An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi

We are all descended from African ancestors, Zeinab Badawi tells us, laying out recent scientific discoveries about this and well as giving us some fascinating glimpses into the development and migration of early humans.

The author goes on to describe some of the many kingdoms and civilizations that rose and fell in different parts of the continent. To unearth information about these places, she has toured archeological sites, museums, libraries, and educational institutions as well as interviewing experts in many fields.

Be prepared to learn a lot of new information and have some old myths exploded. The many historical facts the author lays out help readers connect bits of heretofore disconnected knowledge. The volume is buttressed by a lengthy lists of Notes and Sources.

The information in this well-researched volume demonstrates how history is altered by the perspective of the teller.

Unsurprisingly, the book goes into some detail on the topic of slavery, including that carried out by the Arabs on the Indian Ocean side of the continent, which carried on for decades after Brazil belatedly outlawed slavery in 1888.

The author quotes William Pettigrew’s 2013 book as saying that The Royal African Company, established 1in 1660 by the royal Stuarts and London merchants, shipped more enslaved Africans than any other institution during the entire duration of the repellent translatlantic trade in humans.

The fact that particular natural resources of the Congo are currently coveted by tech companies much as its rubber was sought after and extracted at great human cost by earlier colonizers is as fascinating as the wholesale historic exploitation of that part of Africa is chilling. Congo has 70% of the world’s cobalt, and a South African mine has “some of the best quality rare earth elements in the world.”

On the issue of tribalism, a Ghanaian academic points out that national identities have to supersede tribal ones as nations focus on improving standards of living. As Dr Kodzo Gavua of the University of Ghana explains, “Communities in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa have mixed and remixed over a long period of time” and “we face common challenges as Ghanaians and Africans.”

As well as discussing the larger issues mentioned above, Badawi brings in a wealth of riveting detail. She points out the 10,000-year-old Lake Eyasi cave paintings in Tanzania, and describes the peace treaty between King Rameses of Egypt and the Hittite king Hattusilis, believed to be the world’s first. She discusses the history of Jews and Christians in Ethiopia, the only African country that was never colonized.

We learn about the Amazons of Dahomey, who were deeply involved in the slave trade. Their magical attempts to make their captives forget their who had enslaved them reveals the prickle of conscience the slavers felt at sending others across the ocean, and their fears that such actions would haunt them.

We are told the surprising fac that the mutation of the sickle cell gene provided some measure of protection from malaria, and we learn of a proclamation of rights called the Mande Charter, signed in 1236, only a couple of decades after the Magna Carta.

We learn that the first coloured Kente cloth was made in 1720 for Asante king Opoku Ware, and that Asante kings continue to commission unique designs of Kente Cloth that cannot be replicated for others. This type of cloth is now worn by many African Americans, including Michelle Obama, to demonstrate their connection with Africa.