May 27, 2026 • 6 mins
Long before Columbus pulled up, giant stone heads with unmistakable facial features were already sitting in ancient Mexico. For decades, people have debated whether the Olmec civilization proves Africans reached the Americas before Europeans did. In this episode of IDKMYDE, B Daht breaks down what historians know, what people speculate, and why the Olmec heads became one of the biggest "wait a minute..." conversations in Black history circles.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Welcome back know it all to another episode of the
most anticipated podcast on the Black Effect Podcast Network, entitled
I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Maybe you didn't either.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
At Congratulations to the class of twenty twenty six, I
got so many nephews graduating, man, and listen, you gotta
be careful when you're going to support these graduations, cause
these kids be want money.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
And I ain't talking about no little money. These kids be.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Wanting at the minimum one hundred dollars. I remember when
I graduated. My daddy gave me twenty dollars and he
gave it to me like it was a drug transaction.
He folded it up tight in his hand. He dapped
me up and he held my hand tight, and he
stared me in my eyes and said, brian On, proud
of your son. Just wanted to give you a little
token to let you know how proud of you I am.
I didn't even look at it. I knew it was
(00:45):
at least one hundred dollars. I put that drum right
in my pocket. Thanks Dad gave him a hug. Man.
I checked my pocket later and saw that twenty dollars
folded up. I thought I had dropped some damn money.
Twenty dollars after thirteen years of school.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
You gotta count in the garden.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
But I guess twenty dollars in nineteen ninety seven after
inflation is one hundred dollars in twenty twenty six. So
to kick off this episode, if I didn't know, maybe
you didn't either. I've got three of the most useless
facts you'll never need, never, not a day in life
about graduation.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Up first, the cap toss You ever wonder where that
came from?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
You remember on a different world at the end, when
everybody threw their caps up in the air. We do
it at every graduation, But did you know that it
originated in nineteen twelve at the United States Naval Academy.
See the story goes, midshipmen were commissioned as officers immediately
after they graduated, so they no longer needed their student hats,
so throwing them up in the air symbolized their newfound freedom.
(01:44):
Your second useless fact about graduations the caps and gowns,
or the academic regalia that dates back to the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
The scholars wore them not for style.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
But because the early European universities, they were largely unheeded.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
They wore the black to stay warm.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
And your third useless facts, have you ever heard diplomas referred.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
To as sheep skins?
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Because they were for a very long time, because before
modern paper was used, they were literally written on paper
thin sheep skin. Those have been your three useless facts
about graduation. And again, congratulations to the class of twenty
twenty six. But for today's episode, if I didn't know,
maybe you didn't either. I've been just having random conversations
(02:30):
with people about the genesis of black folk in America. Now,
I very ignorantly subscribe to the story that there were
no black people here until we started being brought over
on slave ships. Now, the history of black folk didn't
start on those slave ships. But from my perspective, the
history of black folk in America started for those slave ships.
(02:51):
But there's a huge autist It says no, no, no, no, no.
Black folks was on this continent well before the Middle
Passage and shattow slavery. And one guy ask me, how
do you explain the all mix? I said, the what's?
He said, the ol mis O L M E C
S the all mix? I said, what the hell is
an all Mix.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
I didn't know. I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
I didn't know. I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
I didn't know. I didn't know them giant stone heads
from ancient Mexico, the Allmic heads. I saw pictures of these,
and I was like, yo, uncle, he said incense and
Dashiki's downtown. Now understand, the all Mix were a real
civilization that existed around twelve hundred BCE. That was thousands
(03:41):
of years before Europeans ever reached the Americas, historians considering
one of the mother cultures a mess with America because
later civilizations like the Maya Civilization and the Aztec civilization,
they built.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
On things that the all Mix started.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
But have you seen the faces on these giant heads,
broad nose, its, full lips, wide facial structures.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Man, they black.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
They couldn't look more African them as blackheads. And I'm
not talking about pimples. But that's where the conversation splits
into two lanes. Like most archaeologists say that the all
Mics were indigenous people native to the Americas and the
facial features are simply natural variations among indigenous populations in
that region. I mean, it's currently no universally accepted archaeological
(04:27):
proof that Africans travel to the Americas and found it
or directly influenced the all civilization. Now that's the academic position,
Then you got the common sense theories. Some researchers, writers,
and Afrocentric historians argue that Africans may have crossed the
Atlantic long before Columbus. Ocean currents from West Africa naturally
(04:48):
flow towards the Americas. Certain allmic art styles, pyramid structures,
and infacial depictions resemble African influences. They look black, And
of course you can always point to how often black
contributions get erased or minimized historically and ask yourself, if
history already hid this much from us, what else got
left out? And honestly, that question is part of why
(05:11):
this conversation will never die, because history has already shown
us that black people were global travelers, ancient African civilizations,
master navigation, architecture, math, trade, a lot of things that
were once called impossible later turned out true. So when
black folks see giant ancient heads that look familiar, some
people feel pride, some people feel curiosity, and some people
(05:33):
feel validation. Now, whether the all mechs were African is
still heavily debated and of course is not proven in
mainstream archaeology.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
But what is proven.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Black history is way bigger than slavery, way older than America,
and way more global than.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Most textbooks taught us.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I mean, so far, seventeen colossal heads have been found,
and many scholars believe that the heads are portraits of
powerful rulers or elite individuals from that time. And these
joints is massive. Some of them weigh up to forty
fifty tons and stand over nine feet, and no two
heads are exactly alike, like each one appears to represent
a unique individual. We can argue all day if they
(06:13):
black or not, but they significant because they showed that
the all had advanced sculpting and engineering skills, maybe had
a complex society with leaders in social hierarchy. And they
require transporting them big ass stones over long distances, sometimes
more than fifty miles. How they moved fifty ton basketball
goals fifty miles with no metal tools and no wheels.
(06:36):
Why were some heads buried or relocated? I wonder what
rituals or meanings we was tired to them? All I
know is the all mixed civilization was something that I
didn't know.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Maybe you didn't either.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
I
I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Welcome back know it all to another episode of the
most anticipated podcast on the Black Effect Podcast Network, entitled
I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Maybe you didn't either.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
At Congratulations to the class of twenty twenty six, I
got so many nephews graduating, man, and listen, you gotta
be careful when you're going to support these graduations, cause
these kids be want money.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
And I ain't talking about no little money. These kids be.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Wanting at the minimum one hundred dollars. I remember when
I graduated. My daddy gave me twenty dollars and he
gave it to me like it was a drug transaction.
He folded it up tight in his hand. He dapped
me up and he held my hand tight, and he
stared me in my eyes and said, brian On, proud
of your son. Just wanted to give you a little
token to let you know how proud of you I am.
I didn't even look at it. I knew it was
(00:45):
at least one hundred dollars. I put that drum right
in my pocket. Thanks Dad gave him a hug. Man.
I checked my pocket later and saw that twenty dollars
folded up. I thought I had dropped some damn money.
Twenty dollars after thirteen years of school.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
You gotta count in the garden.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
But I guess twenty dollars in nineteen ninety seven after
inflation is one hundred dollars in twenty twenty six. So
to kick off this episode, if I didn't know, maybe
you didn't either. I've got three of the most useless
facts you'll never need, never, not a day in life
about graduation.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Up first, the cap toss You ever wonder where that
came from?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
You remember on a different world at the end, when
everybody threw their caps up in the air. We do
it at every graduation, But did you know that it
originated in nineteen twelve at the United States Naval Academy.
See the story goes, midshipmen were commissioned as officers immediately
after they graduated, so they no longer needed their student hats,
so throwing them up in the air symbolized their newfound freedom.
(01:44):
Your second useless fact about graduations the caps and gowns,
or the academic regalia that dates back to the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
The scholars wore them not for style.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
But because the early European universities, they were largely unheeded.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
They wore the black to stay warm.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
And your third useless facts, have you ever heard diplomas referred.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
To as sheep skins?
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Because they were for a very long time, because before
modern paper was used, they were literally written on paper
thin sheep skin. Those have been your three useless facts
about graduation. And again, congratulations to the class of twenty
twenty six. But for today's episode, if I didn't know,
maybe you didn't either. I've been just having random conversations
(02:30):
with people about the genesis of black folk in America. Now,
I very ignorantly subscribe to the story that there were
no black people here until we started being brought over
on slave ships. Now, the history of black folk didn't
start on those slave ships. But from my perspective, the
history of black folk in America started for those slave ships.
(02:51):
But there's a huge autist It says no, no, no, no, no.
Black folks was on this continent well before the Middle
Passage and shattow slavery. And one guy ask me, how
do you explain the all mix? I said, the what's?
He said, the ol mis O L M E C
S the all mix? I said, what the hell is
an all Mix.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
I didn't know. I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
I didn't know. I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
I didn't know. I didn't know them giant stone heads
from ancient Mexico, the Allmic heads. I saw pictures of these,
and I was like, yo, uncle, he said incense and
Dashiki's downtown. Now understand, the all Mix were a real
civilization that existed around twelve hundred BCE. That was thousands
(03:41):
of years before Europeans ever reached the Americas, historians considering
one of the mother cultures a mess with America because
later civilizations like the Maya Civilization and the Aztec civilization,
they built.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
On things that the all Mix started.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
But have you seen the faces on these giant heads,
broad nose, its, full lips, wide facial structures.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Man, they black.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
They couldn't look more African them as blackheads. And I'm
not talking about pimples. But that's where the conversation splits
into two lanes. Like most archaeologists say that the all
Mics were indigenous people native to the Americas and the
facial features are simply natural variations among indigenous populations in
that region. I mean, it's currently no universally accepted archaeological
(04:27):
proof that Africans travel to the Americas and found it
or directly influenced the all civilization. Now that's the academic position,
Then you got the common sense theories. Some researchers, writers,
and Afrocentric historians argue that Africans may have crossed the
Atlantic long before Columbus. Ocean currents from West Africa naturally
(04:48):
flow towards the Americas. Certain allmic art styles, pyramid structures,
and infacial depictions resemble African influences. They look black, And
of course you can always point to how often black
contributions get erased or minimized historically and ask yourself, if
history already hid this much from us, what else got
left out? And honestly, that question is part of why
(05:11):
this conversation will never die, because history has already shown
us that black people were global travelers, ancient African civilizations,
master navigation, architecture, math, trade, a lot of things that
were once called impossible later turned out true. So when
black folks see giant ancient heads that look familiar, some
people feel pride, some people feel curiosity, and some people
(05:33):
feel validation. Now, whether the all mechs were African is
still heavily debated and of course is not proven in
mainstream archaeology.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
But what is proven.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Black history is way bigger than slavery, way older than America,
and way more global than.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Most textbooks taught us.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I mean, so far, seventeen colossal heads have been found,
and many scholars believe that the heads are portraits of
powerful rulers or elite individuals from that time. And these
joints is massive. Some of them weigh up to forty
fifty tons and stand over nine feet, and no two
heads are exactly alike, like each one appears to represent
a unique individual. We can argue all day if they
(06:13):
black or not, but they significant because they showed that
the all had advanced sculpting and engineering skills, maybe had
a complex society with leaders in social hierarchy. And they
require transporting them big ass stones over long distances, sometimes
more than fifty miles. How they moved fifty ton basketball
goals fifty miles with no metal tools and no wheels.
(06:36):
Why were some heads buried or relocated? I wonder what
rituals or meanings we was tired to them? All I
know is the all mixed civilization was something that I
didn't know.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Maybe you didn't either.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
I
Host
Brian "B Daht" McLaughlin
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