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02-08-2007, 04:49 PM
One would ask how Africans toiling under the brutal yoke of slavery and discrimination could find the will to invent anything.
Originally published: 2000-02-03 00:00:00
Creators in a Hostile Society
One would ask how Africans toiling under the brutal yoke of slavery and discrimination could find the will to invent anything. This author would point to a well known axiom, Necessity Is the Mother of Invention. These brilliant Africans, for which we have much to be proud of, invented devices that increased the efficiency of the domestic and agricultural fields, found cures for some of the most contagious diseases, and improved the art of carpentry and cabinetry.
Stolen Dreams
The denial of basic human rights to Africans in the Americas makes the fact that we are even aware of the contributions of some of these early inventors a blessing of huge proportions. An African born into slavery could not obtain patents for protecting their inventions. Denied the ability to patent their inventions by law until 1858, African inventors born into slavery had their inventions stolen and often times received no recognition for ever having invented the object of their ingenuity. Even Africans who were considered free men faced enormous obstacles in their attempts to obtain patents. We may never know how many inventions credited to Caucasians were actually invented by their African captives.
Stolen Rights
The Knowledge we have to date of some of the early African inventors stem from the fact that it was not unusual for a slave owner through his greed and/or his belief that he had property rights to the physical and intellectual aspects of Africans to attempt to obtain patents for the invention. Often times these slave owners did not bother to hide the fact that it was one of their African captives who had made the invention.
Balancing the Scales
May the scales of justice and balance one day afford the future generations of these men and women of integrity and ingenuity with the compensation and recognition denied them long ago.
Originally published: 2000-02-03 00:00:00
Creators in a Hostile Society
One would ask how Africans toiling under the brutal yoke of slavery and discrimination could find the will to invent anything. This author would point to a well known axiom, Necessity Is the Mother of Invention. These brilliant Africans, for which we have much to be proud of, invented devices that increased the efficiency of the domestic and agricultural fields, found cures for some of the most contagious diseases, and improved the art of carpentry and cabinetry.
Stolen Dreams
The denial of basic human rights to Africans in the Americas makes the fact that we are even aware of the contributions of some of these early inventors a blessing of huge proportions. An African born into slavery could not obtain patents for protecting their inventions. Denied the ability to patent their inventions by law until 1858, African inventors born into slavery had their inventions stolen and often times received no recognition for ever having invented the object of their ingenuity. Even Africans who were considered free men faced enormous obstacles in their attempts to obtain patents. We may never know how many inventions credited to Caucasians were actually invented by their African captives.
Stolen Rights
The Knowledge we have to date of some of the early African inventors stem from the fact that it was not unusual for a slave owner through his greed and/or his belief that he had property rights to the physical and intellectual aspects of Africans to attempt to obtain patents for the invention. Often times these slave owners did not bother to hide the fact that it was one of their African captives who had made the invention.
Balancing the Scales
May the scales of justice and balance one day afford the future generations of these men and women of integrity and ingenuity with the compensation and recognition denied them long ago.