Being Human Being - by Molefi Kete Asante & Nah Dove (Paperback)

About the Book

Being Human Being depicts the importance of education in combating those who benefit from, and promote, racism. Educating the masses would allow multicultural, pluralistic societies to be achieved in a practical way.

Book Synopsis

During a time of high racial tension, Being Human Being seeks to dispel divisiveness and instead present a vision of a united humanity. With scientific basis established from the Human Genome Project, the authors explore what it means to be human, the myth of race, and the importance of common identity. The conclusions of the Human Genome Project discredit those who deny humanity's genesis on the African continent, and they allow for new examination of the fictitious basis upon which modern society justifies its divisions, privileges, and punishments. In this book, the discourse navigates the complex illusion of race by tracing its cultural and religious origins. Furthering the ideas brought forth in Ibram X. Kendi's critically acclaimed book How to Be an Antiracist, the authors express the power in ending the language of race entirely, bringing forth a new era in which racism no longer plagues the human experience. With in-depth evidence surrounding the colloquial misuse of the term race, Being Human Being argues that the term human, robust and newly re-envisioned, eradicates the need for the illusion of categorical racial boundaries. The authors, in their acknowledgement of the differences that exist among humans, found that such distinctions are more easily explained culturally rather than "racially." Even so, habitual reference to these racial partitions are ingrained into many aspects of the contemporary landscape. Knowing this, Being Human Being addresses the challenges of exchanging race for humanity within mainstream media, academic circles, and pop culture. Being Human Being depicts the importance of education in combating those who benefit from, and promote, racism. Educating the masses would allow multicultural, pluralistic societies to be achieved in a practical way. The authors suggest that humanity is hindered by its disunity and that through concepts like Ma'aticity, the ancient way of becoming human, society can achieve its highest potential. Featuring an array of examples, illustrations, and theoretical models, Being Human Being demonstrates that the only race is the human race.

Review Quotes

"If there's anything that has prevented human beings from being human beings, then it is the discourse of racist ideas. Being Human Being cogently and clearly reveals the illusion, disruption, and distraction of racist ideas, which have left people conceptually stranded from the fullness of humanity. And this moving book goes a step further. Molefi Kete Asante and Nah Dove return us to the ancient idea of Ma'at-thus returning us to humanity."

-Ibram X. Kendi, PhD

Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities

Professor of History

Boston University