fact remains that he took his civilization and his position after the black man had created it, and passed from the stage of action, just as the white man must do at God’s own appointed time, to make room for some other race, probably the yellow race, Chinese or Japanese. David, the Psalmist, said: “Egypt was the land of the black man—Ham not Shem, the white man,” and he further said that the Tabernacles which were the houses and dwellings from the lowest to the King’s palaces were Ham’s, and not Shem’s, the white man—(Psalms, 106th Chapter, 22nd verse; 105th Chapter, 23rd to 27th verse; 78th Chapter, 51st verse).
It is easy to understand why the Negro or black man is not identified with his Egyptian brother; that reason is seldom[Pg 35] honestly and earnestly sought for. The reason is—that the historians, with a very few exceptions, write from a prejudiced standpoint, together with the fact that they do not give credit to the Old Testament, if indeed, they study it at all, especially that part of it which is the most ancient, and beyond all shadow of a doubt the first and only TRUE account of the origin of mankind it is easy to understand.
It is impossible for God to forget that the black man and his land (Egypt) was the cradle of rescue that rocked and nursed the Son of God in his first two years of life, when Herod’s decree to destroy all children under two years of age was issued. It was known that the decree was issued for the express and only purpose of destroying the infant Christ, but God chose Egypt, the black man’s land, as a haven of rest and safety during the life of the displeased and would-be infant murderer, Herod. (Matt., 2nd Chapter.)
This might be the origin of that old, old saying, “Blood is thicker than water,” for Jesus in going into Egypt, went among black women and men, who were the founders of the tribe from which he sprang.
When God in His infinite wisdom, His great love, justice and mercy, and at His[Pg 36] own appointed time, summons mankind to take his rightful place in the wavering human line to be rewarded for that smallest of virtues, in proportion as he for the greatest of virtues, will say to the black man, who will be found heading the line, “Well done, thou good and faithful black servant, thou, My instrument, the Father of Civilization.”
The End.
[Pg 37]
COMMENTS ON LECTURE TOURS OF THE WRITER.
To Whom It May Concern:“I beg to say, after hearing Elder Webb on the subject, that the blood of the Negro coursed through the veins of Jesus and Solomon. I am frank to say I have seldom, if ever, enjoyed such an intellectual treat. The position he assumed as the subject of his lecture touching the Hametic blood and race is difficult and requires a practical knowledge of Biblical and historical lore. But I am pleased to say that he not only shows himself an expert, but the master of the situation, and I commend him to the ministry and churches of our race of every denomination. Truly,
“Bishop H. M. Turner.”
[Pg 38]
COMMENT FROM ONE OF THE LEADING PAPERS OF THE WRITER’S HOME.
“The evidence submitted by Elder Webb tending to prove that the Saviour of mankind was a black man seems to be sufficient to put those who oppose the proposition upon their proof. Now that the chain of evidence presented by Mr. Webb appears so complete, it is strange that none of the delvers in the Biblical records have not advanced the sensational proposition before. Not only was Christ a Negro, but it seems that Solomon, who has been held up through all of the ages as the personification of wisdom, had Ethiopian blood in his veins also.”—Seattle Daily Times.
HENRY O. TANNER
The World-Famous Afro-American Artist
The World-Famous Afro-American Artist
Henry O. Tanner is the world famous Afro-American artist. He is the oldest son of Bishop Tanner of the A. M. E. Church. He was born in Pittsburg, Penn., but was trained in the public schools of Philadelphia, to which place his parents moved soon after his birth. His first steps in his life work were taken in the art schools of Philadelphia from which training he went to Paris where his genius developed and flowered in the studies of Benjamin Constant and Julien. In 1895 his “Sabot Maker,” was shown in the salon exhibit and received friendly treatment from the French critics. Frenchmen, as a rule, are not too favorably inclined to the works of foreigners and their appreciation of Tanner is truly significant of the real value this work—a merit which puts it beyond the limitations of race and country. In 1896 he exhibited “Daniel in the Lion’s Den,” the first of a line of religious works with which his fame has been since connected. This picture received Honorable mention from the French Jury and was bought by the Pennsylvania Academy.
Mr. Tanner’s picture, “The Two Disciples at the Tomb,” was purchased by the Chicago Art Institute for $1,600.
[Pg 39]
THE COLORED SOLDIERS
(From Dunbar’s “Lyrics of Lowly Life.”)
(From Dunbar’s “Lyrics of Lowly Life.”)
| If the muse were mine to tempt it And my feeble voice were strong, If my tongue were trained to measures, I would sing a stirring song. I would sing a song heroic Of those noble sons of Ham, Of the gallant colored soldiers Who fought for Uncle Sam! In the early days you scorned them, And with many a flip and flout Said “These battles are the white man’s. And the whites will fight them out.” Up the hills you fought and faltered, In the vales you strove and bled, While your ears still heard the thunder Of the foes’ advancing tread. Then distress fell on the nation, And the flag was drooping low; Should the dust pollute your banner? No! the nation shouted, No! So when War, in savage triumph, Spread abroad his funeral pall— Then you called the colored soldiers, And they answered to your call. [Pg 40] And like hounds unleashed and eager For the life blood of the prey, Sprung they forth and bore them bravely In the thickest of the fray, And where’er the fight was hottest, Where the bullets fastest fell, There they pressed unblanched and fearless At the very mouth of hell. |
Dr. Adams, editor of “The Advance,” says: “Dunbar was a genius bound in ebony.”
Former President Theodore Roosevelt said: “I was a great admirer of his poetry and his prose.”
P. KA ISAKA SEME
A NATIVE BORN AFRICAN
A NATIVE BORN AFRICAN
P. Ka Isaka Seme, who delivered such a wonderful oration on the subject, “The Regeneration of Africa,” which oration is reproduced from the Colored American Magazine of New York (June, 1906). This oration substantiates me in my article wherein I claim that the black man was the FATHER OF CIVILIZATION.
[Pg 41]
The Regeneration of Africa
Curtis Medals Oration, First Prize, April 5, 1906, Columbia University
I have chosen to speak to you on this occasion upon “The Regeneration of
Africa.” I am an African, and I set my pride in my race over against a
hostile public opinion. Men have tried to compare races on the basis of
some equality. In all the works of nature, equality, if by it we mean
identity, is an impossible dream! Search the universe! You will find no
two units alike. The scientists tell us there are no two cells, no two
atoms, identical. Nature has bestowed upon each a peculiar individuality,
an exclusive patent—from the great giants of the forest to the tenderest
blade. Catch in your hand, if you please, the gentle flakes of snow. Each
is a perfect gem, a new creation; it shines in its own glory—a work of
art different from all of its aerial companions. Man, the crowning
achievement of nature, defies analysis. He is a mystery through all ages
and for all time. The races of mankind are composed of free and unique
individuals. An attempt to compare them on the basis of equality can never
be finally satisfactory. Each is self. My thesis stands on this truth;
time has proved it. In all races, genius is like a spark, which, concealed
in the bosom of a[Pg 42] flint, bursts forth at the summoning stroke. It may
arise anywhere and in any race.
I would ask you not to compare Africa to Europe or to any other continent.
I make this request not from any fear that such comparison might bring
humiliation upon Africa. The reason I have stated,—a common standard is
impossible! Come with me to the ancient capital of Egypt, Thebes, the city
of one hundred gates. The grandeur of its venerable ruins and the gigantic
proportions of its architecture reduced to insignificance the boasted
monuments of other nations. The pyramids of Egypt are structures to which
the world presents nothing comparable. The mighty monuments seem to look
with disdain on every other work of human art and to vie with nature
herself. All the glory of Egypt belongs to Africa and her people. These
monuments are the indestructible memorials of their great and original
genius. It is not through Egypt alone that Africa claims such unrivalled
historic achievements. I could have spoken of the pyramids of Ethiopia,
which, though inferior in size to those of Egypt, far surpass them in
architectural beauty; their sepulchres which evince the highest purity of
taste, and of many prehistoric ruins in other parts of Africa. In such[Pg 43]
ruins Africa is like the golden sun, that, having sunk beneath the western
horizon, still plays upon the world which he sustained and enlightened in
his career.Justly the world now demands—
“Whither is fled the visionary gleam,
Where is it now, the glory and the dream?”
Oh, for that historian who, with the open pen of truth, will bring to
Africa’s claim the strength of written proof. He will tell of a race whose
onward tide was often swelled with tears, but in whose heart bondage has
not quenched the fire of former years. He will write that in these later
days when Earth’s noble ones are named, she has a roll of honor too, of
whom she is not ashamed. The giant is awakening! From the four corners of
the earth Africa’s sons, who have been proved through fire and sword, are
marching to the future’s golden door bearing the records of deeds of valor
done.Where is it now, the glory and the dream?”
Mr. Calhoun, I believe, was the most philosophical of all the slave-holders. He said once that if he could find a black man who could understand the Greek syntax, he would then consider their race human, and his attitude toward enslaving them would therefore change. What might have been the sensation kindled by the Greek syntax[Pg 44] in the mind of the famous Southerner, I have so far been unable to discover; but oh, I envy the moment that was lost! And woe to the tongues that refused to tell the truth! If any such were among the now living, I could show him among black men of pure African blood those who could repeat the Koran from memory, skilled in Latin, Greek and Hebrew,—Arabic and Chaldais—men great in wisdom and profound knowledge—one professor of philosophy in a celebrated German university; one corresponding member of the French Academy of Sciences, who regularly transmitted to that society meteorological observations, and hydrographical journals and papers on botany and geology; another whom many ages call “The Wise,” whose authority Mahomet himself frequently appealed to in the Koran in support of his own opinion—men of wealth and active benevolence, those whose distinguished talents and reputation have made them famous in the cabinet and in the field, officers of artillery in the great armies of Europe, generals and lieutenant generals in the armies of Peter the Great in Russia and Napoleon in France, presidents of free republics, kings of independent nations which have burst their way to liberty by their own vigor. There are many[Pg 45] other Africans who have shown marks of genius and high character sufficient to redeem their race from the charges which I am now considering.
Ladies and gentlemen, the day of great exploring expeditions in Africa is over! Man knows his home now in a sense never known before. Many great and holy men have evinced a passion for the day you are now witnessing—their prophetic vision shot through many unborn centuries to this very hour. “Men shall run to and fro,” said Daniel, “and knowledge shall increase upon the earth.” Oh, how true! See the triumph of human genius today! Science has searched out the deep things of nature, surprised the secrets of the most distant stars, disentombed the memorials of everlasting hills, taught the lightning to speak, the vapors to toil and the winds to worship—spanned the sweeping rivers, tunneled the longest mountain range—made the world a vast whispering gallery, and has brought foreign nations into one civilized family. This all-powerful contact says even to the most backward race, you cannot remain where you are, you cannot fall back you must advance! A great century has come upon us. No race possessing the inherent capacity to survive can resist and[Pg 46] remain unaffected by this influence of contact and intercourse, the backward with the advanced. This influence constitutes the very essence of efficient progress and of civilization.
From these heights of the twentieth century I again ask you to cast your eyes south of the Desert of Sahara. If you could go with me to the oppressed Congos and ask, what does it mean, that now, for liberty, they fight like men and die like martyrs; if you would go with me to Bechuanaland, face their council of Headmen and ask what motives caused them recently to decree so emphatically that alcoholic drinks shall not enter their country—visit their king, Khama, ask for what cause he leaves the gold and ivory palace of his ancestors, its mountain strongholds and all its august ceremony, to wander daily from village to village through all his kingdom, without a guard or any decoration of his rank—a preacher of industry and education, and an apostle of the new order of things; if you would ask Menelik what means this that Abyssinia is now looking across the ocean—oh, if you could read the letters that come to us from Zululand—you, too, would be convinced that the elevation of the African race is evidently a part of the new order of[Pg 47] things that belong to this new and powerful period.
The African already recognizes his anomalous position and desires a change. The brighter day is rising upon Africa. Already I seem to see her chains dissolved, her desert plains red with harvest, her Ayssinia and her Zululand the seats of science and religion, reflecting the glory of the rising sun from the spires of their churches and universities. Her Congo and her Gambia whitened with commerce, her crowded cities sending forth the hum of business, and all her sons employed in advancing the victories of peace—greater and more abiding than the spoils of war.
Yes, the regeneration of Africa belongs to this new and powerful period! By this term regeneration I wish to be understood to mean the entrance into a new life, embracing the diverse phases of a higher, complex existence. The basic factor which assures their regeneration resides in the awakened race-consciousness. This gives them a clear perception of their elemental needs and of their undeveloped powers. It therefore must lead them to the attainment of that higher and advanced standard of life.
[Pg 48]The African people, although not a strictly homogeneous race, possess a common fundamental sentiment which is everywhere manifest, crystalizing itself into one common controlling idea. Conflicts and strife are rapidly disappearing before the fusing force of this enlightened perception of the true intertribal relation, which relation should subsist among a people with a common destiny. Agencies of a social, economic and religious advance tell of a new spirit which, acting as a leavening ferment, shall raise the anxious and aspiring mass to the level of their ancient glory. The ancestral greatness, the unimpaired genius, and the recuperative power of the race, its irrepressibility, which assures its permanence, constitute the African’s greatest source of inspiration. He has refused to camp forever on the borders of the industrial world; having learned that knowledge is power, he is educating his children. You find them in Edinburgh, in Cambridge, and in the great schools of Germany. These return to their country like arrows, to drive darkness from the land. I hold that this industrial and educational initiative, and his untiring devotion to these activities must be regarded as positive evidences of this process of his regeneration.
[Pg 49]The regeneration of Africa means that a new and unique civilization is soon to be added to the world. The African is not a proletarian in the world of science and art. He has precious creations of his own, of ivory, of copper and of gold, fine, plaited willow-ware and weapons of superior workmanship. Civilization resembles an organic being in its development—it is born, it perishes, and it can propogate itself. More particularly, it resembles a plant, it takes root in the teeming earth, and when the seeds fall in other soils new varieties sprout up. The most essential departure of this new civilization is that it shall be thoroughly spiritual and humanistic—indeed a regeneration moral and eternal!
O Africa!
Like some great century plant that shall bloom
In ages hence, we watch thee; in our dream
See in thy swamps the Prospero of our stream;
Thy doors unlocked, where knowledge in her tomb
Hath lain innumerable years in gloom.
Then shalt thou, waking with that morning gleam
Shine as thy sister lands with equal beam.
In ages hence, we watch thee; in our dream
See in thy swamps the Prospero of our stream;
Thy doors unlocked, where knowledge in her tomb
Hath lain innumerable years in gloom.
Then shalt thou, waking with that morning gleam
Shine as thy sister lands with equal beam.
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