The Olmec were not African ( and here's why)

The Olmec civilization , located in ancient Mexico, prospered in pre _ Classical (Formative) Mesoamerica from c. 1200 BCE to c. 400 BCE. monumental scared complexes , massive stone sculptures, ball games the drinking of chocolate and animals gods were all features of Olmec culture passed on to those people who followed this great Mesoamerica civilization.

with their heart lands in the Gulf of Mexico ( now the states of Veracruz and Tabasco), Olmec influence and trade activiy spread from 1200 BCE, Even reaching as far south as present _ Day Nicaragua. many Olmec cities suffered systematic and deliberate destruction of their monuments sometime between 400 and 300 BCE.

The Olmec civilization presents something of a mystery, indeed, we do not even know what they called themselves, as as Olmec was their Aztec name and ment 'rubber people'. Due to lack a of archeological evidence their ethnic origins and location and extent of many of their settlements are not known, the Olmecs did, however, codify and record their gods and religious and practices using symbols. The precise significance of this record is much debated but, at the very least, it's complexity does suggest some sort of organised religion involving a priesthood The Olmec religious practices of sacrifice, cave rituals, pilgrimages, offering, ball_ courts, pyramids and a seeming awe of mirrors , was also passed on to all subsquent civilization in Mesoamerica until the Spanish Conquest in the 16th century CE.