Not Out of Africa: How Afrocentrism Became an Excuse to Teach Myth As History

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Summary: read with Black Athena revisited
Review: If you read this book with "Black Athena Revisited" you'll combine a scholarly assessment of the ancient evidence with this book, an assessment of the people and the politics which survive the Afro-centric quest. The problem is that most of those who promote the idea that Western civilization inherited and stole African civilization are people who understand neither the languages nor the histories they are compared. You can tell though that Mary Lefkowitz has a particular problem with this, though it is unclear why exactly. Lack of explaining this left me wondering about her own biases -- they go two ways.

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Summary: a brilliant debunking of afro-centric myths
Review: I admire the author for attacking a popular afro-centric theory and totally demolishing it. Seldom have I read such a satisfying account that at once attacks and totally destoys a popular academic account. I was somewhat skeptical of the afro-centric accounts to start, but after I finished this book, I was convinced that Lefkovitz was 100% correct. A well-written and very well argued book that will win over even the most Afro-centrist critics if they can absorb and read her insights.

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Summary: The author satisfies right-wing, eurocentric, sexual fears.
Review: I will not be as emotional as others who denounce this pseudo-literaryattempt by this relatively unimportant "author." She isnothing more than a continuation of Carlyle, Bell Curve, Shockley,etc. Again, nothing more and nothing new. This false research paper ofa book is nothing more than anti-Afrocentric -- with little to noevidence presented to support her claims. ....

Ifyou desire to be semi-objective, start by reading Return to Glory byJoel Freeman and pay careful attention to his footnotes. ....

Now, I've gotten all that off my chest. I feela lot better. I hope AMAZON.COM places my review along with all theothers who praise Ms. Leftkowitz' efforts.

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Summary: Afrocentrism Has No Clothes
Review: Though occasionally pedantic and distracted, this book correctly holds to ridicule those American academic afrocentric mythologists who would create a fairly-tale history of black Africa. With ironic repartee, Lefkowitz notes the adoption of European standards and definitions of cultural greatness by afrocentric scholars in the invention of this imaginary past. The inclusion of Masonic images and lore into the equation seems forced and unessasary in addition to slowing down the pace of the book's entreaty to truth an accuracy.

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Summary: ignorance
Review: Your ability not to face the facts. Everybody know s that cleopatra VII was of greek desent desendent of alexander the so called great. the other six cleopatra's were of the nubian race also Ramses II to name a few. let's talk about the great universities of Tinbutu in central africa who practiced successful brain surgery while the europeans still lived in caves. and also the blond haired blue eyed yushora bar joseph (jesus christ) so before you books showing your racism know what you're talking about.philadelphia

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Summary: A very good book.
Review: My only complaint with this book is that it was too short. The author goes into great and satisfying detail about the Cleopatra-was-black myth. I wished she would have gone into the same detail discussing other claims from the Afrocentrists. However, what is there is great. I would have liked her to compare Afrocentrisim to the biases of other cultures. (My father was sent to boarding school in Italy during the 1930s, and was taught that the Italians had won the 1st world war single-handedly.) Nonetheless, this was a great and illuminating read. My copy made the rounds of many of my friends and family and everyone liked it, including my dad. Now if someone would just write a good, objective book about what *did* happen in Sub-Saharan Africa . . .

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Summary: Outstanding Scholarship and Courage
Review: Professor Lefkowitz has penned an outstanding study and decisive refutation of the current silly tales that are so in vogue in the Afrocentrist community.

Her work is most appreciated by those of us in the Black community who refuse to believe (or bring up our children) in a cloak of silly little self-esteem boosting lies and fairy tales about our history.

What causes people like Diop to believe that the creation and perpetuation of total fabrications will help American Blacks? It can only be their own economic selfish interests and desire for noteriety.

How sad that their adolescent work is the legacy that some would still leave to their children.

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Summary: A bold achievement, but built on shaky ground
Review: I will acknowledge that Mary Lefkowitz was bold to take on the Afrocentric movement, however I feel that anyone who accepts her theories over those of Diop obviously hasn't read Diop's work. There is simply too much evidence supporting Diop and relatively little supporting Lefkowitz, who admits she is no expert on Egyptology. (Who cares if Cleopatra wasn't black! She was born well after the Egyptian Golden Years, after Egypt had been conquered by the Greeks . . . a time during which intermarriage was encouraged by the Ptolemies.) In summation, her book is entertaining and provocative, but far from authoritative or revolutionary. Though I don't necessarily agree with the Afrocentrics, I agree more with them than I can with Lefkowitz, at least until she comes up with some more convincing evidence . . .

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Summary: Let the Sources Speak
Review: I am Greek with american post-doctoral education, and I' ve been waiting for some time for such a work to be released. A lot of people are really worried about this 'anti-classic' temper of current college history teachers in the States. I hope this work will serve the best for the truth behind afro-centrism. Apart from these, this is a really nice to read book.

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Summary: It's Short Because It Gets to the Point
Review: It's unfortunate that this book's greatest critics are often people who have never read it. Ms. Lefkowitz has been very brave to approach the matter of lying in the classroom in order to make students feel better. The scholarly community was RIGHT to abandon the theories that a "great white race" settled all the major civilizations of the world, and it was RIGHT to embrace this book, which adresses the matter of fabricating history in order to make a group feel better (which is EXACTLY what the "great white race" theories were about). It's not NECESSARY to fabricate history -- there is plenty of history out there that one could consider "empowering" if one needed that sort of thing -- but do we? Why can't we be proud of our own accomplishments, or go forward and make our own?

At some point, I just hope this country will get over its skin issues and get on with life. Books like "Black Athena" do not help this matter!

Brava, Mary.

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