Lost, Stolen or Strayed

Transcript of Black History Month keynote lecture delivered by Philip Emeagwali. Part 1 was delivered at Arizona State University West, Phoenix, on February 17, 2003. Part 2 will be delivered in February 2004. The third lecture entitled "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" will also be available in 2004 BHM.

Thank you for the pleasant introduction.When I was ten years old, living in Africa, my father posed the following question to me:"The story or the warrior, which is mightier?""The warrior!" I replied."My father shook his head in disagreement."The story. The story is mightier than the warrior," he said to me."How can that be?" I asked him."The story lives on long after the warrior has died," he explained.This month is Black History Month.

We celebrate it by telling stories of the contributions of black Americans to America.Also, today is President's Day. We celebrate it by telling stories of the contributions of American presidents to America.We tell stories about Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. We tell how Jefferson coined the phrase "All men are created equal." A phrase written in the Declaration of Independence.Jefferson wrote, "All men are created equal." But he meant, "All white men are created equal."Jefferson did not believe that white women are equal to white men. He did not believe that black men are equal to white men.

Not much has changed two centuries later. As they say, the more things change, the more they remain the same.In his one and only published book, called "Notes on Virginia," Jefferson explained why white men are intellectually superior to black men. Jefferson wrote that it would be impossible for a black person to understand the mathematical formula in Euclid's famous book called "The Elements."Jefferson wrote in his book "Notes on Virginia" that Africans are intellectually inferior and cannot understand mathematics.Euclid wrote his book, called the "The Elements," 2,300 years ago. It is the second most reprinted book in history. It is second only to the Bible. And Euclid is, perhaps, the world's greatest mathematician of all time.To the ancients, Euclid's Elements was a notoriously difficult textbook.

The story is told about a discouraged student that asked Euclid:"What shall I profit by learning these difficult things?"Euclid, visibly angered, said to his assistant:"Give this boy a penny, since he must make a profit out of what he learns."Because The Elements was notoriously difficult to understand, Jefferson wrote that it would be difficult for a black person to understand the work of Euclid.He believed that only people of European ancestry could understand the subject of Geometry.As an African mathematician, I studied and understood geometry. There was nothing in my experience that could lead me to believe that whites have greater mathematical aptitude than people of other races. Yet, that stereotype persists among white mathematicians.While researching the origins of the Euclid's work, I was surprised when I learned that Euclid never even traveled outside Africa."How could Euclid be Greek, if he was born, raised and educated in Africa?" I asked.It occurred to me that Euclid, the greatest mathematician of all time, was neither Greek nor white. It occurred to me that he was probably black and full-blooded Negro.I found the best explanation in a book on "History of Mathematics."

The author explained that ancient Egypt was not in Africa. "Egypt was part of Greece," he added.I was curious about how Euclid looked in person. As I probed further, I discovered a widely circulating photo of Euclid. It was the photo of white male that seems to be 90 years old.I asked: "Is this a true portrait of Euclid?"Upon reflection, I realized that it was a fictitious portrait. It was drawn 2,000 years after Euclid died.Euclid died 2,300 years ago in Africa.

And we do not have any true portrait of any person that lived before Jesus Christ. We do not have any true portrait of any person that lived even 500 years.I later learned that many Greek scientists of ancient times were born, raised and educated in Africa. And I still wonder if those Greek scientists were actually black Africans.This false portrait of Euclid as a white male reinforced Jefferson's views that mathematics could only be comprehended by whites. Since there is no proof that Euclid ever travelled outside Africa it makes sense to assume that he is full-blooded Negro.Our history books are full of erroneous statements.Black History Month is a period for us to re-examine the erroneous statements in our history books.A period for us to challenge these erroneous statements in our history books.A period for us to teach our children the truth. Teach them that Euclid was not Greek.

That he was not white. That was born, raised, educated and worked in Africa. That he is African.A period for us to acknowledge that science is the gift of ancient Africa to our modern world.If Euclid never traveled outside Africa, we should assume that he is African. Which raises the profound question:If Euclid is African, then Thomas Jefferson must be wrong when he argued that an African couldn't understand the work of Euclid?Euclid was the warrior and Thomas Jefferson was the storyteller.As my father taught me, the story is mightier than the warrior.The story lives on long after the warrior has died.

Thomas Jefferson's belief that an African cannot understand the subject of geometry lives on 200 years after Jefferson has died. It lives on in the belief that whites make better mathematicians than blacks. It lives on among historians of science who are reluctant to acknowledge the contributions of Africans to mathematical knowledge.When I was young, I believed that the warrior is mightier than the story. I did not understand that the pen is mightier than the sword.As a young man, I believed history is about the truth.As an older man, I learned that history is both truth and illusion.I learned that the value of my scientific discovery is in the perception of those evaluating it.I learned that the black student considers me to be his role model.I learned that the up and coming white scientist is reluctant to accept me as his role model.I learned that the established white scientist considers me to be an anomaly. Considers me to be a "freak of nature."

Considers me to be the anti-Christ. Considers me to be a scientific vampire that sucks on the white race. Visualizes me as a monster with couple of horns on his head.I learned that what I am is not as important as what I am to you.I learned that when you ask me: "Who Are You?" that you really meant "Who Am I?"I learned that you are searching for yourself in me.Twelve years ago, a magazine hired a white man to prepare an illustration of a supercomputer wizard riding an ox. I was supposed to be the supercomputer wizard. But the white illustrator, who knew that I am black, portrayed me as a white person in his published illustration.I learned that the white illustrator was searching for himself in me.Five hundred years ago, Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned to paint his masterpiece "The Lord's Supper." Before the Renaissance period, many paintings of the Madonna depicted a black woman. The infant God or Christ-child was depicted as black. But Leonardo da Vinci was searching for himself in Jesus Christ. He re-depicted Jesus Christ as white.

The Bible did not tell us what Jesus looked like. But we know that he lived in the Middle East or an eastern extension of Africa. We know that the Hebrews sojourned into Egypt and Africa. We know that Moses had a Cushite (Ethiopian) wife. When we put the facts together, we know that Jesus likely looked like a dark-skinned Palestinian, Yemenite or Egyptian.Michelangelo used his family to pose for Jesus Christ. Michelangelo was searching for himself in Jesus Christ.

During the Renaissance, the mother of Christ became a white woman.I learned that King James wrote the Bible the way he believed it was supposed to be written.I was trained by white mathematicians. I read books about History of Mathematics written by white authors. I learned in schools controlled and dominated by Eurocentric thoughts.Considering where I came from, it was heresy to suggest that Euclid was African. Psychologist named this phenomenon "cognitive dissonance." I call it "The Fear of the Truth."

We are afraid of the truth that the real Jesus Christ is dark-skinned. We are afraid of the truth that the real Euclid was an African and a full-blooded Negro.I learned that Euclid was portrayed as a European to instill a sense of pride in white students. To embed a feeling of intellectual supremacy into their collective subconscious. I learned that European mathematicians were searching for themselves in Euclid.I learned that Africans are the pioneers in many other fields of study.

I learned that the modern chemist is not aware that the word "chemistry" meant "black man's science."I learned that the word chemistry was derived from the word "Kemet." And that Kemet is the ancient name for the land we now call Egypt. And that Kemet translates as "land of the blacks." And that "chemistry" means "black man's science."Yet the story of black people's contribution to the science of chemistry is not included in chemistry textbooks.

As my father taught me, the story is greater than the warrior.We Africans have to tell our story. We underestimate the power of the story."What happened to the black people of Kemet," the traveler asked the old man."For legend had it that the people of Kemet were black? What happened?""Ah," wailed the old man, "they lost their history and they died."Isaac Asimov is the author of more than 500 books.

One of his books called "Biographical Encyclopedia of Science," is standard reference in many libraries.Isaac Asimov, the most prolific science writer, acknowledges that mathematics, science and technology are the gift of ancient Africans to our modern world.