Cheikh Anta Diop Reflection Paper

979 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Human evolution out of africa essay

Whether we were born in Africa, or our ancestors originated in such a peaceful place, all of us have some connection to the developing continent. As time has passed, it has become more and more clear that the start of the earth’s population, originated in the heart of Africa. Through the harsh conditions, several species survived and began to spread to various other parts of the continent, and the rest of the world. From six species to three, moving across the country is what allowed our people to expand knowledge, technology and even just adapt to new climates. Being in a warmer environment, closer to the sun, it is necessary for the skin to absorb more sun rays, thus making and keeping the skin a darker color/shade. As time progresses and …show more content…

Cheikh Anta Diop’s Biography “The Meaning of our Work” as well as watching his intriguing interview that explained much of which I had no prior knowledge …show more content…

It is because of the activities we have done, and more importantly the people I have been introduced to, such as Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop that I am able to expand my horizons and maybe get a glimpse on what I have been missing. When a man who himself is African and shows how he believes so strongly in where he came from, it’s hard not to start to believe it yourself. Not only did he express his opinions, but he provided several research studies and findings that can link our evolution to Africa and prove himself. With skulls of different species, they could tell what race the men were and it even showed the development from the beginning to a homosapien sapien. With the fifth out of six species not having much of a forehead, you could come to the conclusion that the brain would also be different; sure enough it was missing the anterior lobe of the brain. That to me is just mind blowing and allowed me to be open to the idea that maybe there was an evolution from one species to the next.
All in all, by hearing Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop tell his story through a short piece of text, or through him discussing his intelligence and African findings, it’s easy to say that I am constantly learning something new. When there is proper evidence to back up possible theories, I find it much easier to come a sensible

Show More
Related

  • Skin Deep by Nina Jablonski and George Chaplin

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    Anthropologists and geographers have studied and overtime come to the conclusion that distribution of skin color is not random. Darker skin color has been found to typically come from near the equator and lighter skin colors are typically coming from closer to the north and south poles. Over the years, researchers have found that darker skin colors has protected the skin from having skin cancer. Recent studies have shown that “skin color is the product of natural selection acting to regulate the effects of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation on key nutrients crucial to the reproductive success” (169).

    Read More

  • A Closer Look at Lucy: Sexual Dimorphism and Speciation in Australopithecus

    1308 Words  | 3 Pages

    A study performed by Martin Hausler and Peter Schmid of the University of Zurich, Switzerland, appeared in the October 1995 issue of Journal of Human Evolution, igniting controversy over the 1974 Australopithecus discoveries in Hadar, Ethiopia. The most famous of the Hadar specimens is the 3-million-year-old skeleton, “Lucy,” who was recovered by paleoanthropologist, Donald Johanson. In his article, Shreeve presents the methods and findings of Hausler and Schmid’s study as well as some counter arguments from other scientists in the field.

    Read More

  • Ardipithecus Ramidus Kadabba: The Oldest Hominid

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wilford, J. & Co., Ltd. (2004).Another Branch of Early Human Ancestors Is Reported by Scientists. Online [Online], March. Available at: http://gateway.proquest.com [Accessed 28 March 2004]. References Articles from Nature “Geology and Paleontology of the Late Miocene Middle Awash Valley, Afar rift, Ethiopia,” Giday Woldegabriel, Yohannes Haile-Selassie, Paul R. Renne, William K. Hart, Stanley H. Ambrose, Berhane Asfaw, Grant Heiken, and Tim White, Nature 412, 175-178 (12 July 2001)

    Read More

  • Chimpanzees and Bonobos

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is said that the humanoid existence begins in Africa. It is no coincidence that Africa is also the home to Chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes, and Bonobos, Pan paniscus. These are humans’ two closest living relatives, both sharing almost 99% of the human genome through common descent. While humans were said to have separated from Chimpanzees around 5-7 million years ago , Bonobos separated from its Chimp cousins around 2 million years ago . Bonobos inhabit a single part of Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo South of the Congo River, unlike the Chimpanzee, which inhabits Across West- and Central Africa, with remaining populations distributed over several countries. While these two apes where once thought to be the same species, up until the beginning of the 20th century , there are many differences socially, as well as physically, that make Bonobos more than a Pygmy Chimp. With disparities in morphology, behavior, perhaps even emotions and cognition, and known as the “make love, not war chimp” , how can this ape be so vastly different from its notoriously violent Pan cousin, but yet share the same amount of similar DNA to Homo sapiens? And what does this mean for the studies of human and past humanoid behavior?

    Read More

  • Lucy, discovered by Donald C. Johanson and Tom Gray, is Our Oldest and Most Complete Human Ancestor

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1972, a group of researchers led by Donald Johanson, founding director of the “Institute of Human Origins” of Arizona State University, sets out to discover a hypothesized human ancestor, Lucy, in the Hadar Formation in Ethiopia. Donald Johanson’s group hypothesized the existence of a biped human ancestor, with the great ability to walk upright like humans, which of Lucy having a relatively small cranial capacity like that of an ape. This creature, Donald Johanson hypothesized, would be a “missing link” between the apes and humans, and prove that the populated humans developed the ability to walk upright before developing higher intelligence, which was opposed to the common b...

    Read More

  • Human Evolution: Ideas and Opinions Related to Evolution

    1104 Words  | 3 Pages

    Australopithecus afarensis who existed 3.5 million years ago and a 4.4 million year old skeleton of an Ardipithecus ramidus are the closest science has come to discovering the human lineage. Shattered Ancestry an article written by Katherine Harmon discusses the remains of two hominids found within Ethiopia. These skeletal remains have created a huge controversy within the topic of evolution questioning many assumptions that have been made referencing the human lineage. The skeleton of the Australopithecus afarensis was named Lucy and was discovered in 1974. The evidence of her walking upright on her two feet essentially guaranteed her a spot in the human lineage line. Lucy was a chimplike ape that was said to walk upright making scientists believe the human ancestry was simple. The complete skeleton found in Ethiopia of an Ardipithecus ramidus named Ardi completely changed all assumptions made from scientists about the complexity of the human lineage. These remains have encouraged researches that the human line is not the only lineage to have evolved but the chimpanzee line has undergone drastic changes as well. There are many traits that researchers have always directly linked to the human lineage however since these discoveries occurred researchers are reconsidering. The recent discoveries that have shattered what has always suggested what linked a species to the human lineage have changed the certainty of whether it is possible to confidently identify the human’s last common ancestor. Majority of scientist had forgotten that there would have been many hominid species living together at one time. New theories have been suggested since scientists revealed that the foot of a hominid found called the Burtele site was found ju...

    Read More

  • The Dangers of Tanning Beds

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tanning is a commonly used by Caucasian women to cause their skin tone to darken. Melanin is what gives skin its color. Naturally, when we are exposed to sun, the production of a pigment known as melanin starts which itself acts as a deterrent to the burning effects of ultra violet rays of sun (Pakhare). Some Caucasians find it necessary to tan to increase beauty. It is not necessary to tan to increase beauty.

    Read More

  • Anti-Slavery International

    1016 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kandiyoti, Deniz. Invisible to the World? Rep. no. 49842. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, 2009. Print.

    Read More

  • The Two Cradle Theory By Cheikh Anta Diop

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cheikh Anta Diop, wrote the “Two Cradle Theory” which was originally published in French in 1908. He believed that African people formed their society based on Egyptian beliefs and not European customs. Diop then goes on to show that there is a lack of evidence, literary, mythological, historical or otherwise to show that the ‘northern cradle’ has ever had a matriarch. Diop saw that the “northern cradle” possessed the material conditions favorable to nomadic life, or at least a highly mobile way of life (Peter 9). In 1976 Third World Press of Chicago, Illinois published the English translation of, “The Cultural Unity of Black Africa” which describes Dr. Diop’s Theory in full detail. Professor Jacob Carruthers of Northeastern University wrote

    Read More

  • The Piltdown Hoax Perpetrator: Charles Dawson the Prime Suspect In this Crime against Anthropology

    2684 Words  | 6 Pages

    Humanity became fascinated with the idea of evolution with the work of Charles Darwin and the Scientific Revolution. People began hunting for fossils that would prove that man had an ape derived ancestry (Weiner, 1955). After various years of searching, a piece of physical evidence was found in England that was said to confirm the theory of evolution (Weiner, 1955).This confirmation came from Charles Dawson’s discoveries from 1908, that were announced publicly in 1912 (Thackeray, 2011). Dawson was believed to have found the fossil remains of the “missing link” between ape and human evolution, the reconstructed skull of Piltdown man (Augustine, 2006). The material was found in stratigraphical evidence and animal remains that were, at the time, adequate enough to confirm the antiquity of the remains (Weiner, 1955). In 1915, another specimen, Piltdown man II, was found further proving this theory (Augustine, 2006). However, this was merely a hoax proven by fluorine relative dating in 1953; the artifacts and bone fragments discovered turned out to be altered to fit the proposed scenario (Augustine, 2006). The skull found was actually composed of a human braincase that was younger than the complimentary orangutan lower jaw (Falk, 2011). Both sections of the skull had been stained to appear to be from the same person of the same age (Falk, 2011).The perpetrator of this act was never caught and there are many theories proposed for the motive of this hoax (Augustine, 2006). Many people have been taken into consideration for this crime, such as Chardin, Woodward, Hinton, and Dawson (Augustine, 2006). Nevertheless, the evidence that proves that Dawson is guilty of this crime against anthropology is quite substantial compared to the evidence...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Nigel Barley's The Innocent Anthropologist

    1442 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nigel Barley’s The Innocent Anthropologist explores the lives and culture of the Cameroonian Dowayo tribe. The book follows Barley’s fieldwork gathered during his stay amongst the tribe, affording insight into their ceremonies, language, social norms, and beliefs. Barley’s book stands out in the highly personal tone with which he recounts his time spent with the Dowayo, acknowledging bureaucratic troubles and, oftentimes humorous, misunderstandings. With a translator, Barley embarks on his attempt to immerse himself into the culture of the Dowayo, not hesitating to participate in their festivals (to a certain degree) and incorporate himself in their daily lives. Barley regals the audience with the entire experience of his fieldwork in West Africa, making sure to include how more modern technological and political inventions, such as voting and refrigerators, are regarded by the Dowayo. Barley writes with emphasis on the difficulties of the language, which is tonal and consists of multiple dialects, the Dowayo’s fondness for

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Basil Davidson's 'Different But Equal'

    815 Words  | 2 Pages

    In summary, Davidson successful traces Africa’s earliest origins and demonstrates that this is a civilization far from having no arts, technology, sophistication and unique culture. Culture and civilization as we know it today can be traced back to Africa, and modern science has verified the early perceptions of Europeans to be wrong. He provides more than adequate evidence of Africa having a history complete with vast and rich civilization, including archaeological finds and specialized interviews with distinguished scholars and philosophers. Despite the fact that society possesses a more positive attitude towards African civilization today in terms of recognition, equality, and acceptance than in the past, negative stereotypes are still acknowledged and modern day racism unfortunately exists. I believe that the existence of Davidson’s work and videos such as Different but Equal are crucial to challenging these stereotypes and discrimination in order to create a more accurate image of Africa and its history. Overall, Davidson proves that the continent of Africa is home to a history that is just as meaningful, comprehensive, and progressive as that of any other civilization in the

    Read More

  • Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection

    679 Words  | 2 Pages

    The color of your skin used to depend on where you live. (Before transportation became so easy.) Darker skinned people would live where it is hotter, and the sun shines more. Lighter skinned people would live in cooler, less sunny areas. This is because the darker pigments in your skin would keep you from burning.

    Read More

  • Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop and Ancient Kemet

    405 Words  | 1 Pages

    Diop argued that the first civilizations emerged in the Nile Basin on the eastern coast of Africa. It is from this basin that African people fanned out across the continent and onto other lands around the 6th century BC. There exist two theories of human origin: monogenetic and polygenetic. The monogenetic view states that there is one source for mankind; man was born in one place and became different due to the climatic conditions to which he was exposed. The polygenetic opinion claims that man has several locations of origin, which would explain the physiological differences between the races. Followers of this theory believe that man was born in Africa, Europe, and Asia and there was no evolutionary or climatic development. Diop states that there are two reasons why this theory is faulty. He says that nature never strikes twice in its evolution; she doesn't create the same being twice. In addition, complete fossils have been found on the African continents, which proves that life began there. No such fossils have been found anywhere else in the world. In 1912, a British geologist attempted to prove that life had begun in England by piecing together a fake fossil supposedly found on British soil. The fabricated skull was later found to have been a fake by an English anthropologist in the 1950's. It was determined to have been constructed using the mandible and canine teeth of a monkey.

    Read More

  • Human Evolution

    941 Words  | 2 Pages

    The evidence for human evolution begins with the australopithecines. All the australopithecines were bipedal and therefore possible hominines. In details of their teeth, jaws, and brain size, however, they modify enough among themselves to be divided into five species: Australopithecus anamensis, A. afarensis, A. africanus, A. robustus, and A. boisei. Genus Homo are also divided in five different spices: Homo erectus, H. habilis, H. sapiens, and H. sapiens sapiens.

    Read More

More about Cheikh Anta Diop Reflection Paper

Open Document