Blog 7/African Diaspora Art

The complexity and diversity of the many various identities and ethnicities contained in the Diaspora are clearly evident in the artwork. Beautiful hand crafted sculptures, drums, clay pots, etc have been discovered, stolen, or bought by and sold by westerners.  Many of the artworks that have been displayed throughout museums around the world have been given different meanings by those who have collected them.  In sub-saharan Africa and West Africa these works that were found were a way of life. Markings on the Egyptian walls were used as communication tools between each other.  Clay pots were made to transport water from the waterways to have water to bathe and drink. The statues represented Gods of different things that were worshiped such as fertility, rites of passage, etc. Most of them were used by the Dogon culture in particular when performing animal sacrifices. In their culture, sacrificing animals was their way of getting protection from the Gods. Once Islamic views began taking over, the displaying of the statues was forbidden. According to the documentary, having statues with "human likeness goes against muslim religion."

    I feel as though throughout history people of color have had most of their lives stripped from them. Holding on to traditions I feel empowers us and gives us a sense of who we are and where we have come from. When I go somewhere like a museum and see the slave displays or the ancient statues, it gives me the urge to find out more. In the documentary, they discuss how the statues have to be hidden away in the villages because they now practice muslim culture which frowns upon the Dogon statues. Most of the men in the villages were blacksmiths so sculpting and carving was pretty much all they do. Now its more so about doing it for profit than it was religion. The problem with carving for profit is that once bought and sold and bought to America, the pieces actually lose their meaning. Chapter 16.
     In order to maintain the importance and significance of these pieces of art is to go back to its roots.  Research what the actual meaning behind the sculptures are. According to the text, when the statures were first created they were more for  ritualistic purposes. Clay pots were created to carry water from the rivers in which they bathed and drank. Also, the figures that were found carved into the mountain sides represented the tribe that had settled in that particular area.  The next time you go to a museum to view one of these works, you will know that its not just art for arts sake but, a way of living for people of African heritage.

   

blog 9

It is well documented that African women have been oppressed and mistreated for years. A woman’s role is important to her family but shows little worth when it comes to making political or business decisions.  In the video, Kakenya Ntaiya fled to gain her independence and avoided mutilation. She too came from a village where (1)women were raised to be mothers,  (2)the fathers were head of the household, and (3) Once you hit puberty you were to go thru a ceremony to motherhood where your clitoris was cut off.

I could not imagine growing up and thinking all I want to do is become a mother. Yes, I can’t wait for it to happen for me but I would not want that to have been my only option. Women throughout Africa were looked at as mothers.  They couldn’t go to school because their only goal in life was to bear children. I cannot pretend to know all about African culture but I don’t understand the concept behind mutilating female genitals when my only job is to be a wife and have children.  This practice has to be psychologically and physically damaging to a child. Not just the ones who get the procedure done but also those young girls who watch it happening. Some girls and women don’t even make it through the procedure.  I understand the urgency behind Kakenya wanted to flee her native land.  She virtually risked her life when she asked her father if she could go to school if she went thru with the ceremony. 

Because the fathers are the heads of households, she had to seek not only her own father’s permission but also permission from the other fathers in the tribe. Little girl’s lives are already planned out for them in Africa. A girl can dream but most will never get to achieve their dreams. In the case of Kakenya Ntaiya, her father was in agreence with her decision. Imagine if he wasn’t how much harder it would have been for her. She may not have even been able to make the change that she made.

Although many women and girls died from this process or had been permenantly scarred, the African people still felt as though mutilation was still necessary.  I am all about tradition but once I see that it is causing more harm than good, I would come up with a different way. Maybe the native people couldn’t see that what they are doing is harmful.  Africa is deep routed in religion and tradition. All they know is what they see. If there are casualties, that just goes along with the territory.  I guess for women especially they don’t have a different perspective because these practices are still relevant all over Africa.  The brave young woman from the video decided that the only way to keep other young girls from enduring the same fate, she had to go to school and come back to help. She made that promise to her father and the other men in the tribe and came back and opened up a school for girls.  This movement pressured other people to do the same.

Women’s roles have been slowly but surely changing in Africa. They have already made great strides in transforming conditions.  They are pushing to the forefront of efforts of peace from war and other dire circumstances.  Women have been taking on the role of mediator and peace maker among the war stricken countries throughout Africa. They have finally found their voices, and they are actually being heard. If they continue to be educated, and find their way out of poverty, and stand up for what is right, they will slowly but surely get positive results. I think the contemporary African woman has a voice that is finally being heard loud and clear.

African Road to Independence

After watching the documentary, I have concluded that Patrice Lumumba was one in a million who stood up for the greater good of his people. His ideals clashed with those who were truly in control so as a result, he became a threat to them. When the Belgians first invaded Africa, they admired it for its many resources. Gold, Diamonds, Iron, Copper, and Zinc are just a few of the precious items that were flourishing there. The Belgians forced the Congolese into forced labor by threatening their families and even cutting the hands off of anyone who didn’t bring back enough resources in a timely manner.

     Lumumba came from humble beginnings working as a postal worker from Stanleyville.  He began selling a brand of beer that was rumored to be dangerous and have numerous side effects for those who drank it. He gained popularity with the Congolese people by doing so. He always felt like the Congo should be independent of Belgium and run things the way the Congolese wish. I would say that the Belgians only appeased Lumumba and his people to a certain extent. They went along with the independence plan and appointed a president, and Lumumba as prime minister. The Congo was divided. Lumumba wanted laws to be put in place that would not discriminate against one or two tribes, but would apply to everyone. Some tribes felt as though they were more dominant than others.  Many people loved him because he said what everyone else was thinking. Many people, even some Congolese hated him because of what he was trying to do which was make everyone equal. I think superiority had been embedded in many of their brains so they had to flex their muscles, sort of speak.

     Belgian forces felt like they had to be in charge because independence would never work. In their eyes civil unrest would take place because the different tribes hated each other. It would never work, they said.  To them that had to step in as a mediator to and uncivilized people and keep them in line.  Lumumba was a symbol of freedom to his people who believed in his message, and should be a shining example of greatness around the world. Still people perceived him as a threat to everyone. He began to be set up from every angle even his closest ally Genera Motumbu who was the head of the Congolese Army.  In many senses he became a martyr. The Belgians were upset because he tried to enlist the help of the Russians who were their sworn enemies to come in and force the Rebels to stop causing havoc. He went to the United States for help and they didn’t get involved but told him to contact the United Nations. Once those troops came in, they did nothing to stop the rebel troops reign of destruction.

  Lumumba did play a part in his own downfall in the sense of trying to win back his popularity. After he escaped from house arrest and began to make his way towards Stanleyville where he still had a great following, he stopped in different towns to make speeches. By doing so, he allowed troops to catch up with him, torture and jail him, then eventually kill him.  People didn’t fear him because he was a great danger to them; they feared him simply because he wanted to release the stronghold of Belgium. It seems as though every party down to the CIA and the FBI were for his assassination. During the film, it looked as though the US didn’t want to get involved however; they were present when the vote took place on where to kill Lumumba. They went with the majority vote.  The US has a vested interest in Africa’s resources as well. If total control were to go to the Congolese, the US as well as other countries will more than likely have to pull their hands from the cookie jar.  It was a sad truth about the sign of the times back then. All political leaders that took a stance that threatened to disturb the peace were killed. They weren’t killed by strangers in the night but their own governments. It was stated in the film that they decided to take Lumumba to Katanga where his sworn enemy was for certainty that he would be killed, so that all involved parties could keep their hands clean.  He said to let the blacks have him. That was just one of the ways that the guilty parties set things in to motion and stepped back and let it explode. Patrice Lumumba was not killed because he was dangerous, he was simply a political leader standing up for what he believed in.

Blog #5:European Exploration and the conquest of Africa

     From the minute the Europeans invaded Africa, they viewed the people as inferior and substandard. Their main goal was to invade and take over the land so that they may be able to live a more prosperous life. Europeans found it more profitable to enslave rather than kill the people. They did so thru a system called forced labor where they kidnapped the women and forced the men to go into the bush and collect rubber. By doing so, they had no one to tend to the crops. During King Leopold's reign it was estimated that out of 20 million Africans, about 10 million was killed. This lead to a major decline in the economics due to lack of free labor.
     After the abolishment of slavery, racism was still alive and well. The seperate but equal law was put in effect in South Africa. This was a way in tricking the natives into believing that they were in anyway equal to the Europeans that invaded as a way of controlling them. They even gave them the power to have a police force, a government and other positions of power amongst themselves. All that did was cause more uproars and unrest for the citizens. That was an instutionalized way of pitting the Africans against each other. Apartied determined what kind of education they received, where they lived, and where they could work. In many ways you can say that Apartied was a kind of structered slavery. Nelson Mandela as well as other political leaders have fought tirelessly to end apartied in South Africa. As far as Africa is concerned, its too much turmoil going on inside of the country to be able to Stabalize themselves in the global playing field.

Blog 4: Ethnic Slave Rebellions

There were many different Ethnic groups in the slave community described in the article.  The ethnic groups were mostly defined by what area of Africa they derived from or the language they spoke. It also included what part of the Carribean they were settled in. The Creole slaves and they Maroon slaves were the two ethnic groups described the most in the article. The Creoles considered themselves different and somewhat superior to other slaves that were bought over from Africa, because of being born in the New world. They were better able to confirm with their situations. The Maroons were comprised of runaway slaves. The government thought it was too many to try to take over so they wished to compromise. They were offered parts of land where they could live free as long as they promised not to take in more runaway slaves. Most of them did comply for concern over their own freedom and safety. The Akan group was the more dominant group over in Jamaica for they made up the majority of the maroons.
     Slaves would starve themselves, try to over throw the slave ships they were aboard, or kill themselves as acts of rebellion or resistance. The slaves that did make it over almost immediately began putting together strategies on how to gain their freedom. Although there was a lot of mistrust amongst the different ethnic groups, some still managed to gain the upper hand by running away or killing there masters mostly by poisoning them. The Africans who were bought over on slave ships I believe had a greater hunger to be free because they already knew what freedom was before they were stripped from their native land. The Africans who were born in the new world had a greater sense of loyalty sort of speak to their masters. They had no knowledge of a different or better way of living. Some of them either wanted to runaway but feared the reprucussions if caught, or they felt like their living conditions weren't that bad.  The runaway slaves who made up the maroons had a taste of freedom and didnt want to lose it. For this reason, they conformed to whatever guidelines that were put in place by their government.

Wonders of the African World

Initially, Europeans wanted three things: 1. To break the islamic and Arabic control. 2. To contol the gold mines. 3. To find a route to the east. Initially trading was done between Europeans and Africans in the matter of weapons gold and other commodities. Because of the high labor demand in the new World, human beings became a high commodity to be sold.
Servitude in Africa differed vastly from the slavery in America. Slaves in Amerca didnt even have basic fundamental rights as human beings. They were chattle, or property. They were also beaten and starved into obedience. Slaves in Africa were viewed more so like members of their masters family. Females sometimes became concubines of their master.  Enslaving people did not seem to be as economical as the transatlantic slave trade.
Some differeneces between internal slavery in Africa and in the west is that in the west, slaves were looked at as property and denied sexual rights. In Africa, a slave was looked at as a servant or worker for kings and cheifs.
Generally slavery in Africa was instituted by winning wars and taking over villages, and towns.  Sometimes more powerful towns forced people into slavery by constant harrassment, starvation, and famine.  Criminals who lost their rights were also enslaved. In Africa, slaves often became domestic servants and became part of the kinship group and the family of their masters. (Azevedo,p.75)  Some of the young females became wives to their masters. The women were held in high regard as babysitters and entrusted members of the family.
Europeans first tried to take slaves by force until Africans started forming regimes tha that fought back. They began to barter with manufactured goods to trade for human slaves.
Many African Scholars believe that Slavery is the reason why Africa is still a third world country today and has never experienced a boom in industrialism. Also, the removal of that many people from Africa depleted many thriving areas and left most towns in Africa desolent. This has opened my eyes to so much. We are taught that Christopher Columbus sailed across the ocean to discover new land and discovered people who were already living in deprivity and dismay. According to the documentary, when Europeans arrived, Africa was already a thriving society with a  solid economic and political system. I was very suprised to see that Africans played a big role in one of the most horrific events in history.

Blog#2

Mazrui talks about how native languages and religions came to be in Africa. He mainly discussed the Triple Heritage which was the joining together of Traditional Africal, West Africa and Islam. Once Europeans began to penetrate certain parts of Arica they bought with them the Islamic culture and language and tried to force it on a Christian based Swahili speaking native culture. Some converted, some did not. He also touches on Africa being a continent onto itself and natives being satisfied with not explorng what is beyond the horizon. He also touches on how women were major players as it related to developing the community and that her role was not just in the kitchen. During the 7th century once the Arabs came, they began to spread the islamic influence. The west adopted the religion but kept its native tongue.

Three major influences of environment and culture dealt with: Farming societies, Partoralist societies, and Hunting and Gathering societies. Since most of Africa has vast dry lands, only certain parts has soil rich enough for vegetation to thrive according to the text. Food surpluses were favorable in the Nile Valley where the climate was tropical and didn not have decaying matter. There is no cold season  so vegetation does decay faster.  However, heavy down pours in the tropical areas wash away much of the nutrients from fruits and vegetation.  Natives who have to still hunt and gather their food are subjected to less developed parts of the country and have to move with the food supply. Farming societies generally stay put and, pastoralist move and take their food supply with them.  During the Bantu expansion, Central, Eastern, and southrn Africans spread out in search of new lands to settle and mingled peacefully or through battle. They began to intermingle and marry therby producing new cultures, kingdoms, and civilations.

Mazruis approach is very insightful being a native of Africa, he is able to discuss matters on a first hand basis. Most of what is written in history books not by indingenous Africans is not true or half truths. Given from his perspective as someone who has lived and ancestors who have lived through all of this is very intriguing and interesting. The majority of this informatio is brand new to me. I feel his feedback and insight is necessary when teaching about these ancient civilizations. It also opens up ones eyes to the issues that are ongoing in Africa today.