Final Project

For my final project, I decided to create a curriculum, as I am planning on becoming a teacher. My focus is secondary education, so my curriculum is designed for a 12th grade classroom. I actually put a lot of time and effort into this project, and I had a lot of fun. It was encouraging to realize how much I enjoyed coming up with a book list, paper topics, a syllabus, etc. I definitely know that I am going into the correct field.

I decided to save trees and post my curriculum on a website. It can be found here.

Everything about my course, including the goals and course description, can be found on this website. Everything I could possibly write in this blog would just be a repeat of what is on the site. So go ahead, take a look, and let me know what you think!

The Education of Africa

Education in pre-colonial Africa was restricted mainly within individual tribes and consisted of equipping the youth with the knowledge and skills they would need to survive and prosper within their societies. Colonialism, of course, caused a significant change in the educational system. Now education involves much broader aspects, preparing African youth to survive not only in Africa but in the rest of the world as well. Unfortunately, the educational system in Africa is extremely underdeveloped, and many parts of the continent lack participation. The would-be staff of these African schools are often bribed away to schools in other continents with better pay and working/living conditions.

USAID is th U.S. government's organization responsible for most non-military foreign aid. They support education programs in 21 African countries. Over the past decade, USAID support has focused on strengthening African education systems through the Education Sector Support approach which emphasizes support to host government-developed and led sector reforms and capacity building. Following respective national reform plans, USAID's education programs respond to country-specific needs including policy and curriculum reform, teacher and administrator professional development, community involvement supporting schools, increasing access to school for girls and other marginalized populations, and the development of learning materials.

Animals are not here for our entertainment...

There is a list a mile long of endangered African animals, including gazelles, lemurs, hyenas, leopards, owls, snakes, toads, and more. Just looking at Lemurs, there are 39 different species of Lemurs that are currently endangered. And that’s JUST lemurs. Some of the animals that are endangered in Africa are not endangered in other areas in which they live. So why are so many animals in Africa endangered?

People are the only thing to blame for the dwindling numbers of animals found in Africa, especially the European colonists. The colonists mercilessly killed animals for meat, skin, ivory (elephants), and sometime just for sport, not giving any thought to what that might mean for the future of these beautiful creatures. They also brought European livestock, which not only competed for food with natural herbivores but which also carried foreign diseases. So, much as we saw with Africans dying from foreign diseases brought by Europeans, the same thing happened with animals. The carnivores did not have any advantage over the herbivores, however. Many carnivorous animals, such as leopards and Ethiopian wolves, were often killed out of fear. People were also quickly wiping out the gazelle, red deer, and other natural sources of food for the carnivores, meaning there was less food for them. Sometimes, they would make up for this loss of food and attack European livestock, which would then bring them foreign diseases which ended up killing them anyway.

We often hear of the genocide of Africa during the period of colonization. But what many don’t realize is that the African wildlife suffered an even worse genocide. And unfortunately for animals, it is not as easy for them to re-populate, especially since more people means less natural habitat. But there are things that people can do to help, and hunting/poaching is NOT the answer. If people stopped hunting gazelle and other herbivores, then they would re-populate, taking themselves off the endangered list. This does not mean they would over-populate to an out-of-control state. This means that there would FINALLY be enough food for the carnivores, and then they would no longer be endangered. The natural order would return. Because this is the way things were before humans came and messed everything up. It’s not right, and quite frankly, it makes me sick.



And while it may be particularly bad in Africa, this problem exists worldwide. In fact, it’s even worse in the U.S. How to help:

World Wildlife Fund
Defenders of Wildlife

Problems in Africa

“Bleeding of the Stone” was certainly an interesting book, but I was unsure about it at first. It didn’t seem to have direct correlation with political events and Africa as a whole as did the other books we read. It seemed to focus only on this select group of people and their relationships with one another.


However, this actually was related to the politics of Africa as a whole. It showed the relationship between followers of the different religions that were introduced to the Africans during the colonization period. It showed that these different religious groups did not necessarily get along. It was another example of the uncertainty and instability Africans felt after they successfully drove out the colonizers. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. Africa had become dependent upon Europeans for everything, especially since they had been forced into adopting European currency, hence the idea of neocolonialism.

“Bleeding of the Stone” showed the fragile nature of the Africans in post-colonial Africa, as well as their fragile relationships with each other.

"Trying to maintain some semblance of hope in an increasingly hopeless world"

“Waiting for an Angel” was an interesting book. It was kind of confusing, the way it jumped around to different times in Lomba’s life. In some ways, I enjoyed that narrative style, but it was also disheartening because I knew that Lomba was ultimately going to end up in prison, despite all the good things he was trying to accomplish. The novel jumps from one awful story to the next. There is not really a time in the novel where nothing major is happening. This symbolizes the frantic and hopeless way life was for ordinary people and allows the reader to imagine living during this time.


While the characters in the novel were fictional, many of the events that took place actually happened. This made me wonder if perhaps author Helon Habila was present for any of these events, since he once held the very same job as Lomba. And when Lomba attends a party of poets and authors, a man introduces himself as ‘Helon Habila.’ At that moment, I wondered if this novel was more autobiographical than we were originally led to believe.



"Every oppressor knows that wherever one word is joined to another word to form a sentence, there'll be revolt. That is our work, the media: to refuse to be silenced, to encourage legitimate criticism wherever we find it." This touching passage from the novel made me realize how much we Americans take democracy for granted. The media can do and say almost anything they want to in America without endangering their lives. This was not the case in Nigeria. The courageous young people who hoped to bring democracy to Africa through their words were constantly at risk of being beaten, jailed, or even killed, simply for speaking their mind. It made me realize just how courageous people like Lomba were, and even non-fictional people, like Habila himself.

"There was nothing to believe in: the only mission the military rulers had was systematically to loot the national treasury; their only morality was a vicious survivalist agenda in which any hint of disloyalty was ruthlessly crushed."

Ancestor Stones 2

Thinking about Ancestor Stones and all of Africa after the colonizers left made me think of the film Diner de Cons. The film is a comedy that centers on a successful businessman and his idiotic companion. The idiot continually tries to help the businessman out of sticky situations, and although he has the best intentions and thinks he is doing what's best, he ends up making things worse. This makes me think of the "humanitarian" efforts in Africa, as well as other places around the world. European countries, along with the USA, always seem to think they know what's best for other "less civilized" countries. But how do they know what's best? They often end up causing unwanted affects and sometimes even wars. In trying to make the situation better, they end up making it worse. Everything we have read thus far, especially Ancestor Stones, since we get to take a look at post-colonial Africa, reminds me of this concept. The US and other European countries are, symbolically, the idiot portrayed in Diner de Cons, and Africa, or any other "lesser" country, is symbolically the businessman. The businessman can take care of himself and survives just fine doing things his way. All the idiot does is make things worse.

Ancestor Stones 1

Ancestor Stones begins with Abie traveling from England to her homeland of Africa to take over her family's coffee plantation. However, the main focus throughout the book is not on Abie. Instead, each of her four aunts takes us on a journey though her family's troubled history. The first five chapters introduce each of her aunts and tells mostly of their childhoods. I find the book to be very poetic, and surprisingly easy to read.



I find myself wondering why the book is titled Ancestor Stones, although I did find the part about Miriama and her mother very interesting, and of course, disturbing. I almost wanted to cry for her poor mother after her father threw away her stones. But I found Miriama's mother to be very courageous and noble. As Miriama herself points out, her mother was the only one unwilling to let go of her traditional religion and convert to either Christianity or Islam. Her stones connected her to her own parents as well as her other ancestors, and she refused to let go of their memory and what they stood for. So perhaps that is why Aminatta Forna picked the title that she did. It's about refusing to let go of your traditions in a world that seems so set on becoming "European."

Xala

Has anyone else had trouble logging in? I had to change my password, but here are my long overdue posts...

Xala, by Ousmane Sembene, takes a peak at life in post-colonial Africa. The Africans were successful in driving out the colonizers, but the damage had already been done. The novel portrays the idea of neocolonialism beautifully, as it shows how influential the Europeans were and how they reshaped life in Africa. In fact El Hadji eventually realizes that the powerful Europeans still have control over himself as well as the rest of his business group.


I think the curse of the xala that was placed on El Hadji served as a symbolic warning against becoming "too European," or losing touch with their African roots. Yay Bineta blames the xala on El Hadji's refusal to participate in pre-wedding traditions. But El Hadji seems interested only in following traditions that seem beneficial to him, such as polygamy. His main concern was his own well-being; in particular, his wealth and reputation. He was physically attracted to N'Gone, but he was not in love with her and had no intention of marrying her prior to the persistence of Yay Bineta. He then threw a lavish wedding which showed just how much money he had, and taking on another wife was a huge monetary commitment which further proved his financial stability. In pre-colonial Africa, money was unimportant and for the most part did not even exist. But post-colonial Africa mean that Africans had to be just as concerned with money as the rest of the world, as they could no longer survive on their system of bartering.

The Effects of Colonization in Africa

Pre-colonial Africa was full of numerous individual tribes, most of which had their own language and customs. There was no currency; Africans grew and made what they needed, and what they couldn't produce they would attain through a barter system. Post-colonial Africa is... a different story. Many Africans still trade with others for necessities, but they are also dependent upon European forms of currency, even though most don't have the means to attain any. The majority of Africans speak whichever European language the country that colonized them spoke. The ancient tribal religions and cultures and practices and languages have almost all been lost.

Sembene Ousmane takes a look at post-colonial Africa in his novel, Xala. There are many differences in the cultures. The older characters still follow traditional Muslim and African beliefs and customs, such as the practice of polygamy. They also believe that El Hadji's "xala" is the result of a curse placed upon him by either one of his other wives or one of his business associates. Yay Bineta encourages El Hadji to participate in the traditional pre-wedding customs, although he refuses. She blames his "xala" on his refusal to follow tradition. However, the youthful characters seem to be a lot more modernized, or more influenced by European culture. Rama and Pathe, in particular, are the two youths closely followed in the novel. Rama is strongly opposed to polygamy and wishes her mother were able to divorce El Hadji. She and Pathe have pre-marital sex with her boyfriend/fiance. Pathe is a young doctor who believes El Hadji's "xala" is purely psychological. The registrar, while speaking to Pathe abour El Hadji, defends this conclusion, but says, "we are in Africa, where you can't explain or resolve everything in biochemical terms. Among our own people it's the irrational that holds sway." He realizes that the older community clings to traditional customs and beliefs, even though the more scientifically-inclined youth views this as somewhat foolish, or "irrational." However, Rama, one of the most modernized characters in the book, refuses to speak French and instead speaks Wolof, which is puzzling.

I found a quote from Sembene Ousmane while browsing the web: "As far as I am concerned, I no longer support notions of purity. Purity has become a thing of the past. . . I constantly question myself. I am neither looking for a school nor for a solution but asking questions and making others think."

Post-colonial Africa struggles to find its identity in a world torn between tradition and modernization. Rama is one of the most European-influenced characters in the book, yet she clings to her traditional African language. El Hadji is one of the more traditional characters, yet he refuses to participate in traditional pre-marital rituals. Each individual character mimics their countries struggle with identity. The novel was very interesting, and incredibly amusing.

Neocolonialism

"Neo-colonialism is... the worst form of imperialism. For those who practise it, it means power without responsibility and for those who suffer from it, it means exploitation without redress. In the days of old-fashioned colonialism, the imperial power had at least to explain and justify at home the actions it was taking abroad. In the colony those who served the ruling imperial power could at least look to its protection against any violent move by their opponents. With neo-colonialism neither is the case."
-Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana post-independence.

Neocolonialism is a loose term which defines the economic and political relationships between newly independent countries, which had been colonies, and their former countries of rule. As we saw in King Leopold's Ghost and Heart of Darkness, Africa was literally robbed of not only its valuable natural resources, but also of its labor force, and essentially its independence. Pre-colonization, African tribes used bartering and trading instead of any real currency, like dollars or pounds. That all changed during their period of colonization. And since all their possessions had become obsolete, it would be hard to revert back to their former lifestyle (or, more appropriately, their former culture.)

Many scholars would agree with Nkrumah in his accusation that "neocolonialism is the worst form of imperialis." In fact, it doesn't take a scholar to draw that conclusion. As we learned in class on Tuesday, the only roads and railroads lead to the coast, as opposed to linking the country together. This symbolizes not only the economical connection between African countries and their former rulers, but also the colonizing countries' refusal to invest money in developing new roads and railroads. They are also dependent on European countries for phone service. Not to mention the entire tribal culture of Africa has been completely obliterated. Yes, there are still tribes in modern-day Africa who still cling to their traditional tribal values and practices. But they are the ones barely surviving on less than a dollar a day. It is just not practical anymore, but how fair is it that they should have to give up their anscestral culture just because Europe ruined them?

Perhaps if the former colonizers would lend real a hand, Africa would be better off. Sure, you hear about missionary and humanitarian efforts in Africa all the time, but it's nothing compared to all the bad that occurred in that same country. It's like a big slap in the face from Europe - "Now that you are no longer our colony, we will not try to undo the damage we have done."

Cultural Oddities

First off, let me say that it really bothered me that Marlow seemed to be so disgusted by what he saw happening in Africa, yet he did not object to having 60 barefooted Africans carrying "60-lb. load[s]" accompany him on his trip. But now that that's out of the way...

I will be the first to admit that I never realized the racism present (save for the above-mentioned issue) in Heart of Darkness until Chinua Achebe opened my eyes to it. And no, I don't agree with everything that I read. But the evidence seems relevant, as well as prominent. And, I have to agree - how can you judge another culture for their "unusual" customs, when every culture has their own? What were the "odd" customs that Conrad came across in Africa anyway? I agree that cannibalism is a little odd. But since the Company refused to give their African slaves any sort of nourishment, it was perhaps the only option. And in the grand scheme of things, cannibalism is not the worst, or even the grossest, occurence in history. I highly recommend reading "Of Cannibals," by Michel de Montaigne. "They howled and leaped, and spun, and made horrid faces." Well I can almost guarantee that some of the faces the white people made would have been considered horrid to the natives. In fact, I see people making horrid faces every day. Tha dancing, the drumming, the chanting - all of these things that were considered to be unusal or "savage-like' behavior were completely normal to the Africans. So I guess what I'm getting at, and what Achebe was as well, is that "unusual" customs are actually just unfamiliar customs.

Let's think about some of the customs or superstitions that we, as in Americans, find perfectly normal and acceptable;
-Making a wish and blowing out candles on a birthday cake.
-Shaking hands when you meet someone for the first time.
-Opening an umbrella inside is bad luck.
-Flipping a coin or playing rock, paper, scissors to make a decision.
-Not wearing white after Labor Day

The list goes on and on. None of these things really make sense, but they are believed to either bring good luck or to ward off bad luck. The same thing could have been said for the Africans' "unusual" customs. The had chants and dances and songs to help grow crops, to keep away evil spirits, etc. it's basically the same concept, but it was apparently acceptable only for Europeans to have their own customs.

Will the Real Kurtz Please Stand Up?

After reading Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, I found it almost impossible not to compare the characters in the novella to the actual people that we read about in Adam Hochschild's book King Leopold's Ghost. The character, Kurtz, was particularly interesting, and not just because he seemingly lost his mind in the end.

Kurtz could have very well been modeled after the officer Leon Rom. At one point, someone explains to Marlow that Kurtz believes himself to be a god to the natives, going on brutal raids in search of ivory, and he displays severed heads along the fence posts. Rom was known to display a row of severed heads around his garden. Also, a Russian man confides in Marlow that recite poetry - his own - to him, which seems odd for such a violent fellow. However, Rom was also known to partake in "gentle" activities, such as painting and butterfly collecting.


Guillaume Van Kerckhoven was also very Kurtz-like; or rather, the character Kurtz was comparable to the Force Publique officer by the name of Guillaume Van Kerckhoven. Kerckhoven didn't necessarily display a collection of severed heads, as did Rom and kurtz, but he was most certainly rumored to have a collection, and he even bragged about paying his black soldiers for every head they brought to him.


Of course, no one, save Joseph Conrad himself, knows for sure if Kurtz was modeled after any of the people he met in the Congo. But he certainly had quite a few candidates that would make wonderful models for fictional villains, seeing as how there were so many real villains present in Africa when he visited.

Not Without Heroes

King Leopold's Ghost, by Adam Hochschild, was a chilling, historical recount of the atrocities which occurred in the Congo. It was, at times, hard to read, especially knowing that it is non-fiction and that all of these things actually happened. But, even though it was non-fiction, the story did have its share of heroes.


George Washington Williams was one of these heroes. Upon meeting King Leopold, he was "dazzled by the man" (p. 106) and believed him when he said he was not acting out of his pocket but rather his "Christian duty" (p. 106). He wrote the Open Letter, in which he revealed all of King Leopold's and Stanley's atrocious behavior toward the Africans. He was the first person to do so, and, understandably, King Leopold was furious. And because of Leopold's charm and power, he was able to persuade most people that Stanley was a liar. Of course, Williams was not a pure hero, as he abandoned his family in the United States and failed to mention that to his fiance. Such is usually the case in non-fiction - even the heroes have been touched by the corruption of humanity.


Joseph Conrad was another one of the heroes of the book; so much so that Hochschild dedicated the entirety of Chapter 9, "Meeting Mr. Kurtz," to Conrad and his novella, Heart of Darkness. And, having previously read an excerpt from Heart of Darkness, it sickens me to have learned that it is quite possible that the evil Mr. Kurtz was most likely modeled after the murderous, and very real, Leon Rom.



And there were other heroes mentioned as well, such as the British journalist E.D. Morel, who, upon further investigation of cargo being shipped in and out of Africa, determined that all was not well and devoted his life to destroying the evil practices taking place in the Congo. And there were numerous Africa tribal leaders who refused to sell the people of their tribe, and there were always Africans rebelling and refusing to give in, even if it meant they would be brutally murdered.

This book... definitely can move you to tears. The pictures especially got to me, because even when reading about everything that went on and knowing the book is non-fiction, I still felt disconnected somehow. Seeing the pictures of real people chained together naked, or looking at the severed limbs of their 5-year-old daughter... that's powerful. That's not something that can easily be forgotten.

The First 100... (long overdue... sorry!)

What words are there to describe the first one-hundred pages of King Leopold's Ghost, by Adam Hochschild? At times I found myself amused, oftentimes brought on by one of Stanley's ridiculous tales and the following commentary explaining why these tales were most likely invented. And of course, I never knew the origins of the well-known phrase, "Dr. Livingston, I presume?" and the many variations of it. Of course, in the beginning, you are inclined to feel sympathetic for Stanley and his horrible upbringing. Although, call me a bad person, but I found the fate of his two serious relationships to be rather amusing. It was most likely all for the better though, because could you imagine what kind of a life Stanley's life would have lived? Then to contrast Stanley's life came the story of King Leopold. Of course, Leopold didn't have the easiest life growing up either. His father refused to show any sort of affection, and Leopold even had to "apply for an audience" (p. 34). And he was always seen as a bit of an oddity. But the tales of both boys was amusing.

Of course, not all of the first hundred was so cheery and light-hearted. Almost as soon as Leopold comes into power, we get to see what a cunning and slimy character he is. He convinces the leaders of several other European countries that they needed to explore Africa for scientific reasons, assuring them that he would acquire no personal gain, the European explorers would be unarmed and would teach the natives useful skills, etc. He was brilliant, indeed, but his brilliance was put to shame in the evil way in which he used it. It was also disturbing to read about the way he treated his daughters. Of course it was custom to marry off the daughters to gain political fervor. But to have them married off so young, to much older men who didn't treat them well, and then to have no feelings of sorrow or sympathy, just seems so beyond the realm of humanity. Of course, if he could treat his own felsh and blood as property, then it makes sense that he had no problem doing the same to the Africans.

So the first one-hundred pages? They were exciting, amusing, disturbing, and eloquently written. They definitely leave you longing to hear the rest of the history of King Leopold's and Stanley's African expedition.

The Fashoda Incident

European countries began claiming African territory in the mid-to-late 1600's; more specifically, Great Britain and France laid claim to quite a few territories scattered throughout Africa. With two powerful countries hoping to expand their territory within the confines of the same country, it came as no surprise when the two butted heads over certain areas.

Great Britain controlled the territories depicted in yellow and France controlled the territories depicted in pink. Both countries wished to connect their scattered territories by means of railroad systems. The problem was that both countries wanted control of Fashoda, which is right on the Nile. Both countries sent forces to the area, Britain's being led by Sir herbert Kitchener, and France's being led by Jean-Baptiste Marchand. Marchand arrived and held fort at Fashoda for two months before Kitchener eventually arrived. With both forces on the brink of military entanglement, the two generals agreed to fly the flags of both countries. However, this did nothing to ease the tension. The new foreign minister of France, Theophile Delcasse, was eager to gain Britain's aid in their crusade against Germany, and so he went against the public and decided to concede at the fort, allowing Britain complete control. However, with the reopening of the Dreyfus Affair, the French public was not too upset with Delcasse's decision.

(Major Marchand at Fashoda)

Sharp-Dressed Men

While looking through the village of Umuofia, I was interested in the many types of clothing in which the villagers adorned. Of course, the majority of the villagers were in typical African tribal wear, such as the men viewed in this picture:

Seeing as how Africa had such a hot climate, wearing the least amount of clothing possible, while still adhering to some sort of modesty, seemed like the best idea. However, not everyone was so lucjy as to walk around nearly naked. Take this man, for example:

He had a very specific role to play, and that required him to wear quite a bit of clothing; that which would have been commonly seen among the white Christians. There were also these men:

These men, dressed as court messengers, stood to warn people against traveling through the Evil Forest. I know I certainly wouldn't have crossed the paths of these men. Of course, I didn't visit every single place, but I only came across one picture of a woman. There was nothing significant about her garments; just a drab dress which I'm sure was rather common. It seems as though the men got to have all the fun playing dress-up, even if it served a purpose, like the armed man in scary face paint and savage-like clothing. In our culture, it is the women who like to dress-up, and typically men try to stay away from things like wearing make-up... unless it is for a specific purpose!

The Loss of the Medicine Man

Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, does a magnificent job of showing the transition between per-colonized and colonized Africa from a historic viewpoint while also managing to capture the feelings of the Africans. And while there were many changes between the two cultures, one of the most prominent consequences of Africa's colonization was the loss of most of their original cultural practices. The white Christians told the Africans that their customs were "bad," and as more and more Africans were promised power and land in exchange for their religious conversion, they, too, began to retort to the other Africans about their "bad" customs.

The passage about the Medicine Man, Okagbue Uyanwa, was very important. The pre-colonized African culture called in a Medicine Man when they needed to be lifted of some sort of evil spirit. Okonkwo called in Okagbue after his third son by Ekwefi, Onwumbiko, passed away, as he had not been given a proper burial. Upon discovering that the child died on the same market day which he had been born, the tribe took this as a significant circumstance. Okagbue then mutilated the child's corpse and dragged him by the ankle to bury in the "Evil Forest." This was supposed to discourage the evil spirit from reentering any more of their children. Of course, the mutilation of a child's corpse would have been highly discouraged by the white Christians, simply because they failed to understand the purpose. Customs that made complete sense to the African tribes were deemed un-Godly by the white colonizers. They often gave labd to Africans who paid them money, even though the Africans had very specific customs about land.

That always seems to be the case, doesn't it? If you can't understand something, then it must be bad. To make matters worse, the intentions of the Christians were not always pure and often were intwined in political matters as well as greed. They were solely responsible for the fall of an ancient culture, and it's no wonder that Okonkwo was driven mad.

The Forgotten Societies

Prior to Africa's colonization, there were several large empires that were ruled by overpowered, totalitarian-esque governments; or kings, rather. Such was the commonplace of most empires of the time. All the power rested within the king's hands, along with his council, thus classifying these empires as centralized, or centralized states. In addition, there were several smaller kingdoms, or city states. But statistics say that around one-third of pre-colonial Africans lived devoid of any such kingdoms. So why were historians so slow to study these stateless-civilizations, when they so clearly made up a large portion of the country? And just what were these forgotten societies all about?

As you can see in the picture, a rather large portion of the country was not actually part of a kingdom. And certainly most of those areas were populated. Why is so little information available about these societies? First, it's important to understand what set them apart from the kingdoms of Africa. Even the smaller kingdoms had some sort of ruling government or hierarchy system in place. These smaller civilizations didn't. They lacked kings, chiefs, or any complex form of government. Many chose to let the elders of their communities make all of the economical and social decisions. So without any real form of governmental rule, there was no need for written, or even oral, documentation of what went on, as well as expectations for living, in these small civilizations. What we do know is that they placed less emphasis on family connectivity and more on age when choosing their "leaders."

Perhaps it didn't occur to historians to study these societies. Of course their first priorities would be to study the governmental entities the reigned supreme over pre-colonial Africa. But with such a large portion of the country residing outside of kingdoms, is it really so wise, or even fair, to overlook the rest? In all fairness, the lack of written documentation from these societies makes it a little more challenging to extract the very essence of their existence. And the collapse of these seemingly better-off communities was as undeniable as it was for the rest of Africa as soon as Western countries began to colonize.

Now here's a question: Out of the large empires, the smaller kingdoms, and the stateless societies, which was quintessentially what comes to mind when thinking of pre-colonial Africa? Because I would have never guessed that they had such complex forms of government prior to colonization. Would anyone else agree? Or perhaps you know more about Africa than I do?


More info on the different forms of governmental societies.

More info on the more prominent African Empires.

Introduction

Hello class. My name is Reanne Asbury. I'm 20 years old, and I was born and raised in Jackson, MI. This is my third year in college; first year at Western. Right out of high school, I attended a tiny, private school in Greencastle, IN called DePauw University. It was too far from home, and much too expensive. I did, however, receive an amazing education during my time spent there, although the classes didn't seem to transfer to here! I also spent a year at Jackson Community College, which was most likely a waste of time, but they actually gave me money both semesters, so I can't complain too much. I'm an English major, and I hope to one day teach at a high school level. I think I would enjoy having intellectual conversations with my students, rather than what you would be certain to hear at a lower level. I have taken several upper-level English courses. However, my college writing class from DePauw didn't transfer as an actual class, so I have to take the most basic English course offered here. >:[

So, shall I get a little more personal? I have been a vegetarian for almost four and a half years. Prior to moving to Kalamazoo, I lived with my mom, my older twin sisters, and my dog and two cats. I love wolves, singing, and I am a self-proclaimed Diet Coke addict. My mom owns a bookstore, so I have grown up reading and it is one of my favorite past times. I play video games and WoW because I'm a closet nerd. But apparently not anymore... I just made that little tidbit public. Before transferring here, I worked as a Sales Associate at American Eagle and modeled for a photographer by the name of Dave Melges. He's stationed in Battle Creek, so some of you may have heard of him? This was one of my shoots.

I guess that's all for now?