The African genius has been at work for millennia and its contribution to the development of humanity is far from being negligible, especially in ancient times. However, the falsification of history by the Western World, based on dubious scientific evidence, states otherwise. As a result, due to slavery and colonization which contributed to brainwashing Africans, the latter started to underestimate and minimize themselves. This is the reason why they think that their “present” is chaotic, because their “past” was not glorious.
Without, supposedly, a bright “past”, as well as a bright “present”, most people from the African continent are convinced that they have no “future” unless they are guided by other “races”, mainly the white race. This is a strong remnant of the indoctrination – through the educational system – that was applied in Africa by the colonists, and was passed down subtly from generation to generation. One of the messages that was conveyed through this indoctrination was, and still is, that Africans could not invent because their ancestors did not invent anything. In other words, there was, and still is a pervasive trend that requires Africans to deny themselves the capacity to invent or innovate.
Are there arguments that truly support this trend regarding the incapacity of Africans to invent or innovate? Indeed, one cannot deny that, in the vast majority of African countries, there are not enough quality infrastructures. Moreover, African countries keep on importing foreign capital goods, technology and standards. The reflex is, in general, to import from the former colonizing country. Consequently, it would make sense to admit that Africans cannot invent or innovate because they seem unable, among other things, to generate electricity by their own means, to manufacture their own cars, robots, weapons, etc. This is the ideal picture that the rest of the world, including several African countries, takes for granted. In other words, the truth points to the notion that Africans are less intelligent than other peoples on earth. Is this really so? And what if the reality was different?
Contrary to popular belief, African inventors exist. Therefore, the question is not whether they exist, instead, the question is why their genius is not valued in such a way as to help Africa thrive, economically and industrially. The answer to this question refers to the educational system inherited from the colonists who colonized the thought process of the vast majority of African clerks and leaders. This is one of the main reasons why the latter underestimate or minimize inventions or innovations that do not have a “white” origin. Hence, “black” is not beautiful, not efficient, not worth spending a dime on.
The reality on the ground, nonetheless, shows that contemporary African inventors and innovators have already conceived and built automobiles, solid fuel and ballistic rockets, humanoid robots, electronic systems, boats, computer software, anti-collision systems, egg incubators, energy accumulators, solar dryers, etc. in order to assist their people and governments by limiting imports. Unfortunately, these inventors, innovators and scientists do not always have the opportunity to really express themselves and exhibit their inventions or findings. As a result, a large number of them are not even known to the general public, nor to political decision-makers. But, even when decision-makers are aware of their existence, they rarely support them either, because the government has not delineated a comprehensive industrial and economic policy that includes African scientists, researchers, inventors and innovators as key contributors, or because political decision-makers simply, once again, minimize their talent.
Unless there is a paradigm shift within the educational system, establishing a core means to celebrate and encourage African ingenuity, it will be difficult for Africa to rival real emerging and developed countries on technical, technological and scientific issues. In all cases, it is the collective responsibility of Africans to value the African genius, as no other people can really be expected to do it for them … (1)
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(1) Excerpt from the Introduction of Debunking Myths Around African Talent
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LAMAR SAYS:
September 16, 2017 at 3:37 PM
We as African people are the Mother and Father of inventions, their was not nothing invented of consequence to the world,that did come from are people, there various books that show many of these inventions,all this information can be Googled, One Love