Africans and persons of African descent must assume the primary responsibility and leadership in historical research....if we are to continue to leave practically all important historical research and writing concerning the black race to the white man, then we must be prepared to accept, uncomplainingly, the white man's point of view.
Interpretation
It emphasizes the importance of self-led historical research by African people to ensure their narratives are not dictated by outsiders.
This quote by Chancellor Williams points out the necessity for individuals of African descent to take charge of their own historical narratives. He suggests that if they allow others, particularly white historians, to dominate this field of research, they risk having their histories shaped solely by the perspectives and biases of those who do not share their experiences. Therefore, it is a call for empowerment and ownership over one's own history.
In practice
In an academic setting when discussing the importance of diverse perspectives in historical research.
Growth and psychic development are therefore guided by: the absorbent mind, the nebulae and the sensitive periods, with their respective mechanisms. It is these that are hereditary and characteristic of the human species. But the promise they hold can only be fulfilled through the experience of free activity conducted in the environment.
We worship education but hate learning. We worship success but hate the successful. We worship fame but hate the famous.
...the reader who plucks a book from her shelf only once is as deprived as the listener who, after attending a single performance of a Beethoven symphony, never hears it again.
If the guardians of society, the protectors of 'young persons,' could have had their way, we should have known nothing of Byron or Shelley. The voices that thrill the world would now be silent.
The most powerful teaching of children is by the example of their parents.
There needs to be a lot more emphasis on what a child CAN do, instead of what he cannot do.
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