Dr. Chancellor James Williams

(1898-1992)

Of the recent towering figures in the struggle to completely eradicate the pervasive racial myths clinging to the origins of Nile Valley Civilization, few scholars have had the impact of Dr. Chancellor James Williams (1898-1992).  Chancellor Williams, the youngest of five children, was born in Bennetsville, South Carolina December 22, 1898. His father had been a slave; his mother a cook, nurse, and evangelist. A stirring writer, Chancellor Williams achieved wide acclaim as the author of the 1971 publication, The Destruction of Black Civilization--Great Issues of a Race from 4500 B.C. to 2000 A.D.

Totally uncompromising, highly controversial, broadly sweeping in its range and immensely powerful in its scope, there have been few books published during the past half-century focusing on the African presence in antiquity that have so profoundly affected the consciousness of African people in search of their historical identity.  Dr. John Henrik Clarke, now an ancestor and a contemporary of Dr. Williams and one of our most outstanding scholars, described The Destruction of Black Civilization as "a foundation and new approach to the history of our race."  In The Destruction of Black Civilization Chancellor Williams successfully "shifted the main focus from the history of Arabs and Europeans in Africa to the Africans themselves--a history of the Blacks that is a history of Blacks."

The career of Chancellor Williams was spacious and varied; university professor, novelist, and author-historian.  He was the father of fourteen children.  Blind and in poor health, the last years of Dr. Williams' life were spent in a nursing home in Washington, D.C.  His contributions to the reconstruction of African civilization, however, stand as monuments and beacons reflecting the past, present and future of African people.

The Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues of a Race from 4500 B.C. to 2000 A.D.

by Chancellor Williams
List Price: $39.95 - Paperback

Customer Review
The average reader of this book always misconstrues it's purpose. The purpose of this book is not to be descriptive, but prescriptive. In other words, The Destruction is not meant to serve solely as a history book. The book's purpose is to provide Afrikan people with an historical background into Afrikan-specific problems of the past, while at the same time, giving viable solutions to what Afrikan people should do to solve the same, lingering problems that slavery, colonialism, and neo-colonialism are very definitely at the root of. One of Mr. Williams' most brilliant observances is the political role that Arabs and Islam have played in and among Afrikan people. He cogently and correctly exposes how Afrika and her people have been historically duped and demeaned, not only by Europeans [Christians] and Asians, but by Arabs also. This one issue has been the most talked about, but the least understood. To extract the true essence and point of book one need but look at its subtitle - "Great Issues of a Race from 4500 B.C. to 2000 A.D." That says it all right there. Chancellor Williams, visionary that he was, knew that by the start of the new millennium, Afrikan people would be suffering the same problems that Afrikan people of 4500 B.C. suffered unless . . . we took a step back and gave a critical, crucial, and correct analysis of the problems that confront us. At the end of the book, Williams offers what he refers to as "The Master Plan"; to give Afrikan people a blueprint toward true power and an understanding of who they are and who they still have to be in this world. An most excellent read that prompts you to move from theory to practice!!

 The Rebirth of African Civilization