by Brenda L. Johnson

Created on: July 21, 2008   Last Updated: December 27, 2009

History, Consciousness, Power

Amos Wilson states: "To manipulate history is to manipulate consciousness; to manipulate consciousness is to manipulate possibilities; and to manipulate possibilities is to manipulate power" (The Falsification of Afrikan Consciousness, 1993, p.2). Indeed, those who write the history have power over those who passively accept a perpetuated history. Carter G. Woodson stated that one does not have to worry about a man's actions if one controls the way he thinks. If the oppressors control the telling and stories of history, then they need not worry about those whose consciousness lies dormant. This is undoubtedly how white supremacy functions through historiography, ideology and overall hegemony. By promulgating falsities such as the earliest civilizations were European civilizations, those who do not fit into this category feel a sense of inadequacy. The possibilities for Afrikan existence are limited to existences of vagrancy, animalism, ineptitude, and inferiority. The limited theoretical possibilities of what one can be limits how one performs life. That which one has been taught to perceive of oneself inevitably leads one to live below potential. And living below potential, or more accuratelydysfunctionallyserves the power interest of those who depend upon such dysfunction.

Thus, Afrikan people will become cheap and free labor in a capitalist economy. They will assuage the neuroticism and narcissism of white supremacy by denying their own self worth. They will support the continued political power of oppressive supremacy by remaining silent. If supremacists tamper with history and ideas in such a way that people of Afrikan descent believe that they are inferior, then white power is maintained. There is no immediate threat to the political and economic domination of white supremacists, nor is there a threat to the social, economic and spiritual denigration of Afrikan people.

Therefore, it is incumbent upon Afrikan people to begin to realize the extent of their contributions, past and current, to society. Only by knowing and acknowledging Afrikan history, intellect, beauty, creativity, and culture can Afrikans begin to counter the hegemony of white society. From Nile Valley contributions to civilization outlined by Tony Browder to the great kingdoms of Mali and Ghana, Afrika has indeed been central to the development of global civilizations. In fact, Chancellor Williams, in his text, Destruction of Black Civilization, begins to

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