Subsequently to the article titled “History the future of Nigeria” (read here). A host of people requested we come up with a plan to stem the effect of this erasure on our collective consciousness as well as for the sake of future generations. To achieve this, we have created a short term, mid-term and long term plan.
Short term plan ;
- Map out a syllabus/road map, to understand Africa and the links between different African populations.
- Put together a list of books to go with the map.
- Share digital resources that cover these topics
Midterm plans:
Create an interactive website that presents history in a modern and exciting way for the next generation
Long-term plans:
Push for the return of an overhauled history syllabus to Nigerian schools.
AFRICA IN ANTIQUITY
In the beginning there was Africa.
Online resources- For people that like to read digital media and blogs
To understand and appreciate Ancient African civilization and re-contextualize Africa read through this blog. http://afroasiatics.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/normal-0-false-false-false.html
This blog breaks down the history of several African kingdoms, empires and royal families. http://diasporicroots.tumblr.com/tagged/african-history
History of African Kings –http://diasporicroots.tumblr.com/tagged/African%20kings
History of African Queens – http://diasporicroots.tumblr.com/tagged/African%20queens
This website shows interactions between African civilizations and the rest of the world, it also challenges the status-quo of representations in the media and movies. I advice taking time to go through the archives of this blog,-http://medievalpoc.tumblr.com/archive/2013/6
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO LOOK AT HISTORICAL AFRICAN PICTURES, CHECKOUT THE BOARDS ON THIS PINTEREST PAGE –https://www.pinterest.com/cal3bg/boards/
For my people that don’t like to read much, I highly recommend the documentary series on Africa by Basil Davidson. Mr Davidson (9 November 1914 – 9 July 2010) was a British historian, writer and Africanist,He wrote several books on the current plight of Africa. Colonialism and the rise of African emancipation movements were central themes of his work. He was an Honorary Fellow of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. His work is extremely honest and refreshing,unlike most of the racist European historians, he actually visited all parts of Africa and chronicled its ancient history to its postcolonial era. Several other African historians have created expository documentaries on Africa but most focused solely on Kemet aka Egypt and Ethiopia formerly known as Nubia. I recommend you look at works by Dr Ben jochannan and Ashra and Merira Kwesi.
Here is snippet of Mr Basil’s work-
For those without data 🙂 or who just like reading books cover to cover, please scroll down.
There are seven episodes to his work ( click on the top left corner to select episodes for videos with playlist enabled).
Episode 1: Africa A Voyage of Discovery
Episode 2: Mastering a Continent
Episode 3: Caravans of Gold
Episode 4: Kings and Cities
Episode 5: The Bible and the Gun
Episode 6: The great African cake
Episode 7: The rise of Nationalism
Episode 8: The Legacy
For those that like books, This is by no means an exhaustive list. These are just books i have read and i feel comfortable recommending. Please do not hesitate to add books you have found insightful in the comments section.
Books on ancient Africa
Civilization or Barbarism: An Authentic Anthropology –Diop, Cheikh Anta
Mdw Dtr: Divine Speech: A Historiographical Reflection of African Deep Thought from the Time of the Pharaohs to the Present –Carruthers, Jacob H.
The Pyramid Builders of Ancient Egypt: A Modern Investigation of Pharaoh’s Workforce –David, Dr A Rosalie
Unmistakably Black: Sculpture and Paintings From The World’s First Civilizations – M’Bantu, Anu
Christianity Before Christ –Jackson, John G.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Egypt and the Ancient Near East –The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. I, Abridged Edition: Methodology and African Prehistory
Ki-Zerbo, Joseph
The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality –Diop, Cheikh Anta
Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues of a Race from 4500 B.C. to 2000 A.D. –Williams, Chancellor
Kingdom of Kush: The Napatan and Meroitic Empires –Welsby, Derek A.
The Ethiopians: A History –Pankhurst, Richard
The Nubian Pharaohs: Black Kings on the Nile –Bonnet, Charles
Ancient African Civilizations: Kush and Axum – Stanley Mayer Burstein
An African Classical Age: Eastern and Southern Africa in World History 1000 BC to AD 400
Ehret, Christopher
The Golden Legend of Ethiopia: The Love Story of Maqueda, Virgin Queen of Axum and Sheba and Solomon the Great King – Wheeler, Post
Africa and Africans as Seen by Classical Writers (African History Notebook) (Vol. 2) Hansberry, William Leo
Reconstructing the Black Image Mothe, Gordon De la
The Rescue of Jerusalem : The Alliance Between Hebrews and Africans in 701 B. C. Henry Aubin
African People in World History (Black Classic Press Contemporary Lecture) –John Henrik Clarke
The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (Oxford Illustrated Histories) –Shaw, Ian
When We Ruled: The Ancient and Mediaeval History of Black Civilisations – Robin Walker
HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF AFRICA
UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. II, Abridged Edition: Ancient Africa (v. 2) Mokhtar, G.
Early Art and Architecture of Africa (Oxford History of Art) –Garlake, Peter
By George G. M. James: Stolen Legacy: Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy -Africa World Pr-
Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization (The Fabrication of Ancient Greece 1785-1985, Volume 1) Bernal, Martin
The Ruins: Or, Meditation on the Revolutions of Empires: And the Law of Nature. – C.F. Volney
100 Amazing Facts About the Negro with Complete Proof
Essential African Mythology: Stories That Change the World
Ngangur Mbitu, Ranchor Prime
African Myths of Origin (Penguin Classics) Stephen Belcher
A History of Christianity in Africa: From Antiquity to the Present –Isichei, Elizabeth
MEDIEVAL AFRICA
Shaka Zulu: The rise of the Zulu Empire – Ritter, E. A
Fall of the Asante Empire: The Hundred-Year War for Africa’s Gold Coast – Edgerton, Robert B.
Sundiata: Lion King of Mali – Wisniewski, David
Golden Age of the Moor (Journal of African Civilizations) – Van Sertima, Ivan
Africans and Their History: Second Revised Edition –Harris, Joseph E.
Egypt: Child of Africa (Journal of African Civilizations, V. 12) –Van Sertima, Ivan
The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay: Life in Medieval Africa –McKissack, Pat
The Arab Invasion of Egypt: And the Last 30 Years of the Roman Dominion –John H. Clarke Alfred J. Butler
East African and Nubian Origins of the Ancient Egyptians –Muller, Gert
Lost Cities of Africa – Davidson, Basil
Warfare in the Sokoto Caliphate: Historical and Sociological Perspectives – Smaldone, Joseph P.
The history of the Yorubas : from the earliest times to the beginning of the British Protectorate: Samuel Johnson
Kingdoms of the Yoruba (Study in African History) –Smith, Robert S.
Timbuktu Chronicles 1493-1599, Ta’rikh al Fattash – Christopher Wise
The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire – Jonas, Raymond
African Kings: Portraits of a Disappearing Era – Laine, Daniel
Things Fall Apart (Everyman’s Library) – Chinua Achebe
The New Oyo Empire (Ibadan History) – Atanda, J.A.
Stories of the Benin Empire – Joseph Sidahome
The New Oyo Empire: Indirect Rule And Change In Western Nigeria 1894-1934 –Atanda, J. A.
Black empires of the Middle Ages (Lost civilizations) – Aziz, Philippe
The Life and Times of Menelik II: Ethiopia 1844-1913 – Marcus, Harold G.
Medieval Africa, 1250-1800 Oliver, Roland
SLAVE TRADE AND THE FIGHT FOR LIBERATION
Stand the Storm: A History of the Atlantic Slave Trade –Reynolds, Edwards
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself Equiano, Olaudah
UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. VII, Abridged Edition: Africa Under Colonial Domination 1880-1935 Boahen, A. Adu
Toward the African Revolution (Fanon, Frantz) – Fanon, Frantz
The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley – Malcolm X
The life and times of James Pinson Labulo Davies
Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola, Africa, 1595 McKissack, Patricia C.
History of West Africa Since 1800 – Isichei, Elizabeth Allo
The Fortunes of Africa: A 5000-Year History of Wealth, Greed, and Endeavor Meredith, Martin
King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa Hochschild, Adam
UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. IV, Abridged Edition: Africa from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century Ki-Zerbo, Joseph
Heroes of the Dark Continent : and how Stanley found Emin Pasha; a complete history of all the great explorations and discoveries in Africa from the e –Buel, James William (1849-1920)
Diamonds, Gold, and War: The British, the Boers, and the Making of South Africa –Meredith, Martin
HISTORY OF NIGERIA
Ground work of Nigerian History – historical society of Nigeria edited by Obaro Ikime
Nigeria Background to Nationalism COLEMAN
Nigeria in the Twentieth Century –Falola, Toyin
Selected Writings and Speeches of Marcus Garvey (Dover Thrift Editions) –Marcus Garvey
The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa –Lord Lugard
King Jaja of the Niger Delta: His life and times, 1821-1891 –Cookey, Sylvanus John Sodienye
The Administration of Nigeria, 1900 to 1960: Men, Methods, and Myths – Nicolson, I.F.
Other sources
There is a monthly newspaper sold in Lagos called flashback that focuses on historical events that have happened in Nigeria, with pictures and text from old newspapers as well as books.
I believe this is a good start….. God loves Nigeria, God bless Africa 🙂
Great job!! Thank you so much
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This is more comprehensive than most African Civilisation courses in uni!
Thank you for this.
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