challenges issued by Dr. Clarke that Africans should write their own history and not expect that the former oppressor will write it for Africans-he exhorts his listeners to read and write their own story through history; I have tried to heed to their clarion call: writing and composing African history from an African-centered perspective. On the face of it, it sounds reasonable and a good idea. Doing it is another matter when one begins to listen to Clarke in his lectures and the references he doles out with such ease, that in the end it becomes very intimidating and a huge task. The proficiency, efficiency and intellectual vastness of his lectures, writing and speeches defy and dwarf any effort one was going to have in writing anything clear, compact and choc-full of information and data.
when one attempts to write about the Historian's lessons and lectures about African history, and formulate or write the history one has learnt from schools or from the Master teachers themselves-it becomes apparent what a huge task and undertaking it is. I will not use all the tapes that there are about his lectures; and there are still those lectures that he recorded whenever he lectured over the decades as a professor and African historian-which if ever transcribed, hold a wealth of information and more references. He had a very deep personal library of rare books, manuscripts and audio files along with video/films. A bit of mention about his greatness and the libraries that have been named after him, and the Web sites will be in order here to pay tribute to a man who read and encouraged African people to read and write.
Posted By: DAVID JOHNSON
Tuesday, December 31st 2013 at 11:50AM
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