Wake
Up Black America; We Must Stop the Theft of Our History
Compton, CA
(BlackNews.com) - For the first time in nearly thirty years
a major exhibition featuring a prominent Black African is
touring the nation. "Tutankhamen and The Golden Age Of The
Pharaohs" opened in Los Angeles in June of 2005. After remaining
there for five months, it was on display in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida from December 2005 through April 2006.
The exhibition
opens at Chicago's Field Museum on May 26 of this year. Thus
far organizers have made millions of dollars as throngs packed
museums in California and Florida.
In Los Angeles
and Fort Lauderdale, scores of Black people, wearing
T-shirts exclaiming "King Tut Is Back And Still Black,"
and carrying signs depicting the king as well as his
Negroid parents and siblings, picketed the opening of
the exhibit. They were protesting widely published renditions
of the pharaoh as White. National Geographic went so
far as to describe King Tut as "a North African Caucasian."
Fred Shaw, president of the Compton, California branch
of the NAACP, stated: "Here we have an opportunity to
expose our children to a world renowned Black figure,
who was not a rap artist or athlete, and the mass media
depict him as white."
In a local
exclusive, the Los Angeles Sentinel headline read: "First
Jesus, Now King Tut: Local Leaders Fight Society's Efforts
To Whiten Africa's King Tut."
The exhibit
features over 130 artifacts from the tomb of King Tut.
All of them depict the King as Negroid. Nevertheless,
in the last room of the exhibit, officials have mounted
three photographs of white skinned busts of the boy
pharaoh. Outraged African Americans have referred to
these photographs - based on CT scans of the king's
skull conducted by scientists from Egypt, France and
the United States in 2005 - as "modern makeovers." A
similar CT scan was conducted in 2002 by a group of
scientists from New Zealand and Britain. They depicted
the young king as decidedly Negroid.
The current
controversy surrounding the racial identity of King
Tut is the latest in an ongoing effort by Black scholars,
scientists, religious and political leaders to resurrect
the true history of Black people. In denying African
Americans our cultural heritage, White historians, anthropologists
and archaeologists have removed Black people from ancient
Egypt, Egypt from Africa and Africa from world history.
Yet, the
truth is there for all to see. The language of the ancient
Egyptians was African, not Indo-European, Semitic or
"Afro-Asiatic." The hieroglyphic images and symbols
employed by the ancient Egyptians are native African
in origin, not Asian. Moreover, ancient Hebrew, Greek
and Roman eyewitnesses overwhelmingly described the
ancient Egyptians as Black Africans. In Genesis 10:6-7,
the Bible categorizes the Egyptians as Mizraim, one
of the sons of Ham, the father of the Black race.
King Tut
was born into the 18th dynasty of ancient Egypt. According
to many authorities, this was the greatest royal family
in human history. The dynasty included Queen Ahmose
Nefertari, "the most venerated figure of Egyptian history;"
Queen Hatshepsut, the first prominent woman of history;
King Thutmose III, the world's first great general;
King Akhenaton, "Father of monotheism" and many others.
They ruled a great nation that was the super power of
its time.
According
to William Flinders Petrie, the "Father of modern Egyptology,"
King Tut's extended family originated in Nubia, the
Black nation south of Egypt. Their mummies appear to
confirm Petrie's conclusion. Furthermore, sculptures
and drawings of King Tut's father, King Amenhotep III,
his mother, Queen Tiye, and his brothers, King Akhenaton
and King Smenkhare, have been described as decidedly
Negroid by numerous authorities.
It is time
for the world to recognize that King Tutankhamen was
a Black pharaoh who ruled a Black nation during the
zenith of ancient African power and influence. As African
Americans, we should not tolerate the whitening of our
history. It is an insult to the memory of our ancestors,
a deprivation of our children's birthright and an indictment
of our generation if we fail to act.
Legrand H. Clegg II, Esquire, is producer of the
award winning documentary, "When Black Men Ruled The
World." Further information may be obtained at his web
site: www.clegg.tv
CONTACT:
Legrand H. Clegg II, Esq.
The Clegg Series
1-800-788-CLEGG
Email
This Article To A Friend
