Biography of Cheikh Anta Diop - Research Paper Example

CHEIKH ANTA DIOP Introduction Diop’s place and date of birth Main focus of his works The focus of the paper Africa as the cradle of all humanity Humans developed to homo sapiens status Egypt provided the environment for civilization Diop’s anti-colonial policy and his belief in creativity Africa needed to be independent and united Use of resources in Africa for industrialization His vision of nuclear power Diop’s contribution to knowledge through his writings Writings across various disciplines: history, anthropology, politics etc Contribution to knowledge in class and international gatherings Taught physics and chemistry Participated in different gatherings member of different international scientific committees Conclusion CHEIKH ANTA DIOP Cheikh Anta Diop (1923-1986) was born in Diourbel, Senegal. He is a famous African scholar whose education included mathematics, physics, philosophy, anthropology, history and economics. Throughout his writings, Diop championed for African identity. In doing so, he highlighted two main features of African history throughout his writings: human history and civilization, and the extraordinary evolution of the history1. This paper analyses some of the philosophical ideals of this great author and his contribution to knowledge. First, Diop believed that African was the cradle land of all humanity. He argues that it was in Africa where humanity developed to the Homo sapiens status. According to him, this great development in human evolution helped shape the civilization of the early Egyptians. Although African civilization stared in other places such as Sudan, Egypt provided the right environment in which the civilization grew. He further noted that since Africa was the original home of humankind, the difference in skin color and other structural differences are self explanatory2. In general, Diop believed that the contribution of Africa towards humanity is enormous and cannot be ignored. Secondly, Diop believed in the anti-colonial policy and was greatly influenced by it. For him, he believed in an independent and economically sound united Africa. For example, in his book titled Black Africa: The Economic and Cultural Basis of a Federal State, Diop mainly focuses on how African countries coupled unite to form one common market3. He also argued that Africa needed to have a continental army capable of defending the content and its inhabitants. He had a vision of an industrialized and united Africa, free from external interference and aid. In this book, he divides Africa into different zones for purposes of industrial development. He believed that there lies a lot of potential in the African continent that when used, could make African countries rich. He had a vision on how fusion could be used to generate enough power for the African countries to help on the process of industrialization. These ideas about industrialization and African independence are born from the fact that he was a firm believer in creativity. According to him, man needs to create in order to survive4. Therefore for him, the only way Africa could survive was through industrialization. Throughout his life, Diop made enormous contributions towards knowledge across many disciplines. Through his writings, Diop was able to contribute to different fields, including science, politics and history. For example, through his dissertation titled Black Nations and Culture: From Black Egyptian Antiquity to the Cultural Problems of Africa Today, he was able highlight the historical civilization of Egypt. In the book titled Black Africa: The Economic and Cultural Basis of a Federal State, Diop not only shares with world his knowledge of the African continent and its people, but also his physics and engineering knowledge. He not only talks about industrialization in African but also how this industrialization should take place. He discusses how Africa can generate its own energy and use the available resources to develop. Diop’s contribution to knowledge also goes beyond writing and research. During the 1950s, he taught chemistry and physics in France at the Voltaire and Bernard Lyceums. He also studied nuclear physics at the Curie Laboratory and studied chemistry art College de France. He also participated at different international gatherings where he presented papers on various topics. For instance, at the First Congress of Black Writers, he promoted his ideas about the cultural unity if Africa. During the UNESCO symposium in Cairo in 1974, Diop was among the participant. During this symposium, Diop presented his theories relating to various specialists in Egyptian studies5. During such forums and gatherings, Diop’s ideas were subjected to scrutiny and debate, and this helped the world understand his philosophical ideals and views about Africa and the world. Diop was also the Director of Radiocarbon Laboratory at the University of Dakar6. In addition, he was also a member of different international scientific committees. He was recognized as one of the leading linguistics, anthropologists, Egyptologists and historian. During his time, he travelled to different parts of the world and lectured in many institutions. In summary, Diop’s contribution to knowledge was multidisciplinary covering a wide range of subjects. Throughout his writings, he championed for the identity of Africans and the independence of the African continent. One of his driving philosophies was the anti-colonial view and his firm belief in creativity for survival. Bibliography Camara , Momodou . Nijii, "CHEIKH ANTA DIOP, The Pharoah of Knowledge." Last modified April 9, 2010. Accessed March 8, 2014. http://www.gambia.dk/antadiop.html. Freeman, Lawrence. “Cheikh Anta Diop: A visionary who wanted fusion power for Africa.” Executive Intelligence Review, 19. No. 35 (September 1992): 13-14 Muyumba, François N. “Sheikh Anta Diop: A Critical View of Africa in the Twenty-first Century.” The Great Lakes Research Journal, 1 (December 2004): 19-37 Sall, Babacar. “Cheikh Anta Diop: Great African Scholar Revisited.” The Journal of Pan African Studies, 5, no.1 (March 2012): 253-255 Read More