Africa is portrayed as a continent without history before slavery and colonialism. African History isn't known by many people compared to the history of Europe, Americas, and Asia.
Some of the world's great civilisations such as Mali flourished in Africa.
A THREAD!
In the early periods(1500s), Africans participated in extensive international trading networks and intrans-oceanic travel.
"Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter"
African Proverb
THE MALI EMPIRE
Founded by King Sundiata Keita, and also known as the richest civilisation in
West Africa. It boasted excellent law & order, agriculture and mining, the largest library in Africa, and the richest man in history: Mansa Musa!
The Mali kingdom at one point accounted for half of the world's gold supply; and housed over a million manuscripts so you could argue academia in the continent really began here.
THE KINGDOM OF KUSH
Kush was a part of Nubia, ancient Nubian cultures were sophisticated and cosmopolitan, as the region served as a major trading center for goods from the African interior, Arabian desert and Mediterranean basin.
It corresponds to the region of 'Nubia' - modern day Sudan.
There are different ideas for what 'Nubian' means:
Some say that the term 'Nubian' is derived from the ancient Egyptian word 'nub' meaning 'gold'.
Others have stated that the term comes from the earliest settlers of the region, being a tribe called the 'Nuba' or ' Noba'.
THE KINGDOM OF WAGADU (GHANA)
This kingdom was an important stop along the trans-Saharan trade route which connected African societies in the Sahel to the markets found along the coastlines of the Mediterranean Sea and the trans-Saharan gold trade.
They specialized in the trade of gold and kola nuts (the latter of which became the secret ingredient in Coca-Cola centuries later). The Kingdom of Ghana’s decline was cemented when it became part of the kingdom of Mali around the year 1240 CE.
ALMOHAD EMPIRE
The Almohad empire was a moorish dynasty that controlled most of North Africa and all of southern Spain during their reign.
BENIN EMPIRE
It was founded by Edo-speaking people. The name "Benin" (& "Bini") is a Portuguese corrupted word, ultimately from the word "Ubini", which came into use during the reign of Oba Ewuare the Great, 1440.
"Ubini", an ancient Edo word meaning beautiful people, was used to describe the royal administrative centre or city or capital proper of the kingdom, Edo.
Benin is said to have begun as family clusters of hunters, gatherers, and agriculturalists who eventually created villages. By 1300, Benin was heavily involved in trade and the arts, using such mediums as copper, bronze, and brass.
The Benin bronzes eventually became some of the most famous art pieces produced in Africa.
Britain stole over 6,000 Benin bronzes, which they display in their museums. 1 of them was sold for $13.5 million in 2015.
Their Royal horsemen patrolled the great Benin 1075-1350 CE wall which was the longest man-made structure in the world (about 16,000 km in length).
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On this day in 1865, the 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution is ratified, abolishing slavery.
This picture is 25 years after the end of slavery.
How Slavery continued after the 13th amendment ‘abolished slavery’
A THREAD
In 1866, a year after the amendment was ratified, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina began to lease out convicts for labor.
This made the business of arresting black people very lucrative, thus hundreds of white men were hired by these states as police officers.
Their primary responsibility being to search out and arrest black peoples who were in violation of ‘Black Codes’
Did you know that the Oompa-Loompas In Roald Dahl's 1964 Charlie and the Chocolate were originally Black pygmies from "deepest, darkest part of the African jungle where no white man had been before" but was Revised in 1973 after the NAACP complained?
A THREAD
Dahl described Oompa-Loompas as a tribe of 3,000 "amiable Black pygmies" starving on green caterpillars in Africa. Wonka lured them with cocoa beans, smuggled them in crates, and housed them in his factory. The text framed them as enslaved.
Joseph Schindelman’s 1964 illustrations showed Oompa-Loompas as African pygmies in grass skirts, reinforcing racist imagery. Wonka treated them as property, even experimenting on them. This mirrored pro-slavery "positive good" narratives.
Did you know that James Hemings, is the reason macaroni and cheese made it to America.
The Chef de cuisine was the first American to train as a chef in France. He was enslaved by Thomas Jefferson at 8.
A THREAD!
James Hemings was born in 1765 into slavery and lived much of his life enslaved. He was among the many enslaved people who came into Thomas Jefferson's possession through his wife's inheritance.
In May 1784, Hemings received a summons to join Jefferson in Philadelphia. From there they travelled to Paris where he was trained in the art of French cooking. At a time when illiteracy was imposed on all African people, he was not only literate but fluent in English and French.
One in every four cowboys was believed to be a Black man released from slavery despite the stories told in popular books and movies although the most famous cowboys of the old west were white.
THREAD
Many of the enslaved african men were familiar with cattle herding from Africa.
a highlight of some famous black cowboys:
Bill Pickett (1871-1932), rodeo performer.
World famous black cowboy Bill Pickett "Dusky Demon" invented the rodeo sport, bulldogging (steer wrestling). In 1989 was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
141 years ago today, the Berlin Conference opened.
It was a conference where European nations established the 'legal' claim that all of Africa could be occupied by whomever could take it.
They set out murdering africans and taking their wealth to make Europe wealthier.
THREAD
After slavery, Berlin conference was the second declaration of war against Africa.
At the Berlin Conference, Congo was handed to a charity run by King Leopold under the pretext of “stopping slavery” and he named it the “Congo Free State.”
"I do not want to miss a good chance of getting us a slice of this magnificent African cake." —Leopold II of Belgium
Before Hitler killed 6 million Jews.…. Leopold Il of Belgium killed over 10 million Africans in Congo and amputated the arms of countless others.
We need to speak up about what is happening in SUDAN, it’s a GENOCIDE that has led to the World's largest displacement crisis.
So Whats Happening in Sudan and How is UAE (Emirates) supporting the genocide? #FreeSudan
THREAD
On April 15, 2023, a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo known as Hemedti, launched a war against the Sudanese Army in Khartoum. That led to displacement of millions of Sudanese people.
Since then Millions have been killed, raped and displaced in the ongoing genocide.The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has described the situation in Sudan as “the largest as well as the fastest growing displacement crisis globally.”