![]() The continent of Africa is ravaged with many problems. These problems have been reported in international news outlets, agencies, multinational corporations, universities and so on. It is a lot easier to find what's wrong with Africa than to find out what is right. But like any continent, Africa is full of young men and women who are working tirelessly night and day to develop and transform the motherland. Such as one young man named Torpuot Majiok Romdor from Ethiopia. Torpuot was born in Akoba, Ethiopia in the southwestern region. He is currently 23 years old and a student at Dilla University in Southern Ethiopia studying Computer Engineering, in addition, he has completed his Bachelors of Business Management prior. Torpuot, currently right now is known all over the world for inventing a device that detects malaria ''a very serious disease caused by mosquito bites and tiny parasites that get into and multiply in the bloodstream,'' without using blood to determine the diagnosis. This is a huge win because many people in Africa are affected by this disease. Knowing your status is the difference between life and death. And this young man has created a device that will save many lives. Torpuot lost his brother at the age of ten years old to malaria. That experience shaped him and deeply inspired him to find a solution to this disease that is robbing loved ones from their families and communities. ''Local problems should be solved by local people, '' - Torpuot Majiok stated which is relevant to his situation. African people cannot afford to be at the mercy of the West or the international community but must look within her population for salvation. Torpuot also encouraged young people in Gambella, Ethiopia to take education seriously and to seize the opportunities at hand. He said, ''we are playing with life,'' when young people take their precious youth, time and energy for granted. He encouraged the youth to be resourceful, conscientious and to be visionaries. Because the future is only available for those that are prepared. Even though the situation is tough, the youth have to fight for their future and be the change they want to see. In addition to his education and invention, he is also the founder of Empowerment of Gambella, Ethiopia Youth in Innovation, Science, and Technology. He wants more young people to be interested in STEM ( Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Torpuot, wants young people to have a holistic approach to education. He wants young people to apply what they have learned in school to the real world through businesses, books, inventions and so on. It will be in the execution and implementation of these learned ideas that will save the continent from continuous poverty and diseases. In conclusion, the youth of Ethiopia must be connected and interested in the affairs of the nation. Torpuot encourages youth to participate in local and national activities, competitions and seminars dedicated to the wellbeing of the nation. Youth should not be idle but productive with their time and education. The investment in the youth will determine the longevity of the nation.
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![]() African Origin of Civilization Myth or Reality by Cheikh Anta Diop In Chapter Thirteen, A western scientist didn't want to accept that Blacks can be the foundation of all life, therefore his people the white race aren't a ''primitive Negro substratum.'' (Diop., page 262). He continues to argue that, ''the white race must have been elsewhere, in some location not yet excavated. But its existence at that period cannot be doubted.'' (Diop., page 262). He cannot reconcile a Black genesis of the planet with his racist ideas and outlook on human development. The Black person in scientific history was at the bottom of the racial hierarchy and intelligence. But when presented with facts they always find ways to whiten the ancient Egyptians. ''It is certain that these are not true Negroes, in the usual sense of the word. These are men comparable to the Nilotics in the Great Lakes region, or else comparable to the lighter-skinned populations of those territories.'' (Diop., page 268). It is clear by now that the modern Nilotes are the ancestors of the ancient Egyptians, Sudanese and Ethiopians to name a few. With these findings, it makes sense to draw them closer to the white race to authenticate a possible white beginning of Egypt. So, in this case, a clear racist distinction is made by western scientists, scholars, academics and so on to classify Negro (Bantus) and Nilotes as in ''larger blacks'' as two separate groups of people. When in reality they are genetically the same. Diop continues, ''in the Olduvai man, Cornevin sees the ancestor of the Nilotic, of the Shilluk, Dinka, Nuer and Masai. He makes him a Caucasoid.'' (Diop., page 268). The more advance that Black society is the more the racial tug of war tightens. It was convenient to present these Nilotes as closer to whites to serve European racist agenda of divide and conquer. ''The theory that makes Caucasoids of the Dinka, Nuer, Masai, etc., is the most unwarranted. '' (Diop., page 273). Diop is correct. Anything that divides the African people in history is poison for us as a collective. To conclude the book the author states, ''the Negro has been there from the beginning; for millennia he was the only one in existence.'' (Diop., page 274). The foundation of all intelligent life came from the motherland as in Africa. All races on the planet occurred as a mutation outside of Africa. They left black-skinned and climate and nutrition changed their pigmentation from dark to light to survive in the new environment. Human beings should accept their collective history and responsibility to a better planet. Young Africans are encouraged to see this book as, ''it is merely a progress report, prepared on the basis of documents available to us at the time. It is also an indication of the direction in which future generations of Black African scholars must continue calmly to work, for salvation lies at the end of that effort.'' (Diop., page 276). The work continues. ![]() African Origin of Civilization Myth or Reality by Chiekh Anta Diop Chapter Twelve, Mr. Raymond Mauny a heavy critic of Diop's work stated in his criticism that, ''to determine the amount of melanin in pigmentation.'' (Diop., page 237), must be known and made available to the public. He does not believe Diop's findings of facts that assert that the ancient Egyptian were Black-skinned Africans. Because that would upset the white supremacist view of Black Africans and would expose modern daylight robbery of African people of their authentic history. The Oracles of Amon and Dodona were two kidnapped Black-skinned women from Upper, Egypt according to Herodotus. This is an example of one of the most respected scholars in antiquity describing the ancient Egyptians. I doubt he was confused about their colour and appearance. The ancients were descriptive and were down to the last detail as far as detailing red, yellow, and brown undertones of people they've encountered. ''We shall see that for Herodotus, the Egyptian had black skin, woolly hair, and was circumcised.'' (Diop., page 243). Mr. Raymond Mauny continues by saying, ''I fail to see anything that proves that the Egyptian were black.'' (Diop., page 245). He comes from a generation that has strong negative beliefs about Blacks. He cannot reconcile Diop's finding with his fundamental racist training in education and waking life in a white world. For Diop to be right it would mean western civilization was influenced by the very same people enslaved in the Americas, Carribean and so on. Another famous tool of deflection that is used is, ''that in Egypt there was a melange of various races.'' (Diop., page 247). The first white population in Egypt were branded, slaves. It was only after the Egyptian dynasty was conquered in 525 B.C by Persia did Asiatics and so on continue to dominate. Such people were not the foundation of the Egyptian dynasty but were beneficiaries of its decline. White people then benefitted from the overthrow of the authentic rulers and then began to write and deceive the world of Egypt's authentic beginnings, being a Negro one. Diop continues by saying, ''the colour of the Egyptians has become lighter down through the years, like that of West Indian Negroes, but the Egyptians have never stopped being Negroes.'' Diop., page 249). Meaning regardless of what happened in Egypt up to this day. The people in the land are the descendants of the ancient Black population that were conquered. ''The intellectual and affective dispositions of present-day Blacks are the same as those of the people who edited the hieroglyphic texts of the pyramids and other monuments and sculptured bas-reliefs of the temples.'' (Diop., page 250). Current day African people should not be judged through the lense of colonization that took thousands of years. Ancient African societies that were conquered became re-tribalize out of survival. African people should not be judged by what they did to survive but instead, we should understand what took place to understand the spiral decline. |
AuthorNyabuoy Gatbel is a South Sudanese Canadian currently living in Calgary, AB. She was born in Ethiopia in 1993 and moved to Canada as a refugee in 2002. She's currently a undergraduate student at the University of Calgary. Besides her studies she's a social entreprenuer focusing on the, ''Paarman Centre project,'' a fashion model, writer and author of the book, ''The Fire Within poetry in Thok Nath and English.'' Archives
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