Tuesday, October 6, 2009

The Falsification of African Consciousness 1

From PremierLegend

Dr.Ben in Kemet 1/13

The Ruins by C. F. Volney

An example of an important omission of this kind may be found on
the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth pages of this volume,
which may be appropriately referred to, in this connection. It is
there stated, in describing the ancient kingdom of Ethiopia, and
the ruins of Thebes, her opulent metropolis, that "There a people,
now forgotten, discovered, while others were yet barbarians, the
elements of the arts and sciences. A race of men, now rejected
from society for their sable skin and frizzled hair, founded on the
study of the laws of nature, those civil and religious systems
which still govern the universe."

A voluminous note, in which standard authorities are cited, seems
to prove that this statement is substantially correct, and that we
are in reality indebted to the ancient Ethiopians, to the fervid
imagination of the persecuted and despised negro, for the various
religious systems now so highly revered by the different branches
of both the Semitic and Aryan races. This fact, which is so
frequently referred to in Mr. Volney's writings, may perhaps solve
the question as to the origin of all religions, and may even
suggest a solution to the secret so long concealed beneath the flat
nose, thick lips, and negro features of the Egyptian Sphinx. It
may also confirm the statement of Dioderus, that "the Ethiopians
conceive themselves as the inventors of divine worship, of
festivals, of solemn assemblies, of sacrifices, and of every other
religious practice."

That an imaginative and superstitious race of black men should have
invented and founded, in the dim obscurity of past ages, a system
of religious belief that still enthralls the minds and clouds the
intellects of the leading representatives of modern theology,--that
still clings to the thoughts, and tinges with its potential
influence the literature and faith of the civilized and cultured
nations of Europe and America, is indeed a strange illustration of
the mad caprice of destiny, of the insignificant and apparently
trivial causes that oft produce the most grave and momentous
results.

The Ruins

Phil Valentine the Quintessence of African Spirituality 1/14

From bklynmagi

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Dr. Charles Finch-Ancient Africa Pt 1

From geneofisis

The Map is Racist

The Peters Map and The Mercator Map




Which is bigger, Greenland or China? With the traditional Mercator map (circa 1569, and still in use in many schoolrooms and boardrooms today), Greenland and China look the same size. But in reality China is almost 4 times larger! In response to such discrepancies, Dr. Arno Peters created a new world map that dramatically improves the accuracy of how we see the Earth.

The Greenland Problem






The Mercator projection creates increasing distortions of size as you move away from the equator. As you get closer to the poles the distortion becomes severe. Cartographers refer to the inability to compare size on a Mercator projection as "the Greenland Problem." Greenland appears to be the same size as Africa, yet Africa's land mass is actually fourteen times larger (see figure above). Because the Mercator distorts size so much at the poles it is common to crop Antarctica off the map. This practice results in the Northern Hemisphere appearing much larger than it really is. Typically, the cropping technique results in a map showing the equator about 60% of the way down the map, diminishing the size and importance of the developing countries.

This was convenient, psychologically and practically (Military), through the eras of colonial domination when most of the world powers were European. It suited them to maintain an image of the world with Europe at the center and looking much larger than it really was. Was this conscious or deliberate? Probably not, as most map users probably never realized the Eurocentric bias inherent in their world view. When there are so many other projections to chose from, why is it that today the Mercator projection is still such a widely recognized image used to represent the globe? The answer may be simply convention or habit. The inertia of habit is a powerful force.

Peters Projection Map

See Also North is South and South is North from Master Naba

Google Reader and Amazon


This is for those of you who may not know. Okay Fam, you can have access to many books through Google Books. Keep it in your browser when a book reference is mentioned, just Google Book it, and you'll see a sample of most books. Not all books will be in this search engine, some will be totally free.
Peace Family

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