1. African Cradle, 2. Out of Africa, 3. The First Australians, 4. Early Europeans, 5. Populating Asia, 6. Into the New World
I’m a African, I’m a African
And I know what’s happenin’
I’m a African, I’m a African
Archaeologists know what’s happenin’
You a African? You a African?
Do you know what’s happenin’?
I’m a African, I’m a African
Geneticists know what’s happenin’
No I wasn’t born in Ghana but Africa is my mama
Human family tree. © Copyright Smithsonian Institution. http://humanorigins.si.edu/
‘Cause that’s where my mama got her mitochondria
You can try to fight if you wanna, but it’s not gonna change me
‘Cause it’s plain to see, Africans are my people
And if it’s not plain to see then your eyes deceive you
I’m talkin’ primeval; the DNA in my veins
Tells a story that reasonable people find believable
But it might even blow your transistors;
Africa is the home of our most recent common ancestors
Which means human beings are all brothers and sisters
So check the massive evidence of Homo erectus
And Australopithecus afarensis in the fossil record
And then try to tell me that we’re not all connected
The fossil record has gaps but no contradictions
And it complements the evidence in your chromosomes
So I came to let you know about your ancestral home
How Australopithecus afarensis might have looked
I’m a African, I’m a African
And I know what’s happenin’
I’m a African, I’m a African
Archaeologists know what’s happenin’
You a African? You a African?
Do you know what’s happenin’?
I’m a African, I’m a African
Geneticists know what’s happenin’
Yeah, it’s plain to see, you can’t change me
‘Cause I’ma be a Homo sapien for life
Yeah, it’s plain to see, you can’t change me
‘Cause I’ma be a Homo sapien for life
Homo erectus skull (by Thomas Roche / Wikimedia Commons)
Yeah, the red is for the blood in my arm – it runs in the veins
Of all my cousins from the same African mom
And the black is for the melanin, which I guess I lost
A mutation with benefits that offset the costs
At least in the North, after massive glaciation
My family passed through some adaptive radiations
We started as Africans, and then became Eurasians
And then one final migration made us Canadians
But it’s back to my origin, ‘cause I understand
For every colour of man, Africa is the motherland
So I’m comin’ back, that’s my right of return
I’m only speakin’ the facts, which I invite you to learn
We came from Africa first; Charles Darwin predicted it
‘Cause that’s where modern chimps and gorillas live
So the green is for the envy in the eyes of intelligent design
Advocates and scientific illiterates
I’m a African, I’m a African
And I know what’s happenin’
I’m a African, I’m a African
Archaeologists know what’s happenin’
You a African? You a African?
Do you know what’s happenin’?
I’m a African, I’m a African
Geneticists know what’s happenin’
Yeah, C-A-N-A-D-A
Asia, U-K, U-S-A
R-U-S-S-I-A
No, it ain’t ‘bout where you stay
It’s ‘bout the motherland
C-H-I-N-A
A-U-S-T-R-I-A
Oz, Tazmania, and Ukraine
No, it ain’t ‘bout where you stay
It’s ‘bout the motherland
M-O-N-G-O-L-I-A
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait
Sweden, Denmark, and Norway
No, it ain’t ‘bout where you stay
It’s ‘bout the motherland
C-O-L-O-M-B-I-A
Costa Rica, I-N-D-I-A
First nations in A-L-A-S-K-A
No, it ain’t ‘bout where you stay
It’s ‘bout the motherland
