Dr. Beatrice Lumpkin - Nile Valley Conference, Part 3 | For The People (1985)

This is the third installment of the For The People Nile Valley Conference series. The topic of the interview is the founding of mathematics and its history with Dr. Beatrice Lumpkin a professor at Malcolm X College and author of a children's book “Young genius in old Egypt.”
Middleton begins by asking the question of what children in America are being taught about the beginning of mathematics, Dr. Lumpkin answers the question with very little.
Dr. Lumpkin then begins to speak about an ancient woman named Hypatia who was an Egyptian algebraist who dedicated her life toward algebra. Dr. Lumpkin emphasizes the fact that instead of being depicted truthfully as an African, Hypatia is commonly shown as a European.
Dr. Lumpkin then goes on to state that Africa is the birthplace of humanity so, wherever there were human beings there was math. She also speaks on the use of algebra in ancient Egypt and Greek people later admitting they learned geometry from Egypt.
Lastly Dr. Lumpkin says that Muslims came into Egypt and found advanced knowledge that what they knew, and rather than suppressing Egyptian culture the Arabs immersed themselves in the culture and continued to advance upon their newfound knowledge.
This episode ends with Dr. Lumpkin telling a story about Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt and her impact on Egypt.
Produced and hosted by Listervelt Middleton, For the People delivered African American history and culture every week to South Carolina ETV's viewers.