Olmec origins: Where are the Africans?
Round table at LACMA
Nearly 600 people filled the Bing Auditorium at the Los Angeles County Art Museum (LACMA) to hear the closing lecture for the exhibit “Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico.”
The round table, held Sunday, was put together in a scant six-week period as the result of input from the community and the Board of Supervisors, according to Brooke Davis Anderson, new deputy director of curatorial planning at LACMA.
The large turnout was expected, and the audience featured a distinctive cross section of Angelenos. Many of those in attendance were very outspoken on the discussion topic: theories on the origins of the Olmec. They were also there because of what they considered a grave oversight and injustice.
“We were elated, when we found out that the exhibit was here, and a number of people came out (to see it) on opening day,” explained Astenu Brown about the controversy which began in early October. “We were devastated, when not one panel (in the exhibit) mentioned the theory of the African origins of the Olmec,” added Brown, who is an organizing member of the watchdog group the Committee to Eliminate Media Offensive to African People (CEMOTAP).
When CEMOTAP inquired about the omission, Brown said they were told that there was no evidence to prove an African connection to the Olmecs.
That response prompted a letter-writing campaign and an eventual appearance before the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Nov. 22 demanding a change to the exhibition’s narrative and an investigation into the diversity of LACMA’s board.
Brown noted that problems with previous exhibits such as Pharaohs of the Sun and King Tut, where the African connection was either ignored or downplayed, prompting CEMOTAP to act.
“Our children have the right to have our history told,” said Brown about why the absence must be addressed. “There is a lot of focus on the 20th century, but when you start talking about the foundation of civilization, people are not willing to acknowledge the African influence on the development of world history.”
Brown adds that CEMOTAP is not asking LACMA and other art and cultural entities to focus on an African-centered history, but said they have to “promote other points of view, if they are going to be intellectually honest.”
The round-table discussion featured three prominent local researchers—Virginia Fields, Ph.D., and senior curator of art of the ancient Americas at LACMA; Kevin Terraciano, a professor of Latin American History at UCLA; and Toni-Mokjaetji Humber, Ph.D., professor of ethnic studies at Cal Poly Pomona and author of “Where Black is Brown: The African Presence in Mexico.”
Humber, specifically talked about her findings during travels to Mexico, in particular, “the little Black man in the cave.”
Additionally during the question-and-answer period, a number of other researchers presented their findings supporting the fact that the Olmecs were African-descended people. These included professor Kwauku Person-Lynn; Mathua Tare; and Eva Hones (Ya Asantawa) who studied with the seminal researcher Ivan Van Sertima (who wrote about the Olmecs in his book, “They Came Before Columbus”).
Other people discussed the epicanthic fold; the scant availability of Olmec skeletal material for DNA testing except for a recently discovered Manati sacrifice; and the fact that ancient Africans had mastered the ability to use sea currents to take them from the west coast to the east coast of Mexico.
The round table concluded with the decision that more research needed to be done, and Brown of CEMOTAP said his organization will continue to put pressure on mainstream organizations like LACMA to be more inclusive and more diverse.
Black history does not start with slavery, but it begins with the conception of mankind and transcends all of the world’s history. Although popular teachings reject the great accomplishments of African and African American people, researchers and historians have confirmed Black people are the foundation of civilizations throughout the world, including the Americas.
LOS ANGELES - The county will spend $1.3 million to help at-risk youths and young adults under a pilot program approved by the Board of Supervisors.
County officials will work with Homeboy Industries, a nonprofit, gang intervention program founded and run by Father Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit priest.
The effort will involve "tattoo removal, job development, and re-entry services (for) high-risk, high-need probationers and at-risk individuals between the ages of 14 (and) 30,'' said William Fujioka, the county's chief executive officer.
People often describe me as troubled. I’m not going to say that I’m not. But I’m not crazy. I have troubles. A lot of us do. But you need to understand where I’m coming from and why I am the way I am. Considering what I’ve been through, it’s a miracle that I’ve been able to hold it together. I’m just trying to find my way. [I’ve read newspaper stories about me that] say, “Experts testify [that boy] is psychotic.” The way they describe me is wrong—bi-polar, depression, pyro, whatever. I know I’m not at all.
LOS ANGLES, Calif. — In a major case of academic poaching involving crosstown rivals, USC has lured away two prominent neuroscientists from UCLA with a promise to expand their internationally renowned lab, which uses brain imaging techniques to study Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, autism and other disorders, it was reported today.
Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Laurence “Larry” B. Frank has been named as the new president of Los Angeles Trade-Technical College by the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees.
Frank will assume his duties on July 1, 2013. The downtown Los Angeles community college serves 27,000 students each year with a primary focus on career-technical education. The board of trustees approved the selection at its regular meeting on May 1, in what was termed “a rigorous search guided by LACCD Chancellor Dr. Daniel LaVista.”
