I wanted to touch base on this topic because it has been on my mind for a while and I feel it would be a good topic that could possibly clear somethings up. First off...I already know that black is just a social construct and is not  technicality biologically defined. BUT...We live in a society that is highly social, because we are humans. As humans we like to group things and eye ball things. So does black exist? Yes and no. When it comes to science and science there is no such thing as black, but when it comes to social, black does indeed exist. As a result I see myself as black, not only because other people see me as such but also because I see myself as such because that would be the social norm and I want to.
 
But...This not what this thread is really about. What is the African context of the color black? And I mean the color black. Black is usually associated with death, evilness, darkness, scary and every other thing negative. And so some people do not want to be associated with black. But that is only the western/European context, which is a product of western/Judeo-Christian values which emphasize death is a disconnect from the living world. In ancient Egypt and most African cultures the world of the living are fully integrated into the world of the dead. Ancestor veneration is a vital part of ancient Egyptian religious practices.
 
Again unlike cultures of the Near-East and especially those of Europe, black did not embody the negative or bad like death, sorrow, evil, dirty, ugly, etc. For example it represented positive aspects, in particular it embodied the most sacred belief of the Egyptians which is that of re-birth and regeneration.
 
[img]http://public.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pciXtNeeCGdvzvm2MrG93kPy1z10B91c27WKLt5l6T7Dl-nL-WPdZedBh7bjEF4QbYlF__2_ybpSOQa1nY6ysSw/hues03.PNG?psid=1[/img]
 
Black also meant power too, while white meant deceased. 
 
I'll give some examples...
 
Ausar in his form of Kem-Wer (Great Black)
[img]http://pavementsofsilver.files./2008/10/osiris-black.jpg[/img]

Two images of Tut, one being reborn


The sky goddess Nut who gives life to the sun god in stages from morning, noon, and sunset.


Ba-statue of Tut (the Ba was a significant spiritual aspect of a person)


any Egyptologists and early scholars made the mistake of taking the black painted statues and images of many tombs in into their own Western cultural concepts, and thought that they were simply "funerary" images of the "deceased." Many of these statues are actually representations of the ba, which is a spiritual aspect essential for the after-life, thus those statues don't represent death but life.

This belief system of the color black being sacred is actually widespread throughout Africa, especially East and Central Africa. For example, in Kenya the Masai people worship their supreme god called Lengai or N'gai, who they call the Black God. Lengai, is opposed by an evil god of chaos who, interestingly enough, is called the red god! The Oromo's supreme god is Waaka who is also called Waaka Guuracha, which means Black God. Many of these peoples relate the black color to the color of the storm clouds that give rain, and to the soil that is rich and fertile. Black was a spiritual color associated with all that is good and divine.

But onto more examples...This time non Egyptian.

The Maasai for example:

http://www.bluegecko.org/kenya/tribes/maasai/beliefs.htm

The Maasai believe in one God, whom they call Ngai. Ngai is neither male nor female, but seems to have several different aspects. For instance, there is the saying Naamoni aiyai, which means "The She to whom I pray". There are two main manifestations of Ngai: Ngai Narok which is good and benevolent and is black; and Ngai Na-nyokie, which is angry and red, like the British...

Or the Oromo people:

http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/jwec_03/jwec_03_00166.html

Oromos believe that Waaqa Tokkicha (the one God) created the world, including them. They call this supreme being Waaqa Guuracha (the Black God). Most Oromos still believe that it was this God who created heaven and earth and other living and non-living things. Waaqa also created ayaana (spiritual connection), through which he connects himself to his creatures. The Oromo story of creation starts with the element of water, since it was the only element that existed before other elements.

Now lets go onto white. In African culture white actually meant deceased/death instead of black.

The addition of tridymite to an already extra white huntite-bearing paint indicates that the quest for ever whiter pigments continued in the later New Kingdom. Deliberate colour palettes were used in order to achieve specific effects.38 The effect of adding tridymite to the paint is similar to that achieved in modern day detergents, in which chemical agents which act as brighteners are added to create bright whites. Tridymite offered Egyptian artisans an additional means of achieving a brilliant white from native materials by applying heat and more processing effort and time. The ancient use of the bright white pigment thus underscores the ability of the Egyptian craftsmen to be innovative in the use of mineral resources in order to achieve a desired polychrome or monochrome effect. In addition, it is reasonable to infer that this pigment’s composition and its utilisation in this small figurine were intentional. The white on this figurine surrounds its body with a chromatic, abstract depiction of the mummy bandages whose job it was to secure the body of the deceased, the saH, intact following the deceased’s life on earth.
https://www.academia.edu/924186/The_Ritual_Significance_of_Colour_Specialised_Pigments_in_a_Wooden_Egyptian_Funerary_Statuette_from_the_New_Kingdom



Painting of these Egyptian women represents them being deceased.




Also....


African peoples often symbolize death by the colour white rather than black; at the same time, many African cultures see white as the colour that links them to their ancestors, and it can therefore have a positive meaning.
http://www.vub.ac.be/BIBLIO/nieuwenhuysen/african-art/african-art-collection-masks.htm


So it can be said that in African culture both black and white have different meanings than what is seen in Western cultures. My purpose for making this thread is to educate those who have a misconception of the color black and think that black in western culture is the only meaning and also so people dont have an inferiority complex when it comes to associating with black.

Very interesting. the (my) point is made when you say also, many africans associate white with their ancestors. You may be seeing this from 'racio-spiritual' aspect anyway. What if the ancestors were really historic ancestors long dead? Does it change anything? What if the painting is 'symbolic representation' of blacks' ancestry and blacks becoming one with their ancestors at death?

ladionline: Very interesting. the (my) point is made when you say also, many africans associate white with their ancestors. You may be seeing this from 'racio-spiritual' aspect anyway. What if the ancestors were really historic ancestors long dead? Does it change anything? What if the painting is 'symbolic representation' of blacks' ancestry and blacks becoming one with their ancestors at death?

Thanks.

But kinda wrong in a way. I'm not seeing this as a 'racio-spiritual' aspect, but that black and white have different meanings in different cultures. Yes many people including black people see black as something negative and dont want to be associated with it, but I was showing that the color black actually have a positive purpose in African culture. As for it representing black ancestry, black in African culture just represented reborn/rebirth and powerful. It had nothing to do with death which was my point. White represented death and yet it was still not a negative thing, because in African culture it is not taboo to connect with dead ancestors. Again only in Western Culture is where you see all these things being negative.

This is sad, what does it say about you as a black, if you have to talk about ancient egypt, Stop claiming what is not yours.

Ajuran: This is sad, what does it say about you as a black, if you have to talk about ancient egypt, Stop claiming what is not yours.

[img]http://3.bp..com/-XdY3E3uOsgw/TvzM6u5OgzI/AAAAAAAAEZ0/_pCkKg3r86M/s1600/dnatribes.jpg[/img]
Source:
http://dnatribes.com/dnatribes-digest-2012-01-01.pdf

Source of study:
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=185393



Map of E1b1a/E-M2



Source:
http://dnatribes.com/dnatribes-digest-2013-02-01.pdf

KidStranglehold:


[img]http://3.bp..com/-XdY3E3uOsgw/TvzM6u5OgzI/AAAAAAAAEZ0/_pCkKg3r86M/s1600/dnatribes.jpg[/img]
Source:
http://dnatribes.com/dnatribes-digest-2012-01-01.pdf

Source of study:
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=185393



Map of E1b1a/E-M2



Source:
http://dnatribes.com/dnatribes-digest-2013-02-01.pdf

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