GUYANA’S SHINING STAR GEORGE G.M. JAMES
By HANDEL ANDREWS
Sometimes in the glorious history of ideas, a great thinker is defined byone work. Francis Bacon is best known for his “Novum Organum; Herbert Spencer for “First Principles”; Thomas Hobbes for “Leviathan.” George G.M. James’ magnus opus is “Stolen Legacy.” I will attempt to show why his great book is so important in black thought.
BACKGROUND
Born in British Guiana (now Guyana) sometime during the latter half of the Nineteenth Century to Rev. Linch and Margaret James, he wrote the best-known book on the African origins of Western philosophy.
After completing elementary and secondary schooling in his native land, he went to England to further his studies. He earned B.A., B.T., and M.A. degrees from Durham University, where he was a candidate for the D.Litt. Further post-graduate work at Columbia University earned him a PhD, most likely in the Classics. He also earned a
teaching certificate in the State of New York to teach mathematics, Latin and Greek.
His university tenures were extensive. He served as Professor of Logic and Greek at Livingston College in North Carolina for 2 years. For ten years he was Professor of Languages and philosophy at Johnson C. Smith College at Charlotte, North Carolina. His teaching career ended at the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff, a black institution. He died under mysterious circumstances the same year his “Stolen Legacy” was published. Apparently one afternoon he left his job and friends and was later found dead in Nashville, Tennessee.
Since no biography of Dr. James exists, the truth of his death might never be known. It is disgraceful that his native Guyana has never paid tribute in any way, shape or form to this, her native son. It is more disgraceful that the University of Arkansas, a black institution, does not have a certificate on its walls acknowledging his tenure. It is even stranger, extremely perplexing, that “Stolen Legacy” was written during Dr. James’ tenure at that university, but THERE IS NO COPY OF THE BOOK IN ITS LIBRARY!!!.
STOLEN LEGACY
The Public Library in Georgetown, Guyana, contained copies of Plato’s
“Symposium”, but no copy of ˜Stolen Legacy”, written by a Guyanese. When I was studying philosophy, George G. M. James’ name was never mentioned and I only discovered his book after college.
Why did I not hear about him or his book? Why do European scholars vilify “Stolen Legacy” at every count? Because it dared to question the usual assumptions about the origins of much of Western thinking, and prove that black people were not as dumb as we were told.
To quote Prof. Ben Jochannan, “If you ever dare to read the works of George G.M. James,you will never again be the same as before you did. He stands at head of the line with Akhenaten, Ramesis, St. Augustine, Terrence, and so many others who heeded the warning, “Man know thyself” This is great praise from one of
the great scholars of African influences in Western philosophy.
DR. JAMES’ THESIS
Dr. James argues that Greek philosophy and the mystery systems of Greece and Rome were stolen from Egypt, and he challenges the notion that civilization originated in Greece. His thesis in “Stolen Legacy” is that, “The Greeks were not the authors of Greek philosophy, but the people of North Africa, commonly called the Egyptians.” He painstakingly documents the African origins of
Graeco-Roman philosophical thought.
He writes, “The term Greek philosophy, to begin with, is a misnomer, for there is no such philosophy in existence. The ancient Egyptians had developed a very complex religious system called the Mysteries, which was also the first system of salvation.”
European arrogance and its notion of the white man’s burden rests on the assumption that Greece invented philosophy, the arts and the sciences. Dr. James challenged the foundations of Judaism and Judaeo-Christianity, “Stolen Legacy,” Pages 177-178 assert that the statue of the Egyptian goddess Isis with her child Horus in her arms is the origin of the Virgin Mary with the baby
Jesus in her arms.
He also contends that, “All the great religious leaders from Moses to Christ were initiates of the Egyptian Mysteries.” Dr. James also tells us that in his “Timaeus”, Plato says that aspirants for mystical wisdom
visited Egypt for initiation and were told by the priests of Sais, “You Greeks are but children” in the secret doctrine, but were admitted for information enabling them to promote their spiritual advancement.
AFRO-CENTISM
Dr. James has been called an Afro-centrist, derived from Afro-centrism, a derisive term, that is used to describe a historical approach that argues that European scholarship has largely neglected or denied the intellectual contributions of Ancient African on their civilization and formulated ” a generally European-centered model of world civilization and history.”
Instead of complimenting historians like Prof. James and Dr. Ben Jochannan for their sterling contributions to our understanding of world history, many scholars denigrate them. For example, in “Not Out Of Africa”, Mary Lefkowitz argues that Afrocentrism is an excuse to teach myth as history. But Dr. James’ and the claim of others that ancient African intellectual traditions were the basis of European intellectual traditions is not myth, but withstand the scrutiny of history.
In “James revived”, Prof. Ben Jochannan quotes from “Ruins of Empire” by Count C.F. Volney, an eighteenth century French academic ‘of the highest esteem”, page xvii:
“There (speaking of Egypt) a people now forgotten discovered while others were yet barbarians, the elements of the arts and sciences. A race of men now rejected for their black skin and wooly hair founded on the study of the laws of nature those civil and religious systems which still govern the universe.” Dr. James’ Importance
Dr. James, Prof. Yoef A.A. Ben Jochannan and others of their views teach us the truth about our ancestors. The achievements of Kimet (Africa is the derisive European term ) are startling to this day. Dr. James and others point to Kufu’s Great Pyramid (even if Eurocentrists deny Nefertiti and Cleopatra as being black, they accept that Kufu was black), the Grand Lodge at Luxor, the Pyramid Texts, the Kimetian Book of the Dead, the Kimetian Mystery Systems as
examples of African genius.
When European scholars state that the Great Pyramid of Giza was built 2,000 years before the Common Era, Dr. James and others
prove that it was built 8,000 years earlier.
When European teachers told us that Africa was “the dark continent”, he and others proved that it was the only continent of light. Indeed, men like Dr. James should be enshrined in the Intellectual Hall of Fame for those who dare expose the lies that Europe had told for so long.
Conclusion
Dr. George G.M. James was born in British Guiana but he belongs to the world. The movement he started was to show how Africa was the cradle of civilization and the origin of European enlightenment.
To date no biography of Dr. James exists. I hope that someone will commence research and publish a book on him. It is long overdue in the name of Black History.
I have yet to get a hold of this precious book, Stolen Legacy by this Great African Teacher. Everytime I come across extracts of it, I just get goosebumps!
The teachings, the facts emanating, the energy flowing from the genetic memory charged by George G.M. James’ opus is an intellectual & spiritual pilgrimage I know I will conduct one day soon………
Ase’ it’s a very powerful Book ?
Thanks Handel Andrews for this. Indeed a biography on this man is vital
NO facts are presented in this fraudulent book. This is not the work of a scholar, but the incoherent mumblings of a fool in a desperate -yet thankfully unsuccessful- attempt to steal the glory of Greek Philosophy and the achievements of the unique and majestic Greek Civilization.
http://www.prometheism.net/euvolution/legacy.html
Why did Europeans go to Africa?
If it came from a white person you wouldn’t say that it came from a very intelligent black man white people has always stolen black people’s history and everything else
Scott
What are you ranting about? Do you want to discuss the thesis of G.M. James? This thesis has since been confirmed by great scholars like the Pharaoh Dr. Cheik Anta Diop, who is featured on Rasta Livewire, check his video, and Dr. Theophile Obenga, the great African sage, featured also on this website, check him.
The Greeks who were basically a mixed race of people composing of Africans, middle Easterns and some Dorians were created and civilized by the TaMurians (Ancient Egyptians). No one argues about that these days.
Your theories are dated and defunct. Roll over Beethoven, Chuck Berry n Rock n Roll r here!
Bow to the sage G.M. James!
Jahdey
On the one hand we have Skopje claiming that Alexander the Great and all [Greek] Macedonians were Slavs.
On the other hand we have Africans claiming that we literally stole our philosophy and culture from them.
I honestly do not know whether to laugh at all of you, or cry on your behalf, for being so desperate, mislead and ignorant…if others follow your -bad- example, it won’t be long before Paris Hilton claims she’s a direct descendant of Cleopatra who -as she will most
likely support- was actually an Eskimo on vacation in Egypt.
Wait a minute!
I believe that following James’ retarded method, I can prove Cleopatra was in fact an Eskimo! Egypt is hotter than Siberia (FACT); most women enjoy showing off their curves on the beach (FACT); Cleopatra was considered a charming woman (FACT)… so YES! It all makes sense. Cleopatra couldn’t wear her new bikini in Siberia -as it was too cold- so she went to Egypt to bathe in the Nile. The Egyptians were bedazzled by her beauty and sense of fashion, and crowned her queen! I guess spurious rationalizations CAN be used as valid historical arguments…thanks to retards like James.
All joking aside, we all know Cleopatra was Greek-Macedonian…
But one might ask : Why you try to steal Greek history? Because lost souls, people like you and the Skopje Bulgarians and Slavs, NEED to have a history to tell and there is no greater history than GREEK history. So, why not claim (STEAL) Greek history? After all, what have YOU got to lose? Of course people might laugh at you, in the same way I’m laughing at you, but compared to what you have to win, ridicule and embarrassment is a small price to pay. James silly stories and spurious theories have been repeatedly refuted by many scholars, yet here you are trying to convince us he’s a “sage”.
You said that “No one argues about that -James’ theories- these days.”
Here is a recent article (December 2009) that exposes his ignorance :
http://www.kritike.org/journal/issue_6/urstad_december2009.pdf
Here is a bonus article – not so much related to James’ book, as it is to Afrocentrism – on the notion that Africans are a superior race !!! Maybe I shouldn’t be arguing with that idea – I might get labeled as a racist !!! Hmmm…Afro-Nazis. How original and refreshing :
http://wayne.academia.edu/documents/0053/9708/melanin_paper_bom.pdf
There are many MANY scholars that have exposed the “historian” James as a fraud and failure, yet accepted him as an imaginative storyteller – or should I say fairytale writer.
At his point, I would like to pose a question :
In regards to Chapter Two of James’ fraudulent and ridicilous book; how many great and world renowned philosophers and scholars can you name that produced their work during a period of absolute peaceful internal (physical, mental & spiritual) and external (quiet & uninterrupted) state?
MANY great scholars, philosophers and writers, even music composers, have lived turbulent lives, have been prosecuted, have lived in sadness and poverty, yet they managed to produce their most valued works – even during times of illness, war, and/or severe emotional stress.
Marx, Dostoevsky, Schopenhauer, Sartre, Boethius, Kafka, Freire, Mozart, are just a few examples of people that were tormented either by sadness, illness, rejection, or even prosecution, imprisonment and fear of death. Of course, that did not stop them from producing their highly praised work.
Was James not educated enough to be familiar with their work and the conditions under it was produced? Or was he in fact an idiot, addressing other idiots? Or perhaps both?
Because, after all, James believed it is impossible for philosophy to bloom & flourish during turbulent times !!! If that is not idiocy I really don’t know what is…
Last but not least, let us not forget what Heraclitus said about war :
“War is the father of all things and king of everything. Some men it turns to gods, and some to (common) people”.
It was in fact war that made Greeks the gods you envy so much.
As far as your last comment is concerned :
I do not bow to clowns, idiots and charlatans like James. In fact, I do not bow to anyone.
I am Greek.
I KNOW the TRUE history of my ancestors – you and all the sages (sic) you bow to, are way too ignorant and malevolent to challenge the truth.
Keep drinking the James Kool-Aid and I’ll make sure you’ll keep getting played.
Sott
There is nothing new in your neurotically marred argument. You have a tinge of racism in your idiotic sneer but we do not need to explore those monkey like tendencies. We will get down to your point which is that according to your false authorities, ancient Greeks developed an indigenous civilization which they then exported to Egypt. But there lies your delusion, mis-education and lack of critical thinking.
Egypt was the fount of civilization and had reached the summit of human attainment 3000 years before Greece was even settled. The Greeks were still savages by the time the Egyptians had mapped the stars, developed chemistry, alpha-beta, government, metallury, philo-sophia, etc.
Herodotus the Greek accepts that the entire Greek civilization including its Gods and religions came from Egypt.
Pythagoras was a disciple of the Egyptian school of Hermes Trismegistus. If you knew the importance of Pythagoras in Greek history you would begin to understand…
The Holy Bible, the Holy Koran, the Greek Myths all sing of the greatness of the Egyptians, and the Sudanese, and the Puntities.
These sources of yours are puny, infantile and vain. They cannot re-write history nor change reality..
Wise up.
Jahdey
Your ancestors were bunch of illiterates.Firstly,Alexander the Butcher(Homsexual) could read nor write.After his thugs Aristotle and his gang thieves ransack the library, they could not translate what they stole.It them some years before they were able to do so.There is NOTHING as Greek history or Philosophy,all copied and stolen from the AFRICANS.We need no arguments nor debates about our own with a RETARDED EUROCLOWN like.Everything you claim to have belongs to us.You live lies and will die with lies.Europeans are bunch of LIARS.
@ scott, Ur just a racist, bigoted nicompoop who is just on this site to incite ur hateful comments bcuz u have no knowledge of anything, ur just a troll…fuck off!
Is that why the first thing Alexander the “great” did upon arrival was to raid the Egyptian libraries? And that quote about war is the dumbest I ever heard. Next you’ll say that Imhotep was not, among other things (world traveler, architect..) the father of medicine, that the staff with snakes intertwined is not of Egyptian origin. He did perform brain surgery, you know. I know what the Greeks are famous for, “greek”. By the way, Bush first raided the libraries of Iraq too.
You should applaud the significance of this post as I do. It is very important for Black and White people to continue the effort to find the facts and spread the message. I am posting this reply almost three years after your post, however, I want to share with the writer and others just how much I appreciate this information. There is very little information on George G.M. James and I intend to continue to research this Historian and Scholar and honor commitment to research and scholarship.
My answer keeps getting censored/deleted here, so I decided to post it on the site below :
http://avaxhome.ws/ebooks/history_military/0865433615.html
Keep drinking the James Kool-Aid and I’ll make sure you’ll keep getting played.
Loser! You cannot respond.
This is what happens when wanna-be internet scholars start making claims they cannot substantiate.
You have failed to live up to the challenge I posed which is:
G. James’ book is still so powerful that white supremacists like Mary Lefkowitz are left still fighting to rebut the premises of this book, even 40 years after the book was first published.
The greatest scholars in the world accept G. James thesis. Our hero and your nemesis Cheik Anta Diop validated G. James before the UNESCO committe on world history in 1976. Cheik had PH.D in about three fields of study. Dr. Theophile Obenga PH.D validated G. James. Dr. Clyde Winters PH.D validated James. Dr Molefi Asante PH.D validated James’ books and thesis. And thousands of other PH.Ds, M.As, and LL.Ms, all validate and worship G. James as a classical work on history.
The direct narrative of ancient Greeks support G. James’ works..
Greek civilization was stolen from the Egyptians because Greece was yet thousands of years from being civilized when Egypt was the world’s classical civilization and the light of humanity.
The Egyptian civilization is three thousand years older than Greece. Go read Herodotus book History instead of fooloing around on cheap quality websites.
Fool!
Welcome to Rastalivewire, where we humble your hubris and angst.
Jahdey
scott is suffering from the death of the white mystique. we’re living in the midst of the white mystique decline. what a glorious day to witness the last cycle of the concept of whiteness…and quite possibly the last cycle of the most physically weak humans to inhabit the planet earth! the sun is literally melting them. he may wanna drink some of that kool aid in the raw form of hatsheptsut or the mixed form of a cleo to secure himself a place on our future planet! the greek/white/devil reign caused so much damage to the planet that only hue(melanin)mans will survive what’s to come. the only GREEK concept that stood the test of time is homosexuality and religious (catholic) relations with little boys. good luck caligula. ; )
Love you sister Serene. Well Europeans have calcified pineal gland and that makes them less intelligent to us AfricanS. Scott is a RETARDED EUROCLOWN so he can’t think properly as all PSYCOPATHIC RACIST BIGOTS do . He could also be an HOMOSEXUAL PERVERT. The time is up for Europeans and so they are running scared.
We have to tell our own story no more European His-story crap because those day are gone. Now we know our HISTORY.
PEACE AND LOVE.
scott. your own white scientist states ,that the first humans come from africa. that means you come from negros. whites get cancer from the sun. if the sun is your enemy you guys are in trouble. i know i cant spell or write, but uguys get the jist of what i’m saying. this is not eye serene she is educated i’m not .just a friend of hers.