AFRICA COLONIZED THE WORLD (JUNE 2024)

I use social media from time to time as a thermometer on the moral temperature of society. I find this an exceptional and authentic firsthand tool as a writer. In one such instance, I posted the following on my social media thread:

“I am going to say something now that will upset some people and their beliefs, but it’s true nonetheless. AFRICA COLONIZED THE WORLD. All of our species traveled from Africa. (Some returned a little later on boats and with an ego, but still, even Europeans come from Africa).”

In response to this, I got a few likes, a few people agreeing with me, and then there was Lorenzo van Schalkwyk (from Hermanus and now living in Germany) objecting. I have shared the screenshots of his objection in this article as well as messages he had sent me prior the post. I want to focus on his response because I do not write to preach to the converted. I write almost exclusively to those who might object. I want people to think alternatively about matters that influence society and our social fabric if the general narrative is being used for harm. From the feedback, I get insight into other people’s points of view, and on really good days, they might even share some facts I was unaware of. (Unfortunately, Lorenzo didn’t really offer those). I did invite Lorenzo to a Zoom chat, which he never accepted. I wish he had, he was for so many reasons an ideal person to engage with on this subject. If he had, this is what I might have hoped to cover:

I believe the first sentence in my post is self-explanatory, so let’s skip to what I meant by “AFRICA COLONIZED THE WORLD.” The word “Africa” for the purpose of the post meant people who have a heritage from Africa. “Colonized” I meant the practice of a country or group of people taking control of foreign land. This has often been done by force, technology, and sometimes even religion has been used. During this ‘process’ there is exploitation of people residing in that land, and they succumb to awful mistreatment, either because of ‘lesser’ technology to defend themselves, or perhaps they are literally a ‘friendlier people’ compared to the colonizers.

Let’s not digress from the point of this article.

In South Africa, the narrative is that Europeans colonized Africa. What I will explain now is that there would have been no Europeans at all without Africans, and that Europeans and indeed all human races as we know them today have their heritage from Africa. To do this, let me ask and answer the following questions:

• What scientific evidence is there that all humans alive today are from Africa?
• Do all Caucasian people have DNA from Africa?
• Is there proof that people (of the same genetic lineage) left Africa, went to Europe, and then came back and colonized African land where other people were living?

The answer to the first question is where I would like to discuss the theory known as the “Out of Africa Theory,” and it is supported by a substantial base of scientific evidence covering multiple disciplines. Let me share some points:

1. Fossil Evidence. Archaeological discoveries unearthed Homo sapiens fossils in Africa that date back to between 200,000 and 300,000 years ago. I believe some of the most prominent findings include the fossils from Jebel Irhoud in Morocco and Omo Kibish in Ethiopia. These sites contain the oldest known remains of modern humans.
2. There is Genetic Evidence. DNA is a great storyteller, and analysis has provided critical insights into human evolution. Vast studies of mitochondrial DNA (which is passed from mother to child) and Y-chromosome DNA (passed from father to son) reveal that all living humans can trace their ancestry to a single population in Africa. How amazing is that! This is an epic fact none of us should ever forget and should be used to unite us, not to divide.
3. Migration Patterns. Humans are actually very well designed when it comes to walking. Reputable studies say that between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago, a small group of us humans migrated out of Africa and spread across the rest of the world. We did this on foot and on animals. This very long migration led to the establishment of populations in Europe, Oceania, Asia, and the Americas. Humans are messy, and we have left all sorts of artifacts such as tools, weapons, and even our skeletons along the path.
4. A more interesting tell sign. Cultural and Technological Evidence from archaeological findings of early human artworks and other cultural artifacts support the African Origin Theory. Very early ‘sophisticated’ tools and art have primarily been found in Africa, and similar technologies later appeared in Europe and Asia. This confirms a spread of innovation (and stories) following the migration path out of Africa.
5. Then there is Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy. This is about the study of early hominid fossils showing a gradual development of features that are characteristic of us modern humans. The earliest hominin species, such as the Australopithecus and the very early Homo species, are found exclusively in Africa. This proves that the evolutionary lineage leading to the Homo sapiens of today is rooted in the African continent. (Africa the continent is about 180 million years old.)

To answer the next question, ‘Do Caucasian people, like all humans, have DNA that traces back to Africa?’

1. The Common Ancestry fact. Genetic evidence consistently shows that all modern humans, regardless of race, share a common ancestry in Africa. This is based on mitochondrial DNA, as I mentioned in my prior answer. These genetic markers confirm a lineage that traces back to a small population of early Homo sapiens who lived in Africa around 200,000 to 300,000 years ago. There was also a point in time when humans as we know it had a population bottleneck due to a natural disaster which brought our numbers down to between 3,000 to 10,000 individuals. We almost went extinct. This probably happened because of the Toba Catastrophe, and that is a subject well worth learning more about too. The point is, everyone alive today has genetic markers (and ancestors) from that small population which remained only 74,000 years ago. Not only are we all related, but we are not as distantly related as we think.
2. Interbreeding with other Hominins. Yes, we did this. While migrating, early modern humans interbred with other hominins such as the Neanderthals and the Denisovans. Neanderthals and Denisovans are ‘sort of human’ but from another branch of the evolutionary tree, but still genetically very similar. (Obviously, or we would not have been able to have babies). These other ‘sorts of humans’ died out. Why? That’s a subject for another article, but what is important to remember is that these other ‘sorts of humans’ also evolved from people from Africa, but they left the continent between 200,000 to 300,000 years ago. These ‘affairs’ between ‘them’ and ‘us’ contributed to the genetic makeup of present-day Caucasians, but the initial genetic heritage still traces back to Africa.

The final question. ‘Is there proof that people (of the same genetic lineage) left Africa, went to Europe, and then came back and colonized African land where other people were living.’ Yes, answered above, and they were all African!

To conclude: Africa colonized the World. Europeans are also African. It was Africans that colonized the World, including Africa. This is a fact you have to accept if you consider the bigger picture and all the available facts, not just a limited recording of history by humans over the most recent 5,000-year period. It might also be of interest to know that while modern African countries did not engage in ‘colonization’ in the same manner as Europeans did during the ‘Age of Exploration’ or the ‘Scramble for Africa’, there were African empires, tribes, and kingdoms that wielded control over vast territories and engaged in conquests and expansion. Lots of nasty things happened during these invasions of territory.

All animals try to excel. It is unfortunate there have to be victims, but it appears to be the evolutionary process of making a species stronger.

Dear reader, I wrote this article not to stir racial tensions, but to remind everyone that we are all human, all from the same planet, all imperfect and all related. All humans have been tribal and all humans have hurt one another. In 2024, it is not always constructive arguing about who was where first and who owns the land. That is the point of my post, to offer an alternative but factually true point of view which should nullify a common argument in South Africa today. The concept of ownership and entitlement is something we perpetuate, and it is how we ended up with victims to start with. To succeed, let’s drop the ego.

THE END.

(Some of the Social Media thread sharing Lorenzo van Schalkwyk apposing opinions is shared below.)

Download the above article <HERE>

Want to know:

• Who arrived in South Africa first, Europeans or Zulus?
• What was the order of inhabitants of Africa all time?
• If the Xhosas ‘arrived’ before the Zulus?
• What was the early migrations within and out of Africa, and then of course back again?

The information pack I have prepared for you <HERE> in PDF answers these questions.