Saturday, July 14, 2018
JOHN HENRIK CLARKE
"At Howard University , William Leo Hansberry, considered to be the greatest Africanist to emerge from the Black American community, trained a generation of students to learn and respect African history. His articles, monographs, and conference papers on the subject appeared in leading journals throughout the world....
"The American black press improved its coverage of news about Africa. In reporting on the Italian-Ethiopian War, this press was fortunate in having in its service at least two reporters who had been well schooled in African history in general. The reporters were J. A. Rogers, a historian and journalist, and Willis N. Huggins, historian, teacher, and community activist. In his dispatches from Ethiopia, J.A. Rogers gave an astute analysis of the war to the 'Pittsburgh Courier'. He was the only reporter on the scene who was looking at the Italian-Ethiopian conflict from a black point of view. Rogers also commented on the political intrigues in Europe that led this conflict . Later, in a small book, 'The Real Facts About Ethiopia', he digested his reports and produced the most revealing document about the Italian-Ethiopian War that has so far appeared in print. Willis N. Huggins, a high school history teacher and founder of the Blyden Society for the Study of African History, went to Geneva and reported on the League of Nations meetings concerning the war for 'The Chicago Defender.' Dr. Huggins had already written two books on Africa: 'A Guide to Studies in African History ' and 'Introduction to African Civilizations'....
"The history of Africa was already old when Europe was born."
P. 168, 170, "The Reclaiming of African History," by John Henrik Clarke AFRICAN CULTURE THE RHYTHMS OF AFRICA (1990) by Molefe Kete Asante and Kariamu Welsh Asante (1990)