King Tut Not Black Enough, Protesters Say
Philadelphia museum perpetuates myth that Egypt and its people are not African, according to activists
Black News Journal, News Feature, Marilyn Kai Jewett, Posted: Aug 28, 2007
Editor's note: Dr. Asa Hiliard, who died recently in Egypt, was a leading scholar of African history. One of the organizations he was intimately involved with, the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations, is involved in the protest. Marilyn Kai Jewett filed this story as a special report to Taylor News Services.
Black activists in Philadelphia held their third demonstration recently to express disapproval of the King Tutanhkamun exhibit at the city’s Franklin Institute. The protesters are primarily angered by the fact that images of King Tut promoting the show and those in the exhibit have been altered to lighten his skin and change his African features to those of an Arab or Caucasian.
Tutanhkamun, who lived around 1353 B.C., was a minor king of the 18th Dynasty. Tut was the son of Pharaoh Ahkenaton (and grandson of Amenhotep III), a Nubian, He took the throne at age eight and died at 19. What makes him significant is that his tomb was found intact.
The coalition has presented officials of the museum with a list of demands: 1) A public apology for not properly representing King Tut as an African and falsely representing Kemet (ancient Egypt) as non-African; 2) Develop and display a historically, factual and scientific exhibit of the African foundation and identity of dynastic Kemet; 3) Display the pioneering accomplishments of African Nile Valley Civilization; and 4) Document and display the research and accomplishments of the renowned African scholar Cheikh Anta Diop in scientifically proving that Kemet was an African civilization.
The museum agreed to sponsor a symposium with African American historians Charles Finch III, Molefi Asante, Maulana Karenga and Theophile Obenga (via videotape).
Well-known author Shaharazad Ali, representing AAFRL, had a different spin on the corrective measures. “I’m not in agreement with asking for an apology,” said Ali who was there with her 7 year-old grandson. “We asked for a debate between white scientists and black scientists/historians to determine whether or not King Tut was black. Of course, I suggest this is all nonsense. People go to jail everyday, getting convicted based on DNA. It would not be difficult to determine not only who King Tut was, where he came from, what he died from and everything else.”
The demonstration was organized by a coalition of organizations that include the African American Freedom & Reconstruction League (AAFRL), Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations (ASCAC), Laying the Foundation (LTF), National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N’COBRA) and Avenging the Ancestors Coalition (ATAC).
For more information on King Tutanhkamun, the 18th Dynasty and the protest, go to www.kingtutankhamen.blogspot.com.
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