Introduction to African Civilizations

Description

Timely, relevant, and illuminating, this essential book by respected cultural historian, teacher, and author John G. Jackson sheds long overdue light on standard Eurocentric and distorting approaches to the history of Africa from early African civilizations to Africa’s significance in world history. With brilliantly objective scholarship, respected historian and author John G. Jackson reexamines the outdated, racist, and Westernized history of Africa that is still taught in schools, and presents one infinitely more rich, colorful, varied—and truthful. Challenging the standard dehumanizing and exploitive approaches to African history, from the dawn of prehistory to the resurgent Africa of today--including the portrayal of Africans as “savages” who ultimately benefitted from European enslavement with its “blessings of Christian civilization”—Jackson confronts the parochial historian, devastates the theoretical pretensions of white supremacists, and expands intellectual horizons. Accessible and informed, fascinating and candid, Introduction to African Civilizations is an important historical guide that will enhance antiracist teachings for the general reader and the scholar alike. Introduction by John Henrik Clarke, pioneer of African Studies and author of Christopher Columbus and the African Holocaust Foreword by Runoko Rashidi, historian, activist, and author of Introduction to the Study of African Classical Civilizations