Journal of African Civilizations

The Journal of African Civilizations was founded in 1979 by historian, archeologist, linguist, and literary critic Ivan Van Sertima (b. 1935 in Guyana) and was immediately hailed by St. Claire Drake as “one of the most important events in the development of research and publication from the perspective of Pan-African scholarship.” The journal has been a forum for positive, proactive images of African genius and contribution to world civilization. Using the monograph format, the Journal of African Civilizations has published the following volumes: Black Women in Antiquity (Vol. VI, No. 1), Nile Valley Civilizations (Vol. VI, No. 2), Great Black Thinkers (Vol. VIII), Golden Age of the Moors (Vol. XI), Egypt: Child of Africa (Vol. XX), and Great Black Leaders: Ancient and Modern (Vol. XIV).

Ivan Van Sertima's book They Came Before Columbus exemplifies the sort of scholarship the journal has encouraged and inspired. In fact, the journal was an early venue for pioneering black psychologists such as Na'im Akbar and Asa Hilliard, as well as such varied voices as Charles Finch, Leonard Jefferies, Rosalind Jefferies, Mamadou Chinyelu, and Cheikh Anta Diop. The Journal of African Civilizations was designed to correct the damage done by the mythmakers in the racist tradition. The journal therefore affirmed Africa's significance in the history of world civilizations. In this regard, the journal is in the company of Journal of Black Studies, Western Journal of Black Studies, Journal of Black Psychology, and Imhotep.

Professors Theophile Obenga and Molefi Kete Asante at the Sacred Temple of Heru in Edfu, Egypt, 1996.