My recent family trip to Ancient Kemet (also known as Egypt) was an eye-opening experience that reaffirmed a number of things that I had either read about or seen in videos. From the time that we boarded Egypt Air at Kennedy Airport, the symbols of Heru (a.k.a. Horus) was everywhere, from the wing on the outside of the plane to the items inside the plane. This was confirmation that the journey I have walked for the past 20-plus years was about to ascend to a whole new level — we were on our way to Africa-the cradle of civilization!

Once we touched down at the airport in Heliopolis (known as the city of the Sun) and stepped outside the airport and boarded the buses for Cairo, the surreal experience began to kick-in as our group of about 100 people headed towards our hotel. Along the way the vibe and culture of this ancient area began to reveal itself, when after about 10 minutes of riding on the bus we were told to look out the left side of the window, and there they were, the great pyramids of Giza—structures built by my African ancestors! Yes, our African ancestors!

During my travel in Kemet, I realized that many of the institutions and practices of the western world were copied directly from African people. My eyewitness accounts of the amazing monuments exhibited the remarkable skill and technique of our ancestors. In fact, during our visit to the Temple of Abu Simbel where we were not allowed to take pictures or shoot video, my 8-year-old daughter Christen turned to me and said: “Daddy it’s okay, I got right here” pointing at her head. My daughter realized and understood the value of what she was encountering and learning from her African ancestors who were the teachers of the world—she was gaining knowledge of self and her connection to her African origin.

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