I always find the “Africa is better off from the results of colonization” arguments amusing. What do people think happened with African empires & their European counterparts prior to colonization? Perhaps a history lesson is in order. Thread. 1/17
There were so many different African empires, so I’m gonna stick to the empire from which I’m descended--the Benin Empire (what is now Benin City in Edo State in southern Nigeria)--and its relationship with the Portuguese since the early 15th century. 2/17
The Benin empire interacted with the British, French, Dutch and Portuguese throughout its existence, but the Benin-Portugal relationship was the chummiest. They traded goods, languages, histories, lessons. They sent emissaries and scholars to each other & threw big shindigs. 3/17
The Lagos y’all know? Portuguese word for “lake,” named back when the land that is now Lagos was still a part of the Benin Empire. Benin Obas spoke Portuguese and sent their subjects to learn about Christianity. Early Benin art had crosses mixed with its own pantheon. 4/17
The Portuguese wanted slaves so Benin sold its POWs. They wanted spices, ivory & coral beads, and offered textiles, tools & weapons in return. They established a factory at Ughoton, Benin’s then seaport city (long before Lagos became one of West Africa’s key slaveports). 5/17
David van Nyendael, on visiting Benin in 1699: “When it comes to trade, they are very strict and will not suffer the slightest infringement of their customs...when one is willing to accept these customs, they are very easy-going and will cooperate in every way possible.” 6/17
No surprise, then, that the first point of contention arrived when King Manuel of Portugal wanted commercial monopoly, as well as for the Binis to fully accept Christianity, to which Oba Esigie was like, “Excuse you?” The decline in trade relations began after that. 7/17
Then, there was also disease. Them weak-ass sailors would get bitten by one tiny-ass anopheles mosquito and be like, “*cough cough* Ugh, tell my wife I love her.” The French especially suffered from this.
Then the British arrived, and it all went to shit from there. 8/17
Then the British arrived, and it all went to shit from there. 8/17
Buoyed by that nonsense Berlin Conference of 1885 (smh), the British started asking for trade monopoly and control. They were so aggressive about it that the Oba banned all other trade with them, save for palm oil (to aid lubrication in the burgeoning European machine age). 9/17
Proud-ass Britain didn’t like being told what to do. They wrote stink pieces, commenced disinformation campaigns. Here’s Consul Richard Burton, in 1862: “...a place of gratuitous barbarity which stinks of death." (Like we haven’t seen Oliver Twist. Pot/kettle much?) 10/17
By 1897, the consuls had convinced the Queen with enough lies to gather an army to take Benin by force. “Liberate the people” and convert them to Christianity. (Sound familiar, y’all summer missionary cruisers to the Caribbean with a side-dish of “converting the natives?”) 11/17
The 1897 Benin Expedition & deposition of Oba Ovonramwen happened then. You can read about it anywhere (except the British Museum’s revisionist take, to which I cackled when I visited). TL;DR, Benin was overrun, palace burnt, Oba exiled, art carted to Britain’s museums. 12/17
In similar fashion, the British colonized everywhere that is now Nigeria, sucked off resources of countless groups until 1960. Then they drew border lines, binding this mix of tribes, languages & customs, & threw a few coins at them. “Shoo, now. Go take care of yourselves.” 13/17
So when people say, “colonialism benefited Africans,” this is why I want to wash their mouths with a soap bar.
“But the Africans got technology,” you say. “Became modern.”
You mean like they would’ve done if they had continued to, I dunno, trade on their own terms? 14/17
“But the Africans got technology,” you say. “Became modern.”
You mean like they would’ve done if they had continued to, I dunno, trade on their own terms? 14/17
Why do folks behave like Europe & Asia didn’t once have limited tech? They progressed through partnerships & exchange, like all colonized peoples should’ve had the chance to. Name one never-disenfranchised nation that is not currently working toward global contention. 15/17
In fact, Benin was actually one of the leaders in architecture at their time. Google “Walls of Benin.” The largest-ever earthwork project prior to mechanization, at one point “four times longer than the Great Wall of China.” Seriously, look it up: theguardian.com/cities/2016/ma… 16/17
TL;DR, Colonialism benefits one party: the colonizer. None would be half what they are today without it. If you want to make an argument about one power subsuming another by wielding might, make that. But take that White Supremacist “it helped you too” bullshit outside. 17/17
Alright, since this thread is doing numbers, perhaps now is a good time to plug my newsletter, which I just re-launched on @SubstackInc literally yesterday: suyi.substack.com.
Also, I've written things, all of which you can find at suyidavies.com.
Also, I've written things, all of which you can find at suyidavies.com.
Have to mute this now; I've got a deadline to meet. Been a pleasure with y'all. Keep up the discourse. And you know how you can always find my work: 👇🏾
