It is in the Mbaye Guèye amphitheatre, located in the Department of Sociology at the Faculty of Letters and Humanities (Flsh), that teachers and students of history met to tell the story and thought of Cheikh Anta Diop, to commemorate the date of the death of their mentor.
It is a ritual: the day of commemoration of Cheikh Anta Diop, who died on 7 February 1986, began with the observation of a minute’s silence in memory of the godfather of the University of Dakar. « It is a memorable day that everyone remembers. Cheikh Anta Diop was a multidimensional man who did everything for Africa. He was able to show the falsification of our history, » said Ouseynou Guèye, a student in Master 2 in the Department of History at the University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar (Ucad). Like him, many students who came to commemorate the death of this Senegalese African thinker whose writings are more than relevant today.
In front of the public, the panellists of the day composed of teachers, Bouba Diop, Egyptologist, Aziz Salomon Fall, but also disciples held exposés on the life and work of the historian, who has « greatly contributed to the rehabilitation of the value, dignity and history of Africa. « People say Cheikh Anta Diop‘s quotes without reading his works. It is a kind of modification of his thought. A thought is discovered by reading the thought of its author.
« Unfortunately, today we read more and more rarely, we declare ourselves Cheikh Anta Diop, we know the titles of his works Negro Civilisations, Langues et Barbaries. We only know the cover colours and the titles of his works,« says Ibrahima Thoub, former Rector of Ucad and moderator of the day.
« It is necessary to read the thought of Cheikh Anta Diop to be able to know him, to know his thought. You don’t stop at simply reading Cheikh Anta Diop‘s works. To read an author is to read the works he has read, the authors he quotes and the thinkers he debates with, » Professor Thioub advised. Ousseynou Guèye recommends the introduction and teaching of Cheikh Anta Diop‘s thought and works in secondary schools and even in primary schools to make the Senegalese aware of the multidimensional qualities of the scholar. With the forthcoming curricula reforms, the Ministry of Education has announced that it will be introduced into the teaching-learning process… This will be the culmination of a 37-year struggle.
37 Years of Struggle
The debaters did not hide the issue of local languages, which « constituted a major element in the concerns » of the Egyptologist, a native of Thieytou. « The question of national languages is a political question, a question of power. You master French, you have power, you don’t master it, you don’t have power… Many intellectuals don’t speak to their children in national languages. They prefer to speak to them in French. Today, the fact is that we speak French better than the French. These are the real problems of our times but also of our public authorities, » he laments.
Ousseynou Guèye recommends the introduction and teaching of Cheikh Anta Diop‘s thoughts and works in high schools, colleges and even primary schools to make the Senegalese aware of the multidimensional qualities of the scholar. With the forthcoming curricula reforms, the Ministry of Education has announced that it will be introduced into the teaching-learning process… This will be the culmination of a 37-year struggle.
By Alpha SYLLA
