Prologue

Even when Christ walked on earth in the east, Griots from Africa (back then it was known as Ethiopia) crossed the ocean to the west. Terrific winds blew their hand hewn ships to the “Land of the Great Spirit.” They lived and loved with the westerners, later to be called Indians. These Ethiopian Griots knew of the sadness and gladness of the straight hair, red-skinned peoples of the land, later to be called America. When they returned to Ethiopia they made legend with charming stories of this remarkable continent beyond the Great Sea.

The people who worshiped a God they called “Great Spirit” had their own version of storytellers. They tell us of shrines built to honor their majestic dark-skinned visitors. The worlds of the west and of the east grew toward each other for centuries. The songs and tales carried back and forth along the equatorial winds of the Atlantic Ocean. Some modern westerners even insist that the Christ walked on earth in the west.

More than a thousand years went by after Christ returned to heaven. A new society of the east grew in numbers and knowledge. They developed in the continent of Europe. And they too learned of the great continent beyond the ocean through their navigators like the ones called Columbus and Vespucci.

They too came to this “Land of the Great Spirit.” But they came like conspirators in the night, planting flags, staking lands and seeking gold. Thus, they could not live and love with the western peoples because conspiracies destroy the foundation of friendship. But their voyages have also become legend.

Now each of the people who came has a story. The red-skinned ancestors of those ancient Americans still mourn to the slow rhythm of drums, singing their regrets as to how their beloved lands were lost. The pale-skin ancestors of the ancient Europeans, on the other hand, still enjoy the moving pictures, called “Westerns,” that show, in magnificent color, how their prized west was won. And the dark-skinned ancestors of the ancient Africans still stretch out their hands and wait wantonly to rule the earth again, which some believe will happen just before Christ returns to walk on earth again.

Time keeps moving on. As it written and told, the European conspiracy to win the west was realized. Again, they conspired to win the world, and the world was won.

Now these custodians of history – African Griots, Storytellers of the so-called Indians, and the Europeans who make moving pictures all join in a newer world. This is a world where east meets west, but many of us don’t know east from west.