Ivan Van Sertima was a Guyanese-born historian, who gained global renown with his scholarship showing African presence in the Americas before Columbus..
Van Sertima’s most famous work was “They Came Before Columbus,” (Random House, 1976) which showed African influences in Central and South America before the arrival of Europeans.

Thereafter, he engaged in battle with conservative scholars who rejected his teachings. He was a professor at Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey.