The Shadow of the Leopard: Understanding Ekpe/Mgbe and Nsibidi
Event Type
Presentation
Location
EHFA 137
Start Date
6-3-2020 9:00 AM
End Date
6-3-2020 10:30 AM
Description
Like thousands of other African American boys growing up in New York City during the early 1970s, Hales became a hardcore fan of both the Black Panther and Marvel Comics. Little could he have known that over four and half decades later, he would be teaching at the college-level and investigating a precolonial African system of written communication called Nsibidi. This powerful system figured prominently in the first Black Panther film. All of the symbols and scripts utilized by the Wakandans in the movie were forms of Nsibidi. When early European missionaries, adventurers, and explorers had their first encounters with ancient West African social organizations such as Ekpe and Mgbe, they misunderstood the true purpose of these groups and viewed them as "secret societies." Prominent Nsibidi studies scholars such as Ivor Miller (2009) and a host of other researchers have shown the world that Ekpe/Mgbe initiates created Nsibidi, a system of gestures, tattoos, written symbols, signs, and other physical markings. African-based researchers such as Bassey Effiong Bassey (2012) and Catherine Acholonu (2009) have vividly described the significant influence Ekpe/Mgbe exert on African life and culture in the numerous, scattered Niger tributaries of southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon. Part of Hales's research involves discussing the role of Nsibidi in the lives of African societies past and present.
Recommended Citation
Hales, Kevin J., "The Shadow of the Leopard: Understanding Ekpe/Mgbe and Nsibidi" (2020). International Gullah Geechee and African Diaspora Conference. 2.
https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/iggad/2020/magic/2
The Shadow of the Leopard: Understanding Ekpe/Mgbe and Nsibidi
EHFA 137
Like thousands of other African American boys growing up in New York City during the early 1970s, Hales became a hardcore fan of both the Black Panther and Marvel Comics. Little could he have known that over four and half decades later, he would be teaching at the college-level and investigating a precolonial African system of written communication called Nsibidi. This powerful system figured prominently in the first Black Panther film. All of the symbols and scripts utilized by the Wakandans in the movie were forms of Nsibidi. When early European missionaries, adventurers, and explorers had their first encounters with ancient West African social organizations such as Ekpe and Mgbe, they misunderstood the true purpose of these groups and viewed them as "secret societies." Prominent Nsibidi studies scholars such as Ivor Miller (2009) and a host of other researchers have shown the world that Ekpe/Mgbe initiates created Nsibidi, a system of gestures, tattoos, written symbols, signs, and other physical markings. African-based researchers such as Bassey Effiong Bassey (2012) and Catherine Acholonu (2009) have vividly described the significant influence Ekpe/Mgbe exert on African life and culture in the numerous, scattered Niger tributaries of southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon. Part of Hales's research involves discussing the role of Nsibidi in the lives of African societies past and present.
Comments
Theme: Magic, Mysticism, Afrofuturism, and Ways of Knowing; Moderator: Shari Orisich, Coastal Carolina University