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First published in 1983 to international acclaim and winner of the Commonwealth Poetry Prize for that year, the first Caribbean female poet to have done so, this book has now become a Modern Classic, the subject of many theses around the world, anthologised in 40 collections in Aus-tralia, Britain, Canada, Ghana, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, USA, Venezuela among others. It has been made into a Channel 4 film and a BBC Radio play, held at the National Sound Archives, and is a GCSE literature option in the UK. Nichols charts the emotional and spiritual development of an unnamed African-Caribbean woman who recalls a multivisioned memory of the slave trade, of European cruelty, of African complicity, of rape, of infanticide, of back-breaking plantation work, of sensuality and sexuality, of self-pride in woman/motherhood, of a reawakened and recommitted consciousness of direction, purpose and destiny.
Does the Word in Africa have a proper meaning?
Could a diachronic study of the Word in Africa be undertaken? What is the meaningful particularity of the African Word since the Egyptian Mdw Ntr (hiero-glyphs) to Nommo, the Spoken Word of the Dogon of
Mali? All these questions pertaining to History and Philosophy are carefully and thoroughly examined in this book. It is a great honor to recommend this book not only to the specialist but to all those interested in conducting research in African and African American Studies.
Prof Theophile Obenga
Historian, Egyptologist, author of
African Philosophy During the Period of the Pharaohs
2800 - 330 BCE
This book is a philosophical wake up call. I hope after reading it a large number of people will go beyond the book and find new values (in the works of others)...calling for a total reexamination of the role and contribution of African people to world history.. Deep thought is a weapon in the war for liberation. Prof. Carruthers has helped us sharpen our tools for the intellectual battles of the present and the future.
Prof. John HenrikClarke
Ancestor, maa kherew, teacher, thinker, writer, editor,
mentor to Jacob Carruthers and many others
FrOM ThE SACRED TEXT
IN IGBO AFA Language, THE DIBIA IS CALLED OBALA OTULE NA-EBU OBALA AkWU which translates as: the Mouthpiece of the God of Light who commands the elements and all in the world and whose pronouncements come to pass and take effect. It is because of this that the last act of the Dibia in giving life and potency, through putting his or her breath of life once, to the Ogwu he or she creates before handing same over to the client, is to imbue it with At mouth-seal twice and complete the mystic creation with the sacred and divine invoca-tion: Onu Dibia. bu Onu Mmuo, the mouth of the Dibia is the mouth of the Spirit, i.e., the Voice or pronouncement of the Dibia is precisely that of the Spirit...
Being blessed with Agwu, the Holy Spirit's possession, the Dibia is sometimes so taken with complete possession that he or she virtually becomes Agwu. He or she speaks the voice of the Holy Spirit, thinks the thoughts of the Holy Spir-it, performs the skills, miracles and feats of Agwu, sees with the vision of the Holy Spirit and hears with the divine Ears of the Holy Spirit... It is this divine, mystical or miraculous performance of the God of Light / Agwu [which constitutes the efficacity of a good Dibia].
THE AUTHOR
John Anenechukwu Umeh is Professor of Estate Management in the Dept. of Environmental Studies at the University of Nigeria, Enugu. He has served as Dean and Vice-Chancellor on several occasions. He comes from a long tradition of Dibias and is an internationally renown practitioner. His uncle is the present Chief Priest to Idemili shrine in Nnobi. Umeh is the author of Okponku Abu, a collection of poetry.
Now Available
After God is Dibia Vol 2 by John Anenechukwu Umeh
£14.99
Towards the African Renaissance by Cheikh Anta Diop
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Pharaoh Of African History
Cheikh Anta Diop, an influential 20th-century scholar whose groundbreaking thesis, Nations Nègres et Culture, propelled him to international recognition.
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Brothers Menelik and Tshome live in Ethiopia.They are often enchanted by the stories told by their grandmother about the history and beauty of their land. One story in particular, that of the Rastaman, so intrigues the boys that they decide to go in search of him. They set about this adventure with great enthusiasm and expectation. However, their quest is not at all an easy one.
In Search of the Rastaman emphasises the link between Africans abroad and those on the continent through their common ancestral and cultural past.
Love is a quality which is constantly sought for, from family, friends and strangers. In this book the three stories speak of love, and the search by females (human and insect) to understand the meaning of their lives, and the direction they should take. In Kona the young woman recognizes her difference, her emotions and her need for friendship. In Man, the Bee there is a similar story: the search for love, the expression of it and the denial of the female's right to speak freely. In Mans there is the situation of the female whose help when her husband falls ill is misused by him on recovery. He then allows her to do all the work until she dies.
There is a strong oral tradition in African literature and this is rendered with startling effect by Nigerian writer, Emmanuel Jegede. The stories are concerned with moral teachings, i.e., from the content of the stories one gets a lesson in values and morality suitable for an upright life. In Children of a Hunter one gets the message that discipline is absolutely necessary for the achievement of any goal; in The Cock and the Goldfish one understands that quarrels can be avoided and that co-operation limits disputes; and in The Mouse we are told that fights are unproductive and that other parties benefit from them.
Princess Shani is a young woman of great courage. On her father's decision that she should marry, many suitors present themselves.
But Shani refuses them all and takes it upon herself to go in search of her own happiness. She thus embarks upon an adventure which tests her skills, courage and compassion. Ultimately, she overcomes the obstacles before her and triumphs. This story exemplifies the courage of a young African woman who takes her destiny in her own hands and moulds her life with the assistance of an elderly sage.
This book is a concise report of the 1974 Cairo conference and contains the arguments concerning the ethnic, linguistic and cultural composition of the ancient Egyptians as well as the deciphering of the meroitic script. The debates are fierce and extensive on the question of the racial identity of the ancient Egyptians but this volume does show that despite the opposing camps' perspectives, the dispassionate summary leaves no doubt as to the scientific rigor that was at the service of the African contri-bution. This volume therefore elucidates the oppositional stances delineated by both tendencies and exposes the weaknesses of the unrevised Indo-European model.
Dr Saakana has achieved a remarkable contribution in this monograph.
Through his synthesis of seemingly disparate threads, he reveals the re-silience, continued relevance - And the transformative agency of Kemet and its philosophy into the 21st century.
Dr Nezhapi-Delle Odeleye
Faculty Director of Research, Students Course Leader Anglia Ruskin University, UK
Saakana is meticulous in writing style, and creative in his approach to the integrative factors that make the African idea of Djehuty [Thoth, Hermes] the central concept of humanizing the world. This is a brilliant book from a seasoned philosopher of culture.
Dr Molefi Kete Asante
Professor & Chair, Dept of Africology Temple University, USA
With dexterity and precision, Saakana demonstrates why we need to deprovincialise Africa's knowledges. This is a beguiling read, timely, as we rebuild Africa's Renaissance in the 21st century.
Dr Vuvisile Msila
Professor & Principal
Institute for African Renaissance Studies
University of South Africa
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