Guyanese Dr. Ivan Van Sertima passes at 74

Guyanese Dr. Ivan Van Sertima passes at 74
May 29, 2009 |

DR Ivan Van Sertima

The Guyana Cultural Association New York Inc. /Guyana Folk Festival committee yesterday announced the passing of Dr. Ivan Van Sertima, a former professor of the University of Rutgers and an important son of Guyana’s soil.
Ivan Van Sertima, born January 26, 1935, is a Guyanese-British historian, linguist and anthropologist noted for his Afrocentric theory of pre-Columbian contact between Africa and the Americas.

Van Sertima was born in Kitty when Guyana was still a British colony and remained a British citizen up until his demise. Van Sertima’s, father Frank Obermuller, was a trade union leader. Van Sertima completed his primary and secondary education then commenced poetry writing.
In 1959 he began pursuit of his university education in London where, in addition to producing an array of creative writings; he completed undergraduate studies in African languages and literature at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London in 1969, and graduated with honours.
During his studies he became fluent in Swahili and Hungarian dialects.

He worked for several years in Great Britain as a journalist, delivering weekly broadcasts to the Caribbean and Africa. In doing field work in Africa, he compiled a dictionary of Swahili legal terms.
In 1970 Van Sertima immigrated to the United States, where he entered Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey for graduate work.
Van Sertima began his more than 30-year teaching career at Rutgers as an instructor in 1972 and completed his master’s degree in 1977. He was Associate Professor of African Studies in the Department of Africana Studies.

Van Sertima has written books in which he argues that the Ancient Egyptians were black and his 1976 book “They Came Before Columbus” was a bestseller and achieved widespread fame for his claims of prehistoric African influences in Central and South America.
It did not receive much professional attention when published, and has been criticized by academic specialists.

On July 7, 1987 Van Sertima appeared before a United States Congressional committee to challenge giving credit for the discovery of America to Christopher Columbus.

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Dr. Ivan Van Sertima passed away peacefully and quickly at home on Memorial Day, May 25th.

Funeral will take place this

Saturday, May 30, 2009

The Riverside Church
490 Riverside Drive
Harlem NY 10027
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Mwen te dekouvri vanyan neg sa a nan liv"ILS Y ETAIENT AVANT COLOMB".Ma rive al bay omaj a neg sa jodia ,nan harlem.

Monchè Pipo si ou te ka rive an antèman sa a se ta yon gwo satisfaksyon pou mwen si ou ta vini ekri ki jan sa te pase pou nou sou fowom nan.


Mwen rankontre van Sertima Okanada nan ane 1999 e mwen te fè yon chita pae ak misye ki te gen gwo enfliyans sou mwen. Mwen pral eseye koreji lyen sou sit mwen an ki gen ti moso nan chita pale sa a kote misye esplike Tayino yo te di Christophe Colomb yo te abitye fè komès ak Nèg Lafrik, epi yo jwenn lO ki soti sou kontinan Afriken an, nan zam pèp Amerik.

Chak grandèt konsa ki ale, e ou wè zèv yo kite pou limanite fè yon nèg reflech so kantite efo pou yon nonm fè pou ou pa gaspiye ti bout tan n ap fè sou planèt la.

respè!