An easy news peg for the return of a former Oak Park-based scholar now working as an author-lecturer in Washington would be to say he is “returning to his roots.” On the surface, that might be correct. But for those of us who have gotten to know Anthony Browder, the real truth is he never left.
Just ask dreadlocked, African-garbed, Afri-Ware owner, Nzingha Ama Nommo, who hosted Browder on January 25 to a standing-room-only, all-black audience–crowded so deep inside and outside of her bookstore at 266 Lake St. that the police came to make sure nothing was wrong.
Everything was right. According to Nommo’s prepared statement, “Mr. Browder is a welcomed, returning, presenting author at Afri-Ware. We are extremely honored and excited that this renowned author will be in our midst once again. All of his publications have been consistent best-sellers at Afri-Ware. The Browder Files, Survival Strategies for Africans in America and Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization are required reading for every household.”
Browder, a bald, bespectacled, black man with a bold voice, delivered a PowerPoint presentation featuring some of his newest material, which includes two DVDs, Unlocking the Secret to the Secret, Exploding the Myths, and his upcoming work, Rebirth of Nile Valley Civilization. The DVDs sold well. Browder has traveled to Egypt more than 35 times and has lectured on topics pertaining to African and African-American history and culture in multiple forums throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Caribbean. Since 1987, Browder has escorted study tours to Egypt, West Africa, South Africa and Mexico.
Before a spellbound crowd, unlike any I’ve ever witnessed in the decade or so viewing visiting authors at this popular black bookstore, Browder discussed how “having Mr. Obama in the White House will make it easier for people to accept scholarship from people of African ancestry.” Browder and Obama are among a handful of Chicago-area African-American authors who have written books on Africa.
The importance of African-American History Month was not lost on this crowd. They seemed thirsty for knowledge of the ancient past.
“Before American history, there was black history,” Browder said, to an enthusiastic audience who shouted back, “ShowYaRight!” He referred to Sudan as “Nubia” and Egypt as “Kemet.” He reminded many of the attendees that much of the knowledge attributed to Greek and Roman scholars was appropriated from ancient Egyptian thinkers. Using carefully chosen slides as evidence, he challenged attendees to become critical thinkers, to ask for proof from anyone making assertions.
In an indirect allusion to the status quo here in Oak Park, which 35 years ago might have been considered progressive, Browder said, “Who would have thought 35 years ago that there would be a book store here? We have immense power. Who knows what the village will look like 35 years from now? You know because you have the power.”
Browder graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School in 1969 and was inducted into the Tradition of Excellence gallery of notable graduates in 1998, one of a handful of blacks. When I interviewed him in 2001, he said, “When I was at OPRF, there were never more than two other blacks there with me at that time during my whole three years there. I spent my first year at Austin High right after it was integrated, then transferred to [OPRF] when my mom moved to an apartment on Madison, two blocks west of Oak Park Avenue. My mom thought I would get a better education. My first year there was during the 1965 race riots. Three years later, in April of 1968 when Dr. King was assassinated, I remember standing on my balcony feeling the loss of King and seeing, once again, the West Side where I used to live, in flames.
“While I was snuggled in safety, I felt conflicted because my friends and other family were in peril. I pushed on, learning as much as I could, blending in, but retaining my cultural identity, mainly by visiting friends and family on the West Side and keeping them as part of my support group.”
He was witness to Oak Park’s transition. “I was the first black most of the whites in my classes had ever seen or talked to–period,” said Browder. “There was a bit of awe that I was ‘not a typical black,’ articulate. ‘You’re not like most black people.’ Probably the kind of things many African-Americans continue to get.”
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