By Guest Contributors Bashir M. Akinyele and Doshon Farad

Photo credits: The ASCAC

In response to a high demand from Black people to get involved in an intense study of Afrikan history and culture, we have worked to establish an ASCAC (the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations) chapter in Newark, NJ. In the 1980s and early 1990s, there was an ASCAC study group chapter in the city. In time, ASCAC ceases to exist in Newark. Now in the millennium, the call for ASCAC’s resurgence is again echoing in the streets.

ASCAC:

The Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations (ASCAC) is an independent study group organization founded in 1984 by Drs. John Henrik Clarke, Jacob H. Carruthers, Yosef Ben-Jochannan, and Maulana Karenga (https://ascac.org). It is devoted to the rescue, reconstruction, and restoration of Afrikan history and culture.

But most importantly, ASCAC helps Black people develop an Afrikan-centered worldview. ASCAC is an organization that provides the opportunity for “African peoples to educate other African peoples about their culture.” It was founded by scholars of deeply rooted Afrikan American communities in New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.

It derives its membership from Afrikan / Afrikan Americans across class and occupational social classes. The ASCAC organization has since expanded into an international organization with membership regions representatives from the Caribbean, Afrika, and Europe.

ASCAC has four commissions that advance this agenda: education, research, spiritual development, and creative production. Along with creating study groups throughout the world, ASCAC holds an annual conference, operates a youth enrichment program, and is editing a comprehensive history of Afrika.

Read more on the ASCAC’s comprehensive and necessary mission here.

*Bashir Muhammad Akinyele is a History and Africana Studies teacher at Weequahic High School in Newark, NJ. He is also the co-coordinator for ASCAC’s (the Association for Study of Classical African Civilizations) Study Group Chapter in Newark, NJ. (https://ascac.org/)

*Doshon Farad is a highly-regarded community activist and respected journalist. He is also the co-coordinator for ASCAC’s (the Association for Study of Classical African Civilizations) Study Group Chapter in Newark, NJ. (https://ascac.org/)