TRIBUTE TO DR MICHAEL COE, The Non-Eurocentric European-Descent Historian

Dr. Michael D. Coe 
(Born March 14, 1929, died September 25, 2019) archaeologist, anthropologist, epigrapher and author.

Dr. Michael D. Coe was the most important historian in the field of Maya studies of the second half of the 20th century, and of the first two decades of this century until the day he died. 

He was also considered the most revered historian in what is called "Mesoamerican" studies. He was a history professor at Yale University for most of his time as an academic and a historian.

His major books were: The Maya; Breaking the Maya Code; and Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs.

For a quick summary of Dr. Coe's life, here is a quick Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_D._Coe

I first read Dr. Coe's Mexico book sometime in the early '70s. After his Mexico book, I read his Maya book. Both books finally clarified for me the history of the Mexica and the Maya. His style of clear writing and his explanations of our history made the history of our people a lot more accessible. 

Most of the books that I had read up until then were confusing in the way they were written, especially when it came to books written on the Maya.

I went on to read all of his books over the next few decades. His other important books were those that provided clarity for me on the Olmecs (THE OLMEC WORLD) and the hieroglyphics of the Maya (BREAKING THE MAYA CODE). 

I recommended all of his books years later, as amongst the top 5 books to read when I provided a reading list when I founded Mexica Movement Nican Tlaca Nation in the 1990's.  

People would ask me why I was recommending Michael Coe, a European descent person, over "Mexican" descent authors. I would respond that he was the best in his field, the best writer, the best research, the best attitude, and the least Eurocentric of the historians that I had found in my 30 years of research (at that time). In those first 30 years of research I had found that, other than the author Guillermo Bonfil Batalla, that all of the authors from Mexico (and "Mexican" descent authors in "The U.S.") were, and still are, the most Eurocentric, most treasonous and most racist of the authors in the field of "Mesoamerican Studies", with very few other exceptions. 

Dr. Coe helped me to understand that not all Europeans were racist and genocidal. He gave me hope that we could and should work educate not just our Nican Tlaca people but to also educate the European descent people who are on our continent.

I first met Dr. Coe in 2010 when he was doing a lecture at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I went up to him before his lecture that day to thank him for all of the books that he had written. I said, "Your books have helped our people better understand our history."  He responded, "Good, that's why I wrote them, to help your people understand their beautiful history." 

I told him of how his books, and the books of Jacques Soustelle and Nigel Davies, had been powerful books to wake me from my confusion over our history. 

After Dr. Coe's lecture on the Olmecs, an Afrocentric was the first to ask a question. He asked, "Why are the African origins of the Olmecs being ignored in the presentations given at these lectures?"

I literally jumped out of my seat and ran up to get in line to counter the racist question. I responded to the Afrocentric by saying that his question was racist because it denied us the roots of our civilizations. I also said that I was tired of the racism that said that our people could not have created the great cities and civilizations on our lands. And I added that I had had it with all of the Mormon versions of our history, enough of the UFO's founding our genius, or of the so-called Atlantis founding of our civilizations, and those stupid and racist ideas that the Phoenicians founded our civilizations or any of the other racist nonsense that was on the internet. I did get some applause of support from the audience that was made up mostly of academics in the field of "Mesoamerican" studies.

Ironically, the audience was made up of about 90% European descent people, with only about 2 of the East Los Angeles "Chicano/Latino" studies professors in the audience representing our people, out of the hundreds who should have been there. They did not go up to confront the Afrocentric to defend our Olmec heritage.

After the event, they did come to confront Mexica Movement Nican Tlaca Nation for saying that East Los Angeles College's "Chicano/Latino" studies had betrayed our people by not presenting history the way Dr. Coe had presented it, in a non-Eurocentric way, without the "Hispanic/Latino" racist and genocidal agenda. We pretty much put them in their place for the vendidos and vendidas that they are. Perhaps that also adds to understanding why we appreciated Dr. Coe, who defended the genius and accomplishments of our people as our accomplishments and not of UFO's, Africans, or any other people.

On the next day of the two days of lectures, Dr. Coe spotted me outside of the lecture hall and came up to me to thank me for speaking up in defense of our Olmec heritage. He said, "I liked what you said yesterday about the Olmecs." After that, we came to be good friends until the day he died.