Black History of Early West African Civilizations

Created on January 26, 2022, 2:49 pm

Last Updated March 19, 2024, 2:59 pm

All ages are invited to learn about the Black history of Early West African Civilizations in this interactive workshop led by ShaRhonda Knott Dawson of Brondihouse on Sunday, February 20 from 1 to 2 pm. We'll focus on the pre-colonial civilizations: The Ghana Empire and The Mali Empire, and their long-lasting impact on human history, continuing to today. We'll discuss West Africa's economies (gold and salt), the culture (griots and matrilineal society), and highlight the academic powerhouse, Timbuktu, and its impact on world civilization. Check out related titles below and register for the virtual program now at oppl.org/calendar.

1) Lost kingdoms of Africa

Description

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Join art historian and host Dr. Gus Casely-Hayford as he uncovers this continent's hidden past.

2) The storied city: the quest for Timbuktu and the fantastic mission to save its past

Author

English, Charlie

Formats:

Book, Audiobook CD

Description

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The story of how a team of librarians and archivists joined forces to spirit tens of thousands of ancient manuscripts into hiding when al-Qaeda-linked jihadists surged across Mali in 2012, threatening the existence of these precious documents. Relying on extensive research and firsthand reporting, Charlie English expertly twines a fraught and fascinating account of one of the planet's extraordinary places, and the myths from which it has become inseparable....

3) The hidden treasures of Timbuktu: historic city of Islamic Africa

Author

Hunwick, John O

4) Born in Blackness: Africa, Africans, and the making of the modern world, 1471 to the Second World War

Author

French, Howard W

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook

Description

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"Revealing the central yet intentionally obliterated role of Africa in the creation of modernity, Born in Blackness vitally reframes our understanding of world history. In a sweeping narrative that traverses 600 years, one that eloquently weaves precise historical detail with poignant personal reportage, Pulitzer Prize finalist Howard W. French retells the story of medieval and emerging Africa, demonstrating how the economic ascendancy of Europe,...

5) African Dominion: A New History of Empire in Early and Medieval West Africa

Author

Gomez, Michael

Formats:

eAudiobook, eBook

Description

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"Winner of the ASA Book Prize (Herskovits), African Studies Association" "Winner of the Martin A. Klein Prize, American Historical Association" "One of Choice Reviews' Outstanding Academic Titles of 2018" Michael A. Gomez is the Silver Professor of History and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University. His books include Black Crescent: African Muslims in the Americas; Exchanging Our Country Marks: The Transformation of African Identities...

6) Precolonial Black Africa

Author

Diop, Cheikh Anta

Description

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This comparison of the political and social systems of Europe and black Africa from antiquity to the formation of modern states demonstrates the black contribution to the development of Western civilization.

7) The hundred wells of Salaga

Author

Attah, Ayesha Harruna

Description

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"Based on true events, a story of courage, forgiveness, love, and freedom in pre-colonial Ghana, told through the eyes of two women born to vastly different fates. Aminah lives an idyllic life until she is brutally separated from her home and forced on a journey that turns her from a daydreamer into a resilient woman. Wurche, the willful daughter of a chief, is desperate to play an important role in her father's court. These two women's lives converge...

8) Malika: warrior queen.Volume one

Author

Okupe, Roye

Series

Malika: warrior queen volume 2

Description

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"Queen and military commander Malika struggles to keep the peace in her ever-expanding empire, Azzaz, in this historical fantasy set in fifteenth-century West Africa and created by an all-star team from Nigeria"-- Queen and military commander Malika struggles to keep the peace in her ever-expanding empire, Azzaz, this historical fantasy is set in fifteenth-century West Africa. Growing up as a prodigy, Malika inherits the crown from her father in...