Ivan Van Sertima was a professor of Africana studies at Rutgers University when he published the book They Came Before Columbus in 1976. The premise of this book stemmed from Van Sertima's belief that there was it was an African presence in the New World, before Christopher Columbus in 1492. He hypothesized that Africans traveled to South America centuries before European explorers. Van Sertima argued that pre-Columbian civilizations were heavily influenced by African travellers. He thoroughly examined the possible cultural parallels between Africans and Native Americans; the direct testimonies of European explorers; and intercontinental transport of goods. Van Sertima argued that contact between Nubians and Olmecs in 700 BC, followed by further contact from Mali in 1300 AD, altered indigenous art and architecture, while proposing that explorers such as Columbus and Balboa documented this hidden history among 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 view that Africans were not slaves but traders and priests respected by the native population. At first, Van Sertima cited Columbus as evidence of an African presence on the island of Espanola, the author quotes: "The Indians of this Espanola said that a black people had come to Espanola who had the tips of their spears made of a metal 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 came across a group of African prisoners in a native settlement. Residents explained that the bla...... middle of paper ......me Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America offers a unique scholarly approach, dated evidence is presented as a hypothetical novel rather than as an anthropological theory. The possibility of an African presence in the New World for European explorers is plausible since it is likely that the Phoenicians and Egyptians traded. However, Van Sertima's belief that pre-Columbian civilizations were heavily influenced by African travelers through cultural parallels between Africans and Native Americans is based largely on speculation. Van Sertima argued that pre-Columbian civilizations were perhaps influenced by African travellers. However, Dr. Ivan Van Sertima's ethnocentric views overshadow the academic deconstruction of the cultural stigma that Africans were not slaves and actually deserved to be considered an innovative and culturally advanced society..