From The Ramparts

From The Ramparts

Junious Ricardo Stanton

Appreciating African Genius

“Just as the Memphite Theology is the source of Greek philosophy or primitive science, so it is also the basis of modern scientific belief.” George G.M. James Stolen Legacy page 145 originally published in 1954

            As we celebrate Black History Month, let us not fall into the trap of European historiography and pedagogy where we only focus on names and dates, failing to grasp the underlying philosophical, ethical and moral catalysts for what happened and what the people accomplished. In his classic and well documented work Stolen Legacy, George G.M. James makes the compelling case Greek philosophers plagiarized most of their philosophical and scientific ideas from Nile Valley Africans. In addition to proving a slew of Greek “philosophers” traveled to and studied in ancient Egypt, he documents the various theories and schools of thought attributed to men like Thales, Anaximander, Socrates, Plotinus, Anaxagoras, Pythagoras, Plato and a host of others were all taught and influenced by the Africans in KMT (now called Egypt).

            When they returned to their native lands the Greeks were confronted by their city state leaders and charged with teaching alien doctrines. Some were banished while others like Socrates were put to death because of their teachings. Aristotle was able to survive and thrive because he befriended Alexander III of Macedon the invader conqueror who allowed him total access to KMT scholarship.

            Modern scientists, physicians, astrophysicists just like the ancient Greeks, explain the universe using African concepts they don’t fully understand; and like the Greeks before them, they are unable to discern or admit the existence of divine intelligence acting within and behind all creation, both animate and inanimate.

            Africans believed the universe was teleological, meaning it was designed and created with purpose by divine intelligence. Despite the popularity of the Western notion of the “random Big Bang Theory” supposedly caused by nothing out of nothing, a few Western scientists are saying what Africans said thousands of years ago,

 everything in the universe, no matter how small has consciousness. Modern Western scientists call this Panpsychism.

“Panpsychism is the view that consciousness, mind or soul (psyche) is a universal and primordial feature of all things. Panpsychists see themselves as minds in a world of mind. Panpsychism is one of the oldest philosophical theories, and has been ascribed to philosophers like Thales, Parmenides, Plato, Averroes, Spinoza, Leibnis and William James. Panpsychism can also be seen in ancient philosophies such as Stoicism, Taoism, Vedanta and Mahayana Buddhism. During the 19th century, panpsychism was the default theory in philosophy of mind, but it saw a decline during the middle years of the 20th century with the rise of logical positivism. The recent interest in the hard problem of consciousness has revived interest in panpsychism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panpsychism.

            Notice how Wikipedia fails to credit this ancient idea to Africans, from whom Greeks like Thales, Plato and Parmenides plagiarized it. This is consistent with how African philosophy, metaphysics, spirituality and science have been ignored or written out of history by our adversaries. This is unfortunate because if the Europeans weren’t so bigoted and narrow-minded they might actually learn something about the nature and makeup of the universe and themselves. The ancient Memphite Theology specifically states that an unseen, non corporal consciousness/energy/intelligence created the universe out of itself and all matter contains its essence or consciousness/energy/intelligence.

            The West eschews the notion of Spirit and unseen intelligence. White folks talk about “soul” but it makes them extremely uncomfortable because it cannot be seen, felt or discerned as a material entity. The best they can do is measure or capture electromagnetic frequencies or images (EKG, EEG and MRIs) on their machines but they cannot discern the ethereal essence which is the source of these electromagnetic frequencies. Worse, they do not equate this electromagnetic energy with the CREATOR or intelligent design because it is too subtle to be seen, measured or quantified by human senses or machines.  The closest they come is the Genesis account which says God spoke creation into existence. (Genesis 1 and 2:1-3) but unlike ancient and traditional Africans who fully embraced the spirit reality, whites dichotomize their limited understanding of the spiritual from material matter which they are far more familiar. Even though they use terms like Atom which the Greeks took from the Africans (Atum), they cannot discern the connection between the unseen Spirit/Intelligence/Energy, atoms, DNA, subatomic particles and all that exists!

            If they would expand their thinking, the universe would make much more sense and they would actually live more harmoniously in this dimension as an integral part of it and its universal consciousness instead of psychologically alienated beings like they do now. This alienation is what allows them to believe they can usurp the natural order or wage war against nature itself.

A modern physicist named Gregory Matloff is saying what our African ancestors said eons ago, the universe is conscious and we humans share the same essence and substance as the universe itself.  http://bigthink.com/philip-perry/the-universe-may-be-conscious-prominent-scientists-state

            As we celebrate Black History Month let us apply the Akan idea of Sankofa, meaning returning to embrace and applying the wisdom and science of our African ancestors. Let us expand our minds to celebrate African genius.  Sankofa and embracing African spirituality, philosophy and science will bring us into a whole new relationship with all creation and eliminate much of the stress and confusion we experience now.

                                                            -30-