Culture, Respect, and Development

Read Comments Comments (7)

• AKASI MARTHA NZEMA 12 years ago

  WE ARE ALL HUMAN BEINGS WITH HUMAN BODIES BUT THE BRAINS ARE NOT THE SAME. "HOLY SPIRIT" WE WANT PEOPLE WHO ARE LED BY YOU TO MOVE GHANA/AFRICA FORWARD NOT BACKWARD.

  WE ARE ALL HUMAN BEINGS WITH HUMAN BODIES BUT THE BRAINS ARE NOT THE SAME. "HOLY SPIRIT" WE WANT PEOPLE WHO ARE LED BY YOU TO MOVE GHANA/AFRICA FORWARD NOT BACKWARD.

  reply
• KB 12 years ago

  ha,whatever you mean by the first part of your comment,to the second part(prayer appeal to the Holy Spirit)I say Amen and Aaaaaaamen!!!

  ha,whatever you mean by the first part of your comment,to the second part(prayer appeal to the Holy Spirit)I say Amen and Aaaaaaamen!!!

  reply
• KB 12 years ago

  Francis,you could as well have given this piece the title "CULTURE,RESPECT AND EVOLUTION OF HUMANITY',because,while referencing Ghana or Africa, to the issues raised,I see here that a simple juxtaposition of any country/conti ...
  read full comment

  Francis,you could as well have given this piece the title "CULTURE,RESPECT AND EVOLUTION OF HUMANITY',because,while referencing Ghana or Africa, to the issues raised,I see here that a simple juxtaposition of any country/continent would virtually render the same impact.Afterall,unlike other psycho-social values which are subjective or relative to specific cultural contexts,respect is of universal value.As suggested by you,my comments here are being based on the simultaneous contextualisation of all three of your articles.The fact is the points you raise,whiles purporting to extol Afrocentricity vis a vis Ghana's/Africa's true development,also as well raise some pertinent psycho-philosophical challenges,albeit unwittingly,like what political ideology,be it Marxism,socialism,capitalism or whatever can stand the test of time or humane universality? It is worthy of note here that Afrocentricity,or for purposes of my argument here,Afrocentrism is perceived by some scholars/intellectuals as having evolved incidentally to the effort at coming to terms with the heart-staining pain of slavery as pondered over by its victims(I'm partiularly refering to the Trans Saharan Slave Trade which involved the sale of Black people by their fellow black people to foreigners).In much the same way you opine that the 'exclusivist intolerance by white Americans of Black Americans,per se,could have released the floodgates of creativity in the American body politic', resultantly producing virtuoso expressions of talent by the likes of Thelonius Monk,James Brown et al.The list is endless as to the contribution to science and technology by Black Americans which have been overlooked. Can Afrocentricity/Afrocentrism really stand the test of time and human evolution?I really wonder,because the world is getting smaller and smaller and slowly but steadily evolving into a post racial one.

  reply
• francis kwarteng 12 years ago

  KB,
  
  I have more to say but by extensive response isn't getting. I wish you could reach me at franciskkwarteng@yahoo.com.

  KB,
  
  I have more to say but by extensive response isn't getting. I wish you could reach me at franciskkwarteng@yahoo.com.

  reply
• francis kwarteng 12 years ago

  Please forgive me (I am not going to edit the response; you might see a grammatical/typo errors).
  Please consult the source materials on Afrocentricity. It's not merely a response to slavery (it's a minor aspect of it). In f ...
  read full comment

  Please forgive me (I am not going to edit the response; you might see a grammatical/typo errors).
  Please consult the source materials on Afrocentricity. It's not merely a response to slavery (it's a minor aspect of it). In fact, it's more than that. Sad to say, you are highly misinformed on that one (I say this in jest).
  Rather it's a response to racism (of which slavery is but a "minor" part)--historiography, epistemology, culture,Egyptology, clsaaical scholarship, linguistics, anthropology, paleontology, history of science, race relations, sociology, economics, psychology, science of pedagogy, social science, feminist scholarship, etc. Your observations is similar to those critics of the theory who have not read a page of any book on Afrocentricity (I also say this in jest).
  I know many of them, the critics--Mary Lefkowitz, Shelby Steele, Stephen Howe, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Arthur Schlesinger (John Kennedy's biographer), GM Rogers, etc. Most of the critiques out there are mere politics of distortions--the critics conveniently skirt the substantive issues raised by Afrocentrists. I have read nearly all of them.
  Please do read Molefi Kete Asante's "The Painful Demise of Eurocentrism: An Afrocentric Response to Critics," Martin "Bernal's Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization (The Fabrication of Ancient Greece), Vol. 1, ll, and lll"., "Black Athena Writes Back: Bernal Martin Responds to His Critics," the edited volume "African Athena: New Agendas," Maghan Keita's "Race and the Writing of History: Ridding the Sphinx," JH Caruther's "Intellectual Warfare," Shohat's and Stam's "Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media," Binsbergen's "Black Athena Comes of Age: Towards a Constructive Re-assessment," etc.
  Ngugi wa Thiong'o even gave a talk on the importance of Afrocentric theory in resloving black issues at Harvard University a few years ago (See his "Something Torn and New: An African Renaissance.")
  Afrocentricity is now taught in Europe, some parts of Africa, all over America, and even some parts of Asia. Fortunately, many of these critics have come to accept it. They even teach it alongside their courses in Western Academia, America mostly.
  Also, most of the white critics of Afrocentricity who say black people should join the global village won't allow you and I into their communities. And since charity begins at home, why don't black people get together and build their communities first before joing those whose communities are stronger than theirs. For instance, would you abandon your children to go raise someone else's? Google "Yosef Ben-Jochannan," "Gil Noble," and "Like It Is." Watch it and you will understand all I have been saying.

  reply
• KB 12 years ago

  I gat you,Francis.But am I to wait for Part II of your response before I say anymore? Let me know as I intend to be threading out an assertion with regards to the issue of Afrocentricity in my subsequent discourse,which,I get ...
  read full comment

  I gat you,Francis.But am I to wait for Part II of your response before I say anymore? Let me know as I intend to be threading out an assertion with regards to the issue of Afrocentricity in my subsequent discourse,which,I get a sneaky feeling will surprise or possibly even shock you.What I'm in a fix about is whether at this juncture we should take our interaction out of the public domain or to maintain it here so others can contribute to it.I'm all for whichever is convenient to you,because I can be communicating via your email address,in which case it'd be on one-on-one basis.I'm standing by.Don't forget,Francis,I've indicated elsewhere in my comments to your piece on Afrocentricity that reading you did not only make my day,but my year and even my decade.That should give you an idea how passionate I am about Afrocentricity.I humbly await.

  reply
• woman 12 years ago

  hajsyhdjdj

  hajsyhdjdj

  reply