#west african history

[panafrocore]

Exploring the Legacy and Influence of Cheikh Anta Diop: A Pivotal Figure in Academia

Cheikh Anta Diop was a multifaceted Senegalese scholar whose far-reaching work spanned the realms of history, anthropology, physics, and politics. He emerged as a prominent figure in the study of the origins of human civilization and pre-colonial African culture, asking pivotal questions about cultural bias in scientific research. His profound insights significantly contributed to the…

[cool-it-action]

pinned post; lets go.

essentially a blog where my personal experiences as a (first gen american) black queer person will be talked about through a lens of analyzation, as well as analyzing theory from those who came before me. thats the main purpose, anyway. will also probably get silly sometimes on here. what can i say; its in my nature.

antiblackness and my frustration with it will be a heavy topic here, and mentions of violence, both historical and present, will be mentioned quite a bit here. i will tag it as needed.

transmisogynoir will also be a topic here, and i'll be pulling from black trans women who are essayists, my own birds eye view of it as a black person, and lived experiences of black transfems who i know and love. mentions of violence from this will be properly tagged as well.

the tagging system will probably grow larger as we go along, but let me set out the baseline now:

#sign of my times - my own personal ramblings and vents through an analytical lens. theory will be drawn upon here, but it'll be applied to my own experiences.

#mental digest - analyses of the essays, books, and other such i've read.

#tales from the table - writing about the experiences of others, sometimes collaborating directly with them, sometimes not.

#point n' click - me analyzing antiblackness in media or spaces that were not dedicated to it or written by other black people, but still intrigue me. will be almost entirely my own thoughts on the piece.

#no place like - specifically studying theory, black, queer, or otherwise, from Ghana. it's where my family is from, and the situation over there at the moment for my queer family is dire. sometimes will be my own thoughts on it as well.

[lightdancer1]

Wrapped up the next book:

This book covers the history of the Empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai from an emphasis at both decolonization and an emphasis on a changing, not static African world and from the simple recognition that the written history of this part of the world is overwhelmingly an Islamic one and one written by peoples who had millennia-ancient Arab prejudices against the Zanj (aka Black) peoples of the Bilad al-Sudan. In the writings of the Islamic consensus the Bilad Al-Sudan was a realm of monsters and subhumans without a history, infidels who worshiped fell gods in sinister rites involving cannibalism, human sacrifices, and the pounding of drums in darkling woods. If this sounds like it could have been written by Lovecraft there's a reason for that.

This is not European racism, as the mark of descent is from the status of the father, not the mother, and because it's not rooted in science or pseudoscience, but in the concept of Allah/God the most merciful marking peoples by skin color in a category of superiority for the white people (aka Arabs and let this stand in turn as a commentary on later European white supremacy, a religious Islamic version of it already existed and Arabs and to a lesser degree some Amazigh were 'white' and therefore innately blessed with rationality, control of sexual impulses, and all the other things they said the Black people, the Sudani, did not have).

Now why does all this matter? Because under Ghana, Mali, and Songhai West Africa underwent a transformation from an ancient region of urbanized areas led by sacred kings and religions that worshiped many gods to the monotheistic Jihad-societies of Ghana and Songhai, with Mali in between and marking the point where the Islamic world went from the kind of syrupy condescension used for modern African states to actually taking African Muslims seriously.

Equally crucially this shaped the medieval Sahelian Ruling class's self-perception. It downplayed Blackness and demonized it in line with the tradition of Islamic history, it created the same artificial bullshit whereby European nobilities were somehow descended from Trojans or Roman Emperors with Yemeni and the Al-Qays tribes of Arabs. It also shaped the specific dynamic of West African Islam, that of Ghana (and the founder of the Songhai Empire, Sunni Ali), a heavily syncretic version but also that of Mali and Songhai at their height cosmopolitan and with a global ambition that shaped the Islamic world at its own heights.

In short, too, the African states that arose were not ancient traditional concepts, they were new creations charged with the self-serving mission of Jihad at the expense of pagans, and the fallen old empires were neatly redefined as pagan to suit their new successors, to boot. Their impact on the ethnogenesis and self-perception of Sahelian West Africa was very real and this book notes that the Griot traditions match up fairly closely with the Islamic written tradition and as such the dismissal of oral histories is, in actual fact, bullshit.

This book also notes that both the novelty and the scale of expansion created its own problems and its own weaknesses, and that the endemic inability of Islamic states to solve the succession problem in a way to simultaneously satisfy political and religious elites created major weaknesses and civil wars, with the endemic civil warfare prior to the Battle of Tondibi contributing at least as much to the final fall of the Songhai Empire as Tondibi itself did.

9/10.

[blumoonfiction-blog]

Fairy Tale 101: The Hausa Legend of Princess Yennega

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture is like a tree without roots.” – Marcus Garvey The tale of Princess Yennega is one of bravery, independence, and destiny. Known as the mother of the Mossi people, her story highlights themes of defiance, self-determination, and love. Unlike many princesses in traditional folklore, Yennega was a warrior—skilled in combat,…

[theredpharaoah]

Is there any pre-colonial West African drawing styles? I know about sculpting and textiles but I’m looking for drawing/painting specifically. Also y’all got any book suggestions for West African Vodun and Bakongo religion specifically?

[ourrace-sexraceandculture]

I love the clap back 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Sis is sick and tire of those people.😂😂😂😂

When you have a people who's shameful culture is, murdering, raping, brutalizing, theft, invading, kidnapping, colonizing, and slavery, to make them feel better, they hijack another people's culture and claim it as their own. Melanated people's culture IS NOT something to be played with, it is not a game, it is not a trend, it is not fashionable, and it is not a costume.

[letsdeconstructtogether]

Ancestry Mood Board

Women of the 1. Fulani (Mali) and the 2. Biafade (Guinea-Bissau), 3. Queen of Rwanda Rosalie Gicanda (1928 - 20 April 1994), 4. a woman of the Mangbetu (Democratic Republic of Congo), as well as women of the 5. Zulu (South Africa) and the 6. Oromoo (Ethiopia)

Our hair is not a curse, it is a major blessing.

[purexenophilia]

Woodabe girls in traditional clothing, Niger

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Sculpture of a Woman with Four Children, from Mali, c.1100-1450 CE: this sculpture was created in the ancient city of Djenné-Djenno

Created during the 12th-15th centuries CE, this sculpture depicts a woman sitting cross-legged on the ground, with two children on her lap and two more clinging to her back. Scarification patterns are visible on the woman's temples, and there is a thick, undulating line running from her forehead to the nape of her neck, likely representing a serpent.

As this article explains:

Snakes on Inner Niger Delta sculptures are a common element and should be seen as a positive iconographic component. They represent control of a potentially dangerous benevolent power that must be tamed, domesticated, nourished, and satisfied so it will continue to provide protection.

This is one of the many terracotta sculptures that were produced in Djenné-Djenno, located in the Niger River Valley of Mali, in West Africa; Djenné-Djenno sits just to the south of the Medieval city of Djenné, which is still a major center of Islamic scholarship.

The ancient city of Djenné-Djenno dates back to at least 250 BCE, making it one of the oldest cities in West Africa. For centuries, it also served as one of the largest urban centers/trading hubs in the region, with a peak population of about 20,000 people. The city began to decline in the 9th century CE, when residents (and trade) began moving northward to the nearby city of Djenné, which had just recently been founded by Muslim traders. Djenné-Djenno was ultimately abandoned by the end of the 15th century.

Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly), most of the artifacts from Djenné-Djenno were looted or destroyed by colonizing forces during the 19th-20th centuries. Some of those artifacts have been repatriated in recent years, and there are ongoing efforts to return more of them.

Why Western museums should return African artifacts.

Sources & More Info:

Yale University Art Gallery: Female Figure with Four Children

World History Encyclopedia: Djenné-Djenno

Tribal Art: Scrofulous Sogolon (PDF)

ArtNews: Museum of Fine Arts Boston to Return Terra-Cotta Figures from Mali in Latest Restitution Efforts

CBS: African Nations Want their Stolen History Back, and Experts Say it's Time to Speed up the Process

Fair Observer: It is Now Time for the West to Return African Art

[katrinaftw44]

This is a colourization I did of a Senegalese woman wearing traditional dress. The original b+w was taken by Mama Casset.

This took 3 hours to colourize.

I got the original b+w from @vintageeveryday

[panafrocore]

Exploring the History of the Jolof/Wolof Empire: A Fascinating Historical Overview

The Jolof Empire, also known as the Wolof Empire, was a prominent confederacy state that exerted its influence over vast expanses of West Africa, specifically in present-day Senegal, Mali, Gambia, and Mauritania, from the 12th century until 1549. It is fascinating to note that the founder of this empire, Ndiadiane Ndiaye, whose existence is steeped in mythology, was a prince with possible Fulani…

[kaiyastarz]

Sayed

[lightdancer1]

Ghana is where the history of Cold War decolonization in Africa is often held to have begun:

In 1948 the starting gun of the independence of Cold War Ghana was also set, in the same year where Apartheid took its fullest form in South Africa, by the Accra Riots of 28 February 1948. Here the people of Ghana, then the British Gold Coast, balked at the ways a post-WWII Britain that was none too solid itself economically was squeezing them until the stones bled. By this time Kwame Nkrumah had formed the basis of what became the post-independence Ghanan government, and was blamed for it by the British when in point of fact he actually had nothing to do with it. In shades of the future for South Africa the Black man was imprisoned under harsh conditions, set free, and became the founder of a new state.

History does not repeat itself but it certainly does rhyme.

[yearningforunity]

Jamaican Obeah

Jamaican Obeah refers to the practice of Obeah, a spiritual and magical tradition rooted in West African and Caribbean cultures. Obeah has a significance presence in Jamaica and holds cultural and historical importance on the island. Obeah in Jamaica has its roots in the spiritual beliefs and practices brought to the Caribbean through the transatlantic slave trade. Enslaved Africans brought with them a rich tapestry of religious and spiritual traditions, and Obeah emerged as a distinct syncretic practice in Jamaica. Individuals who practice Obeah are often referred to as "Obeah men" or "Obeah women". These practitioners have a deep understanding of the spiritual realm and are sought after for their abilities in healing, protection, divination and other spiritual services.

It's crucial to approach discussions about Jamaican Obeah with cultural sersitivity, recognizing the diversity of beliefs and practices within the Afro-Caribbean spiritual landscape. Different individuals and communities may have variations in their practices, and interpretations may differ among practioners. Respect for cultural beliefs and traditions is essential and fostering understanding.

[arinzechukwuture]