Van Sertima and Tariq Nasheed

Ivan Sertima was born in 1935 in Guyana. He became an associate professor at Rutgers University where he taught Africana Studies. One of his major contributions is a pre-Columbian contact theory on Olmec alternative origin speculations. The theory is proposed in the book. They Came Before Columbus (1976). The Olmec theory has been extensively used by scholars in the African-American community but also widely ignored and dismissed by other scholars.   The book They Came before Columbus (1976) is a celebrated classic that deals with a range of contacts, accidental and planned between Americans and Africans in different times in history.  The book examines the cultural and physical presence of Africans in Early America.

In the book, he reveals a dramatic and compelling detailed documentation of the existence and legacy of black Africans in ancient America. He examines the facts of shipbuilding and navigation, the range of cultural analogies found unique to African and America and sources of longitudinal and latitudinal.  It also investigates cloth and animals from Africa to the Americas, African languages and the transportation of plants.  The evidence is in the form of letters, diaries and journals of explorers scripted in Carbon-14 dated sculptures, from dated skeletons, from the charts, Arabic documents, maps from the recorded tales sent to the Kings of Mali.  The range of sources helps the author in building his pyramid of evidence (Okpewho et al., 2001).With the skill of a novelist and a scholar's fastidiousness, Van Sertima recreates some of the most powerful scenes in histories such as the sea expedition of the Mandingo king in 1311, the launching of the great ships of Mali in 1310 and many others.

Tariq Nasheed

Tariq Nasheed is an American bestselling author, social commentator, radio host, television personality and documentary film producers who focuses mainly on African-American social history and psychology of dating.  Tariq Nasheed was born in Detroit, Michigan.  In his later life, he moved to Alabama and later to Los Angeles. He traveled to all corners of the world with the aim of studying different customs and cultures on how people interacted in relationships.  As a result, he established particular dating techniques that reflect his experience as well as lessons from psychology books.  The technique is known as "G.I.C.2."   He has appeared on a range of television shows including The Tonight Show and Late Night. He has also spoken on lecture circuit and venues such as The Learning Annex and Yale University

One of his most influential documentary films is Hidden colors.  The documentary film that features the history of African and aboriginal peoples was released in 2011. Hidden Color is a documentary that covers the untold history of African Americans.  This film presents some of the reasons why significant contributions of African and aboriginal people have not been featured in history.  Other issues that the film covers include, the original people of Asia, the original image of Christ, the great West African empires, the true story about the Moors,  the presence of Africans in America before Columbus and the reasons that contributed to the end of slavery. This great deal of subject matter is covered in the Hidden Colors documentary.

The documentary covers topics such as the Moor influence in Medieval Europe, Ancient Egypt and ancient empires of West Africa. The extensive knowledge of history and contemporary topics is presented in a refreshing and humorous way.

Similarities and differences between hidden colors and they came before Columbus

The first similarity between the two is that they focus on African Americans. Hidden Colors directed by Tariq Nasheed explains how African Americans were marginalized. In his book, Ivan Sertima reveals a dramatic and compelling detailed documentation of the existence and legacy of black Africans in ancient America (Van, 1976). Both agree that the society has refused to give credit to Africans but embrace years of cultural accomplishments of Africans. They both agree in the presence of Africans in America before Columbus.

In this respect, the central the role that African Americans played has been excluded from history even though it has constantly been told.  Evidence presented shows that Africans arrived in America many years before Columbus. The problem is that while the evidence is overwhelming and undeniable, it is systematically ignored by mainstream scholars, is overwhelming and undeniable.

The second similarity is that both Tariq Nasheed and Ivan Sertima recognize that African were among the first people to arrive in America. Contrary to conventional arguments that Africans came to America through slavery.  They argue that the role of African people in history has been ignored and many achievements have not been properly credited or recorded. Accordingly, Africans were the first to circumnavigate the globe and were responsible for the creation of first historical dynasties.  

The third similarity is that both Nasheed and Ivan Sertima have presented an extensive knowledge of history and contemporary topics in a captivating way and through a collection of a range of evidence. Ivan Sertima uses the facts about shipbuilding and navigation, the range of cultural analogies found unique to Africans and Americans, sources of longitudinal and latitudinal, cloth and animals from Africa to the Americas, African languages and the transportation of plants.  Other sources of evidence include a form of letters, diaries, and journals of explorers scripted in Carbon-14 dated sculptures, from dated skeletons, from the charts, Arabic documents, maps from the recorded tales sent to the Kings of Mali. 

On the other hand, there are various differences between Hidden Colors and They Came Before Columbus.  The first difference is the presentation of ideas. They Came Before Columbus is in the form of a book while Hidden Colors is the form of a documentary.  The second difference is that Ivan Sertima had scholarly knowledge in African American studies while Tariq Nasheed has no background knowledge on African American studies.  The third difference is that Ivan Sertima develops a theory while Tariq Nasheed does not develop any theory. According to the Ivan Sertimam,  Olmecs were related to Africans on the basis of facial features that characterize Olmec statues (Nell & James, 2017). Other scholars have supported this claim through genetic, epigraphical and osteological evidence. On the other hand,  Tariq Nasheed only notes that Africans made a major contribution to ancient civilizations and the systematic cover-up is pure to maintain the myth of African inferiority established in America to present slavery as an acceptable practice.

Conclusion

Hidden Colors is a documentary film that features the history of African and aboriginal people. This film presents some of the reasons why significant contributions of African and aboriginal people have not been featured in history.  On the other hand, They Came before Columbus is a celebrated classic that deals with a range of contacts, accidental and planned between Americans and Africans in different times in history.  The book examines the cultural and physical presence of Africans and recreates some of the most powerful scene in history.

 Tariq Nasheed and Ivan Sertima had the same goals and objectives. However, until today, they have not attained the goals.  The argument that Africans made a significant role in ancient civilization by making a series of settlements in the Americas long before Columbus has not been widely accepted despite the evidence available. The theory is viewed as a phenomenon of a Black Nationalist movement to bring alternative knowledge on black civilization. It has also been viewed as an effort by a network of groups that are broadly related similarly to the groups that believe that ancient Egyptian civilization is associated with Africans.  This means that African-American story is still not regarded as a central part of the American story. Hence, the central the role was that African Americans has not been widely recognized among scholars.

The goals of Tariq Nasheed and Ivan Sertima was to ensure that Africans’ history is included in the history of civilization.  However, despite the overwhelming evidence, mainstream scholars have continued to systematically ignore this perspective.  Until today, a body of new evidence continues to emerge to prove that Africans had frequently sailed across the Atlantic to America. Thus, the ancient civilizations of Egypt and West Africa immensely contributed to early American civilization by importing the art of mathematics, writing, sophisticated calendar political systems, pyramid building and religious practices as well as. The Olmec theory has been selectively adopted by scholars some dismissing it.  

References

Kapila, S., & Reading, G. Historical argument and practice bibliography for lectures 2013-2014.

Nell & James (2017). Hidden Colors: The Untold History Of People Of Color. 

Okpewho, I., Davies, C. B., & Mazrui, A. A. (2001). The African Diaspora: African origins and new world identities. Indiana University Press.

Van Sertima, I. (1976). They came before Columbus. New York, 136-137.

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