Lesser Known Black History Figure
“They Came Before Columbus”
* Guyaneseborn literary critic, linguist, and anthropologist.
* Associate professor of Africana Studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
* In 1976, published the book, “They Came Before Columbus”, that features his arguments for an African origin of Mesoamerican culture in the Western Hemisphere.
* Achieved widespread attention within the African-American community for his claims of prehistoric African contact and diffusion of culture in Central and South America.
* In 1983, authored “The Lost Sciences of Africa: An Overview,” that discusses early African advances in metallurgy, astronomy, mathematics, architecture, engineering, agriculture, navigation, medicine, and writing.