Host Ron_FM says:

Good Evening ... I'm Ron McLurkin, Community Manager for the African American Community here on MSN and we welcome you to tonight's Special Guest Chat.

 

 

Host Ron_FM says:

Helping out in tonight's chat are members of the African American Community's staff:

 

 

Host Ron_FM says:

Ken Skelton - AAC Executive Assistant

Jacqueline Scott - AAC Chat Supervisor

JozieLee

Betsy Johnson

Nat Saunders

Charles Hawkins

Michael Holman, Sr.

 

Host Ron_FM says:

Our Guests tonight are Harvard Professors Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Kwame Anthony Appiah - codevelopers of the new Microsoft Encarta Africana Project.

 

 

Host Ron_FM says:

The topic for tonight is..."Africa and Black America -

Past & Present."

 

Host Ron_FM says:

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the W.E.B. DuBois Professor of Humanities; Chair of the Afro-American Studies Department at Harvard University and Director of

the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for Afro-American Research.

 

Host Ron_FM says:

Professor Gates' research interests include African and African American literary criticism and history; cultural studies and literary theory.

 

Host Ron_FM says:

Kwame Anthony Appiah is a Professor of Afro-American Studies and Philosophy at Harvard University and Director of Undergraduate Studies.

 

Host Ron_FM says:

Professor Appiah's research interests include African and African American philosophy and literary theory; the history and theory of nationalism; multiculturalism and plurism and ethical questions about racism.

 

Host Ron_FM says:

We invite you to ask questions to our guests by whispering to any one of our 4 host question takers.

 

Host Ron_FM says:

The 4 question takers can be identified as their names begin with the word "Question".

 

Host Ron_FM says:

We have our guests online in Boston and JozieLee and I will be typing their responses.....

 

Host Ron_FM says:

Gentlemen.....thank you for coming and welcome to the African American Community on MSN.....

 

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

Hello

 

Host SEXY~~~BERRIES says:

clap clap

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

Hello......

 

Host RASTA-MON says:

Hello

 

Host "question betsy" says:

bravo

 

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

We're excited to be online

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

We are excited to be online

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

Ken you can begin.....

 

Host Host-Kskel says:

Will you tell us a little about the genesis of the Microsoft Encarta Africana Project and how both of you came to work on the project?

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

I first heard about the project when I was an undergraduate at Yale in the early 1970s�

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

like many other African Americans, I was a devotee of W.E.B. Dubois....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

and when I heard that he had spent so much of his life attempting to fulfill his dream of editing....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

a comprehensive encyclopedia of the African Diaspora....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

I decided that would be wonderful thing to try to achieve.....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

It turns out that Dr. DuBois attempted to edit....

 

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

a comprehensive encyclopedia of the black world...

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

in 1909 and then again between 1932 and 1946....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

The first project was called the Encyclopedia Africana....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

the second project was called the Encyclopedia of the Negro...

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

The first was not funded at all, the second was funded partially....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

Near the end of DuBois' life......in 1961, Pres. Kwame Nkrumah invited Dr. DuBois to move to Ghana....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

and edit the Encyclopedia Africana.....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

but it is important to note that at this point, then, in part because so many African countries had become independent....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

Dr. DuBois redefined the scope of the encyclopedia.....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

to encompass only the African continent....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

although he died in 1963 ... on the eve of the Great March on Washington.....he was able to establish the Secretariat for the Encyclopedia Africana.

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

That project continues to this day in Accra, Ghana.

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

In 1973, I graduated from Yale University and began my graduate education at the University of Cambridge in England......

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

at that time, I met a young student of philosophy named Kwame Anthony Appiah....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

Appiah and I got to know a visiting professor named Wole Soyinka, who would later, of course, become the first person of African descent to win the Noble Prize in Literature....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

25 years ago, this past October...the three of us decided that we would attempt to return to Dr. DuBois' original 1909 vision....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

and edit a pan-african encyclopedia of the Black diaspora....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

After many unsuccessful attempts at securing funding, begining in 1979, we finally secured publishing commitments from the Perseus Book Co. and the Microsoft Corp�

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

to publish our encyclopedia as both a book and a CD-ROM.....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

Working with a staff of 2 dozen people based at Harvard...

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

and approx. 400 scholars from around the world, we produced, collectively, a 2.25 million word encyclopedia....dedicated in memory of Dr. DuBois and in honor of Pres. Nelson Mandela.

 

Host Host-MsBlkBabyDoll says:

I'm sure you both are aware of some of the early criticisms of the project. One criticism is that it is not from an afrocentrist viewpoint. First , could you tell us what afrocentrism means and your individual position regarding whether it is a valid historical paradigm for African American Studies?

 

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

The idea of Afrocentrism

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

was initially a response to the

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

Eurocentrism that many scholars, both  black and white identified in the writings about Africa�

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

and Black people by many western academics�

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

the basic idea of Afrocentrism was to adopt a point of view

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

that was centered in Africa

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

and in the experience of Black people

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

My view is

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

that academic work�scholarly work,  in general

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

is always guided

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

by the priorities of individuals who engage in it �

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

And from that point of view �

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

it seems to me perfectly reasonable to, as a priority, in writing

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

about Africa, to do so from the perspectives of someone engaged with African reality.

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

What I don't agree with �

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

is the idea that such perspectives can only be

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

Articulated by a Black person

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

or the idea that all Black people naturally have the same perspective.

 

Host Host-Kskel says:

How much money was funded by Microsoft and what percentage of control do they maintain?

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

Professor Appiah and I....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

working together with an editorial board....consisting of 3 dozen scholars...

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

based in Africa, Europe, the Carribean, Latin America, the United States and Asia....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

have complete editorial control of Encarta Africana....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

Professor Wole Soyinka, by the way, served as the Chairman of that group of editors....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

We are responsible for editorial content and the quality of the encyclopedia....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

We are not at liberty to disclose the size of the budget of the project �

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

But half of the funding for the project came from Microsoft and the other half from Perseus Books...

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

Initial funding, however, came from our partners, Quincy Jones and Martin Payson.

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

Together, Jones, Payson, Appiah and I formed a company called Afropedia LLC. for the expressed purpose of editing the encyclopedia.

 

Host Host-MsBlkBabyDoll says:

John2 asks...Have the guests encountered any negative feedback as a result of their profession?

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

My father asked me how you make money as a philosopher . . .

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

I said  � wait and see <s>

 

Host "question betsy" says:

<s>

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

Sometimes...Professor Appiah and our colleagues such as Cornell West and William Julius Wilson are asked �

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

how our work directly affects the condition of black people....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

and our answer is....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

that our work is dedicated to celebrating the contributions of black people....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

and fighting against the racism that has been a fundamental part of the American experience since its inception.

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

However, it is important to remember....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

that the struggle against racism can assume many different forms....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

some direct and some indirect.

 

Host Host-Kskel says:

What is the compensation for the position "Philanthrop Manager?"...and will that position be located in Boston...and will the two of you be interviewing the candidates?

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

The compensation is negotiable ...

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

the position will be located in Boston...

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

and Professor Appiah and I will be interviewing candidates for the position....

 

Host Host-Kskel says:

John3 - What events in your lives inspired you to create this encyclopedia?

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

Meeting and talking to Skip Gates

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

and Professor Soyinka � <s>

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

I grew up in Ghana �

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

where in a family �

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

that was very much part of the Pan African movement �

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

we were visited by other Africans from outside Ghana

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

and by African Americans

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

in the sense of people of African descent... from the whole of the new world

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

but it takes time to know people well and to get to understand their reasoning and their lives �

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

to turn the abstract idea of Pan Africanism

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

into a concrete reality.

 

Host Host-MsBlkBabyDoll says:

Jewel asks... Does the encyclopedia contain any information regarding African influences on the development of early Europe?

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

The short answer is yes

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

let me say, for example �

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

we talk about the presence, in Roman Britain, �

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

of people from Africa �

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

brought there in the army of the Romans.

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

that's just one example

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

but there are many more.

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

Of course, there are people of African descent

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

who have influenced European cultures enormously �

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

like Augustine to Alexander Pushkin

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

arguably the greatest Russian poet

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

whose great grandfather was an Ethiopian.

 

Host RASTA-MON says:

Will we find a Caribbean perspective as well, in the Encarta Africana?

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

The contents of Encarta Africana....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

consists of information about Africa, Afro-America, the Carribean, Latin America and the African presence throughout the remainder of the world...

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

commencing with our common human ancestor, Lucy, whose remains were discovered in Ethiopia and who is approx. 4.1 million years old.

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

The information on the Carribean...

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

and Latin America, together occupies about one third of the encyclopedia's entire contents.

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

We are especially excited about our coverage of the slave trade, and the origins, in Africa, of the slave...

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

as well as the countries in the Carribean and Latin America to which they were dispersed.

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

We also have extensive coverage of the arts, politics, religion and history of the Carribean.

 

Host HIRAMABIF says:

What would you say is your most profound discovery since beginning the work?

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

I think for me, the most interesting discovery have been about the depth and �

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

extent of the African presence in the Spanish speaking countries

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

of Latin America

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

I knew about Brazil

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

and about English and French Carribean

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

but I wasn't aware

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

of how much was known

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

about Black people in the rest of Latin America. ... there's just so much

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

For me....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

I think the biggest surprise was learning how extensive....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

African contacts have been with Europe, the Middle East and the Far East....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

for the past 3000 years....

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

For example �

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

people don't know that there is Ming Chinaware

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

in Swahili Graves

 

Host Host-MsBlkBabyDoll says:

How does one find out more information regarding Encarta Africana...particularly information on how schools and other organizations can purchase the product?

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

The Encarta website has an African area

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

You can consult....Microsoft's website......http://www.microsoft.com

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

and our own website at http://www.africana.com

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

the Microsoft Schoolhouse also has lesson plans for use with Encarta Africana

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

and there is an ongoing competition for

 

Host Guest-Appiah says:

teachers to develop new lesson plans.

 

Host QuestionNat says:

Comment!! The Cd format is great - I like the way the information is handled and what I can do after installing the research organizer

 

Host Host-Kskel says:

This is wonderful accomplishment and achievement ...Do you believe that this is the first step to incorporating African American History in our public, parochial and private schools.....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

It is not the first step, of course......

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

because scholars and teachers have been attempting to do so.....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

over the past two centuries....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

most notably.....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

through ventures such as Black History Month, founded by the great African American historian, Dr. Carter G. Woodson...

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

but Encarta Africana, is, we feel, a sustained attempt to establish a black intellectual presence....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

in cyberspace.....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

but it is only the beginning....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

We need more and more scholarly products about the black world and we must use products such as Encarta Africana....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

If our people continue to lag behind in this area, the consequences will be quite devastating...

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

Prof. Appiah and I believe that products such as Encarta Africana will help launch our people....BLACK to the Future.......<s>

 

Host "question betsy" says:

lol

 

Host Host-MsBlkBabyDoll says:

<s>

 

Host RASTA-MON says:

lol

 

Host QuestionsMHOLMANSR says:

lol

 

Host QuestionMCPEARL says:

This Roomie said it for us all �

IMHO   NVUTOO whispers to QuestionMCPEARL:

i am smiling because now they are hinting the target ...we need to  bring this information to our children!!!!! :)

 

Host Host-Kskel says:

In closing, I would like to thank our guests, Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and

Dr. Anthony Kwame Appiah for sharing themselves with us tonight. Special thanks to Ron McLurkin and Jozie Lee for the great job they have done tonight.

 

Host Host-MsBlkBabyDoll says:

clap clap clap

 

Host Host-Kskel says:

Another special thanks to you, our members, for participating tonight. Please visit our web site at http://communities.msn.com/africanamerican. Goodnight.

 

Host "question betsy" says:

Keep up the good work  can't wait for the next release �

 

Host QuestionsMHOLMANSR says:

clap clap clap clap

 

Host BrothaTazz says:

Thank you!

 

Host "question betsy" says:

bravo bravo bravo....

 

Host "question betsy" says:

encore encore encore

 

Host BrothaTazz says:

I enjoyed it

 

Host RASTA-MON says:

Clapping,,,furiously,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

I would just like to say that this was great fun.....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

but I hope not my last....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

Anthony and I welcome your suggestions, comments and criticisms.....

 

Host Guest-Gates says:

email us at africana.com

 

Host RASTA-MON says:

You Guys are doing a tremendous job,,and don't think for one minute it is not being appreciated

 

Host RASTA-MON says:

Because it is

 

Host "question betsy" says:

I love the heck out of you guys.....I love you I love you I love you

 

 

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