Various Ways Of Knowing

"Embodied knowledge and other knowledge systems are reconcilable and like sound waves in relation to light waves, are truths and knowledge of different orders, but nonetheless, equally valuable." Often time's knowledge is used in relationship to power. How does one acquire knowledge? Are there different "ways of knowing" or is there a procedure to follow? Unit Two discusses how Afro- Diasporians know about their history, their ancestors, and themselves, considering what truth is what reality is, and what kinds of knowledge are considered reliable and or important. There are various ways of knowing including being told and taught, investigate/research, observation, experience, feeling, and embodied knowledge all of which is described throughout this essay.

In this society that thrives upon concrete information, meaning for something to be considered knowledgeable it most often has to written in a literary text wrong or right in ADW this is called Eurocentric truth. Those who practice and strongly believe in this truth have tendencies to look down upon other "ways of knowing" because some argue that it no value if it can't physical be proven, and other ways of knowing aren't as socially accepted. An African tradition that is still being practiced today is the oral tradition of stories being passed on to others. Being told and/or taught information is one way of knowing whether it is a folktale, folklore, or speech. The novel Sundiata written by D.T. Naine is a story that was once told solely by as oral tradition. In the African culture something written has no higher value than something orally spoken. In fact verbal transportation of knowledge is the quickest, easiest, and the most popular way of communicating throughout the African culture because it is the one common ground that people respect and trust. The griot is an example of oral tradition through the stories they tell about the history and outcomes of the royal family's lives. Through wisdom the griot of the story uses his knowledge of the family's back grounds to provide advice for the king, teaches the young princes, and provides a source of the oral alternative of knowledge.

Yvonne Daniels talks about how people of African descent can gain knowledge of our heritage in her article "Embodied Knowledge in African Dance Performance." Daniels suggests that "embodied knowledge" can be gained through the movements of the dancer, the rhythm of the drums, and the attitude of the steps. "The concrete act of dancing affords the immediacy of both the learned and intuitive realms of knowledge and empowers humans as well as transforms and identifies them with and as spiritual entitles." She also talks about how one must look beyond just the physical aspect but to use all of the senses to see the story being told throughout the dance. The author also challenges the issue of what knowledge is considered reliable and or important-much like the poem crick crack does about challenging the meaning of truth." The knowledge that is received is fragmented and lacks the relevance of interdependent spheres of knowledge that dance behavior can regularly access." Also Daniels uses her experience of dance as a method to contribute toward her ways of knowing which connecting back to her cultureÐ'--much like Tracey Reynolds does in her article "Rethinking the Black Feminist Standpoint". Reynolds talks about how the experience of black women are being made a mockery in the press, books, and media which promotes black women as being unstable, dependent, low self esteem, and bad tempers. All of which add to the Eurocentric perception of what a black woman is.

Ivan Van Sertima gave a speech at the Smithsonian entitled Evidence of African Presence in Pre-Columbian Era. This speech is also a way of knowing because it researches