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FREEDOMWAYS                        THIRD QUARTER 1972

history in his book African Saga. Except for the mistaken reference to the Egyptian people as coming from the Middle East of Mediterranean Europe originally, Professor Samkange's book is an excellent introduction to the subject.
  With the African independence explosion and the black studies explosion in the U.S. which followed it, several commercial publishers became interested in books on Africa. The most extensive recent study on Africa is in the book The Horizon History of Africa, published by American Heritage. This book consists of 12 chapters, each written by a person that is considered to be the best living authority on the aspect of Africa that he was asked to write on. The net result of this approach to African History is exceptionally good. In preparation for this book, the editors obtained the services of two Black consultants: One a historian (John Henrik Clarke), the other an anthropologist (Elliot P. Skinner). Because the editors at American Heritage were good listeners they were able to explore areas of African History that have been neglected for years. Each chapter in the book is supported by a well selected anthology of documents relating to that chapter. Most on the pictures were taken especially for the book, and all of the maps are original. The contributors are both black and white and in this book they complement each other.
  Afro-American interest in Africa started soon after their first arrival in this country, and has never been totally broken. This interest began to take on formularized effectiveness at the end of the 18th century, and continued with varying degrees of enthusiasm and lethargy throughout the entire 19th century. An excellent book on the subject which was more talked about than read is Africa Seen by American Negro Scholars. One of the achievements of the now defunct AMSAC (American Society on African Culture) was the publication of this book which is still in print and available through FREEDOMWAYS.
  Apropos of Africa: Afro-American Leaders and the Romance of Africa, edited by Adelaide C. Hill and Martin Kilson, contains some of the same information and insight that is in the AMSAC book. Professors Kilson and Hill extend their information into other areas which show the richness of this subject. The Africans in the West have never been strangers to the Africans in Africa, as both of these books will show. Literature of this nature can be used to show the similarities between Africans and Afro-Americans, and can be the basis for African world unity.
  There is a need for Black historians to specialize in specific areas

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of African history, until those particular areas have been thoroughly explained. Among the new historians and social scientists following this path is Dr. Yosef ben-Jochannan. His specialty is the impact of the Nile River, its culture and its people, and the civilizations on Africa and the rest of the world. Most of the major writings of Professor ben-Jochannan have been on this subject. His best-known books are Black Man of the Nile, African Origins of the Major Western Religions and Africa: Mother of Western Civilization.
  The image of Africa among Afro-Americans has been of concern for a long time to a large number of scholars, including some bigoted white scholars who use this image in order to spread dissention between Africans and Afro-Americans. A new book which deals with these troubled waters in a highly creative way is The American Image of Africa: Myth and Reality, by Felix N. Okoye. Professor Okoye documents the history of this image from the beginning of the slave trade to the present time. HIs book is a useful source of information that can be used to bring the divided Africans and Afro-Americans back together again.
  Books about the lives of individual Africans are in short supply, in spite of the number of remarkable Africans whose lives begged for a good biographer. Among new books in this field are: Gallery of Gold Coast Celebrities by Dr. I. S. Ephson, Jaja of Opobo by E. J. Alagoa, Holy Johnson by E. A. Ayandele, John Mensah Sarbah, 1864-1910, by The Hon. Mr. Justice Azu Crabbe.
  The most moving account of an Afro-American's journey to Africa, and his concern for Africa's future, is in the book Journey to Africa by Hoyt W. Fuller, who is editor of Black World magazine. Mr. Fuller went to Africa by his own admission, to escape from the U.S. He did not escape, of course. He proved, contrary to Thomas Wolfe's assumption that "you can't go home again," that you can never leave home. Because, no matter where you travel, home will follow you; and Mr. Fuller only added the troubles of Africa to the troubles he realized he did not leave behind in America. The beauty of the book is that his feeling for both the Africans and Afro-Americans is one of both hope and impatience. The undeveloped potential in Africa worried him just as much as the undeveloped potential of Black Americans. The one thing he realized that still eludes most of us is that the real Black revolution, when it comes, will be international, and that the preparation for it may be the most important task before African people everywhere.

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