Following African Traditions

The three key points of the Learning, Wisdom and the African World Experience lecture were: 1) Human brilliance must be connected to African brilliance, 2) Human excellence must be connected to African excellence, 3) To be African is to be Brilliant and Excellent. The first point of Dr. Carr’s lecture connected the origin of knowledge and education to Egypt. His second point illustrated how Africans were the first creators, innovators, scientists, philosophers, and educators. His last point discussed how we have been disconnected from our roots and must find our way back to the traditions of education and using that education to creatively enhance the world as our ancestors did before us.

Dr. Carr spoke on the misconception that Africans were uneducated. He used the most common misconception of being illiterate in his lecture to start it off. When we think of reading and writing most people think of the Greco-Roman world as being the place of origin. We more often than not over look and forget that Egyptians used hieroglyphs and created the first language. Egyptians had the first forms of science, math, and astronomy to grace the planet. This idea of Blacks being uneducated is so far from true. Human brilliance, the first seen dialogues of the human mind, is credited to Egyptians- our African forefathers. Brilliance refers more to knowledge, while excellence relates more to the idea of using brilliance. Excellence, however, was also an African tradition. The tradition of creativity and inventing was also rooted in Egypt. Africans were the first to use knowledge to make life easier for themselves, architect, problem-solve, and create civilized culture. This confirms the idea that excellence, in the form of actual “doing” was first done by OUR ancestors.

The last point Dr. Carr spoke on was more of a challenge to us as individuals. Africans before us have laid out a fundamental tradition of excellence and brilliance. He made an important note, “We have not only been disconnected from Africa physically, but we have also been mentally disconnected from our traditions”. We have been miseducated to think there is a limitation on our success and that historically we are inferior. However, we have the responsibility and chance to reconnect mentally to these traditions of excellence and brilliance and aspire to follow the path laid before us since the beginning of human (African) civilization.