Ivan Van Sertima was a professor of African studies at Rutgers University when he published the book They Came Before Columbus in 1976. The premise of this book stemmed of Van Sertima's belief that there was an African presence in the New World, predating Christopher Columbus in 1492. He hypothesized that Africans traveled to South America centuries before European explorers. Van Sertima claimed that pre-Columbian civilizations were strongly influenced by African travelers. He looked in depth at possible cultural parallels between Africans and Native Americans; first-hand accounts of European explorers; and intercontinental transport of goods. Van Sertima argued that contacts between the Nubians and the Olmecs in 700 BCE, followed by further contacts from Mali in 1300 CE, modified indigenous art and architecture, while also proposing that explorers like Columbus and Balboa documented this hidden history between Africans and Native Americans. Van Sertima claimed that pre-Columbian civilizations were heavily influenced by African travelers and cited several authorities who supported his ethnocentric views that Africans were not slaves but traders and priests respected by the indigenous population. an African presence on the island of Espanola, the author quotes: "The Indians of this Espanola said that there had come to Espanola a black people who had the tops of their spears made of a metal that they called gua-nin…” (13). Sertima suggested that the phonetic origin of gua-nin was the West African word for gold. Also commissioned by Spain, Vasco Nunez de Balboa in 1513 encountered a group of African captives in a native colony. Locals explained that the blame...... middle of paper ......me Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America offers a unique scientific approach, the dated evidence is presented as a rather hypothetical novel as an anthropological theory. The possibility of an African presence in the New World is plausible to European explorers since it is likely that the Phoenicians and Egyptians were trading. However, Van Sertima's belief that pre-Columbian civilizations were heavily influenced by African travelers through the cultural parallels between Africans and Native Americans is largely based on speculation. Van Sertima claimed that pre-Columbian civilizations may have been influenced by African travelers. However, Dr. Ivan Van Sertima's ethnocentric views overshadow the academic deconstruction of the cultural stigma that Africans were not slaves and, in fact, deserved to be considered an innovative and culturally advanced society..