This page will act like the traditional African drummer – passing on news and information, calling attention, to help keep the community aware and prepared for things good and bad. 

For starters, if you haven’t already, try to see the King Tut exhibition in Times Square, New York City, if you are in the area.  It’s here for the duration of 2010, and will be leaving soon after the start of the new year.  You don’t see a real mummy, but, you do see a very accurate reproduction of Tut’s mummy, as well as the gold coffins and incredibly detailed furnishings of the pharaohs’ tombs.  For a few dollars extra, you get a handheld headphone that let’s you hear the audio track that explains details about the exhibits as you pass them.  The exhibition has two  main components: a tour, with optional audio track, that can take an hour and a half, or two, to walk through.  There are places to sit, if standing-up and walking for that long worries you. 

After the tour, you can see a brief 3-D movie that shows more about the technology associated with mummy expedition.  The problem I have with the movie is that it perpetuates the widespread belief that Egyptians are not really African people.  It’s an old problem.  When people from the African continent exceed expectations, then we are told that they are not really African.   

But, aside from that annoyance, you can’t help but be inspired by the intricacy of the workmanship you see in the over 100 artifacts and furnishings made by the Egyptian artists and scientists from over 3000 years ago. 

The exhibits confirmed that the pharoahs had diverse views, over the centuries that they reigned.  I found it interesting that there was at least one pharoah who had embraced monotheism, and had introduced a period of monotheism in the empire – insisting that the nation worship one god, during his reign. King Tut was not that pharaoh.  In his short reign, he tried to undo that belief, and restore traditional, polytheistic practices.

I noticed some artwork that showed the struggle between the Egyptians and their Nubian neighbors to the south.  Despite the bad press that Nubians get in a lot of Western literature, Nubian influence on Egypt is undeniable.

If you haven’t done so yet, go, see for yourself.  If people of the African diaspora in America do not support these exhibits, other people will continue to have free reign to define our history and own our treasures.  If you have gone, share your reactions here.