Cold Wind from the North: The Prehistoric European Origins of Racism Explained by Diop's Two Cradle Theory. By Vulindlela Ijiola Wobogo (Charleston: Books on Demand, 2011. Pp. 554. Contents, Introduction, Bibliography and Index, $29.99)
In light of the 50 year anniversary of the BSU Strike at San Francisco State University that gave birth to Black Studies in American universities, it is an honor to write this review. I am a proud alumnus of the Pan Afrikan Students Union of San Francisco State University (from 1996 to 1998, when the organization was banned) and was a student enrolled in Wobogo's BLS 213 course "Kemetic Strategies in Physical Science". In this course, not only did I learn of the Afrikan foundations of modern science, but I was exposed to fundamental techniques of physical science, i.e., natural philosophic inquiry. This was even before Theophile Obenga, (past Department Chair of Black Studies and one of Africa's greatest living scholars) came to SF State to lead the Black Studies Department in the new phase of intellectual warfare in defending what Ptah Mitchell, President of the School of Afrikan Philosophy, called 'the scholastic sovereignty of Black Studies'. Ironically, it was in this BLS 213 course that I met and studied with a new generation of future African scientists, engineers, philosophers, mathematicians, technologists, scholars and business leaders across the African diaspora.
As a professor, Wobogo had the ability to explain intricate and complicated scientific theories in such a clear and concise manner that I didn't realize until later, when having to take advanced courses in physics or mathematics; that the conceptual understanding I had of certain natural scientific phenomena was due to Wobogo's teaching. All too often I perplexed some of the non African scientists and professionals and researchers I worked with in graduate school or industry by articulating an idea (or theory) with such clarity that their response was usually: "I don't know how you know that...." or something along those lines. Thinking of Wobogo's mastery, I am reminded of the late John Henrik Clarke, who mentioned that he lectured and taught so many popular courses that he did not really have enough time and luxury to publish masterpieces of original research. Now that Baba Wobogo has retired and is able to write, I am thankful that he was able to publish this work (along with subsequent others).
Even though "Cold Wind" is an expansion of two of his earlier published works, "Diop's Two Cradle Theory and the Origin of White Racism"(1976), and "Anokwalei Enyo"(1977), this is a fundamental work in the history and philosophy of science for myriad reasons. In the tradition of detecting scientific laws of social nature analog to laws of physical nature, Wobogo synthesizes the ideas of modern African scholarship from the past 90 years to present a complete theory of the origin of racism. We are reminded of the contributions made by various African scholars to this social scientific theory, usually attributed only to Cheikh Anta Diop.
Wobogo's contention (recognized by Marimba Ani and others) is that "specific conditions of life in the arctic cradle since the beginning of the racial differentiation spawned the development of high levels of individualism-competitiveness, xenophobia, genocentricity and ethnocentricity. Of these qualities, xenophobia can be characterized as proto-white racism, which flowered upon contact of European homo sapien with African homo sapien and Asian homo sapien".
From this basic premise Wobogo takes us through the history and shows how this European trait evolves into the many forms of racism experienced by African people throughout the continents and nations of the world, since about 20,000 BC. The book is also semi-autobiographical since Wobogo is an observer-participant in what he terms the African American Revolution (1960-1975) that led to the creation of Black Studies. And in a manner consistent with traditional scholarship, Wobogo tells a first person narrative of the certain historical events without centering on self aggrandizement and personal ego. work and replaces it with scientific rigor and 'demonstration of authority'.
As an educator and lifelong student, this work is crucial in clarifying, if not solving one of the basic problems facing (African) humanity: racism; even when housed under the auspices of genetic engineering and computer technology. Wobogo paints a picture of what a future would look like with or without the (maatian) balance of African contribution to modern problems of science and society, and how incomplete a picture would be, especially for academics, which refuse to acknowledge Africa in the forefront; whether it is from anthropologists, technologists, or a hybrid of the two. This is a highly recommended book for future scholars and researchers continuing the "great work".
Ramal Lamar
Historian of Science
School of Afrikan Philosophy
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