The Sankofa University: Studying Afrikan-Centered History and Culture is a timely compilation of Afrikan and Afrikan American historical facts, bibliographies, essays and commentaries. It is a thought-provoking publication brilliantly researched and written by Burnett Kwadwo Gallman who is eminently qualified to write on the topic...In the generations to come, The Sankofa University: Studying African-Centered History and Culture will be heralded as essential reading for the restoration of an Afrikan consciousness.

— Anthony T. Browder, Founder and Director of IKG Cultural Resources, Celebrated Author, Publisher, Lecturer, Radio host, Cultural Historian, Educational Consultant and the First Afrikan American to Fund and Coordinate an Archeological Dig in Egypt

I have always loved science fiction since I was a child, and I truly loved stories that creatively weave the coexistence and interconnections of the past, the present and the future. To Be Human and Saving the World are two novels that artistically stage dynamic and intriguing Afrofuturistic tales of racial conflict, revolution and triumph. The storytelling is captivating, contemplating and empowering. The main characters are so well developed that you will continue to think about them for days as if they were real. I get the impression that there will be sequels to both of these books and i await fervently for their publication!

— Vivian Counts, Retired Chemistry Instructor and Program director for Federal, State and Private STEM Research/Scholarship/Internship Programs at Benedict College, Columbia, SC

This work serves to remind us that the collective solutions and treatments to our collective problems can and should be found within the cultural thought and practices of Afrikan people. The authors are correct to call for Pan-Afrikan alliances of parents, community organizers and organizations at the local, national and international level to advance this necessary cultural work.

— Mario H. Beatty, International President, the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations, Associate Professor of Afro-American Studies at Howard University in Washington, DC

Project Sankofa: A Rites of Passage Program is about going back and reclaiming traditions of the past in order to establish new standards of normalcy...We owe it to our ancestors to reclaim the valued traditions of the past, and in doing so we honor ourselves. Project Sankofa: A Rites of Passage Program is a noble and honorable work and must be added to the growing list of documents that comprise the current Afrikan renaissance.

— Anthony T. Browder, Founder and Director of IKG Cultural Resources, Celebrated Author, Publisher, Lecturer, Radio host, Cultural Historian, Educational Consultant and the First Afrikan American to Fund and Coordinate an Archeological Dig in Egypt

The Sankofa University is most certainly an intergenerational gift from an elder to those of the ages to follow. Part memoir, part bibli¬ography, part almanac, part collection of essays, Dr. Gallman provides strong advocacy for study groups and reclaiming classic, nationalist texts. This book embraces the past, diagnoses the present, and envi¬sions a future of liberation for Afrikan people.

— Dr. Catherine Adams, Associate professor, School of humanities & Social Sciences, Claflin University, Orangeburg, SC

The book is a one-stop shop for a beginning researcher (and those more advanced) to grasp the basics, while directing that same re¬searcher to vital source materials. I was pleased to find information and critical source materials to consider and supplement presentations to students and workshop attendees, and for instructing our children and grands. It is pleasing to see clearly and concisely organized infor¬mation to fit the needs of scholars, casual readers and those seeking to know more about African Centeredness.

— Joe E. Benton, Past President, National Association of Black Social Workers

What Brother Gallman has done with this magnificent addition is to challenge those who would say that people of Afrikan an¬cestry do not have an intellectual history and help to dispel that notion. The Sankofa University will inform readers of the many contributions people of Afrikan Ancestry gave and continue to give the world. A great compilation of information, I highly recommend this book as a resource to every library. To the beginner and lifelong student of history and culture, I encourage you to read, study and follow Brother Gallman’s recommendations for material identified as beneficial to be¬ginners and material designated as a must read. Thank you, “Kwadwo,” we needed that!

— Baba Derrick Jackson, Pastor and Thought Leader, KRST Universal Temple, Columbia, SC

Out of these rivers of tradition and upon this legacy, Dr. Gallman has placed on paper an array of topics pulled from his deep well of knowledge. Quite literally, this volume provides readers a language and a vocabulary to understand the past. It is an incisive and provoca¬tive analysis that compels all of us to dig deeper and to question long¬standing assumptions about the Afrikan journey. This is not a conventional book. It provides both serious historical analysis and social commentary, it builds upon existing literature and adds substantive new angles, context and background. It is a manual, a tool kit, an encyclopedia, a quilt-multiple topics all stitched together into a collective whole by Dr. Gallman’s brilliant insights on the glorious, tragic and triumphant history of our people. For those who wish to follow a grand tradition, for those who wish to stand a little taller to see the distant horizon of full liberation and freedom, and for those who seek a deeper and richer history of African Americans through their own eyes, Dr. Gallman has provided an imaginative and richly informed road map. Read it. Discuss it. Share it. And journey on!

— Dr. Bobby Donaldson, Associate Professor, Department of History, Director of the Center for Civil Rights History and Research, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

This book brings reason and practical wisdom to topics usually ruled by emotion, ignorance, and fear. Every article fosters illumination and enlightenment. Much of Dr. Gallman’s analysis is convincing and he can be very articulate, precise, and persuasive with facts to back him up. He excels at the big picture and its cultural and historical after-shocks. This book is an intellectual force to be reckoned with.

— Robert Fleming, African American Literature Book Club

Dr. Burnett Kwadwo Gallman’s Sankofa University: Studying African-Centered History And Culture, is a stunning tribute to the achievements of our ancestors in the world’s culture and civilization. One of his fellow scholars and historians described it as “part memoir, part bibliography, part almanac, and essay collection.” The author, with an obsession to research and teach, says the genes and DNA of his ancestors won out in his life, citing the work of such trailblazers as John Hendrik Clarke, Asa G. Hilliard, Frances Cress Welsing, Chancellor Williams, and Cheikh Anta Diop. In his home where academic excellence was stressed, Gallman’s grandparents and parents realized the value of education. His grandfather, Dr. Newton Alexander Doyle, the son of poor sharecroppers, worked his way through medical school. His father, Burnette W. Gallman was academically brilliant but died of Parkinson’s Disease when the author was only 14 years old. His family believed in the quote by Marcus Garvey about the significance of intelligent thinking. “Never forget that intelligence rules the world and ignorance carries the burden,” Garvey writes. “Therefore, remove yourself as far as possible from ignorance and seek as far as possible to be intelligent.” Gallman begins by defining culture as “the behavior and beliefs (both conscious and unconscious) of a particular group. However, he adds our culture, of our people kidnapped from Africa and enslaved, was systemically distorted and destroyed. Noting that we are in a culture war, he writes that we must “relearn our identity” and apply that knowledge in a positive manner to truly reflect who we are and not what others say we are. This culture war takes casualties. Gallman remarks that even if a black adopts white, Asian, or Arab culture, he can never be any of those things. He further states that delusion will only let the person be used or manipulated. Everyone knows a person who says he or she is an expert on blacks and our culture, but often as Gallman says, those people are usually wrong or harbor negative ideas about us and our legacy. On hip-hop culture, Gallman says it is “a youthful reflection of reality,” but was hijacked by thinking based on disrespect and materialism. His quote by the famed writer Frantz Fanon seems appropriate: “The oppressed will always believe the worst about themselves.” The author emphasizes that our tainted view of our men and women and our culture will influence future generations. His term of Ausa moves beyond the static definition of our history, breaking through the usual confines of slavery to the glory days of the Motherland. Also, it covers the enslavement, colonization, and degradation of our race. He issues a stern warning with “trees that have grown from seeds planted during this time are still bearing fruit, even in today’s world.” Another interesting segment, “Black History Factsheet,” is a quirky quiz of factoid tidbits worthy of the TV show, Jeopardy, minus host Alex Trebek. It’s not even a multiple-choice one. The professor-author touts the worth of study groups for our community, whereas Dr. Clarke says, knowledge is essential for “a consciously historic people cannot be truly enslaved.” He suggests the essential topics for any study group are research and discussion of the history and culture of ancient Africa and Egypt, where civilization began. Included is a study guide of books from established black scholars and historians, worthy of your attention. Names of esteemed scholars and thinkers are listed such as Dr. Josef Ben-Jochannon, Dr. Wade Nobles, Dr. Leonard Jeffries, Dr. Lerone Bennett, Dr. Na’am Akbar, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Samuel Yette. Another bonus is an extensive selection of important books critical for the study of our history and culture. Also, I had fond memories when the author mentioned some of the crucial publications from the golden age of protest and revolution like Black Book Bulletin, Black World/ Negro Digest, Freedomways, Black Scholar, and Journal of Black Studies. What I found is Gallman’s definition of Maafa, a Swahili term for the African Holocaust, where millions were killed, tortured, captured through slavery, and subjected to colonialism and apartheid. The author traces the origins of Maafa back to 1492 when Christopher Columbus and his crew colonialized people of color in the New World. There are two short informative pieces on Columbus and the racist practice of blackface. In another segment, he exposes the real political motives of Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, noting the high esteem history holds of him. “He has received credit,” Gallman writes, “for doing things he did not do and did not believe in.” On reparations, Gallman explains the concept of repayment for suffering and tragedy with amends, retribution, and compensation. He writes of the human injustice committed, the documentation of the human rights crimes, the identification of victims, and the continuation of the suffering of those people. However, the author serves up many of the excuses of the oppressors for not granting reparations. Among them are: none of my ancestors own slaves; blacks should be lucky that they were taken from Africa; my ancestors arrived in America after slavery was over; Africans sold other Africans and are responsible for their oppression; what was wrong with being a slave in America, no aftereffects on blacks after slavery; blacks love to play the victim; other immigrants have done well but what can’t blacks do as well, and why blacks accept an apology and move This book brings reason and practical wisdom to topics usually ruled by emotion, ignorance, and fear. Every article fosters illumination and enlightenment. Much of Dr. Gallman’s analysis is convincing and he can be very articulate, precise, and persuasive with facts to back him up. He excels at the big picture and its cultural and historical after-shocks. This book is an intellectual force to be reckoned with.

— Robert Fleming, a top African American Literature Book Club Bestselling Author