African History Badawi cover book

An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi presents a comprehensive exploration of the continent's history from an African perspective, challenging long-standing Western narratives that often overlook Africa's rich past. 

Overview

The book begins with the origins of humanity, focusing on significant themes and civilizations throughout Africa's history. Badawi emphasizes the continent's diversity and the importance of local voices, drawing on interviews with historians, anthropologists, and local storytellers across over thirty countries. This approach aims to provide a more nuanced understanding of Africa's historical narrative, moving beyond the typical focus on colonialism and slavery.

Key Themes

  • Historical Scope: Badawi covers a vast timeline, from ancient civilizations to modern independence movements. Each chapter highlights different regions and themes, such as the role of powerful queens and kings and the impact of colonization on African societies.
  • Decolonizing History: The author seeks to disrupt traditional Euro-centric views by presenting an African retelling of events. She incorporates oral histories and perspectives from African scholars to enrich the narrative.
  • Women in History: The book's notable aspect is its focus on women who played significant roles in Africa's history, challenging the often male-dominated historical accounts.

Thoughts

  • I appreciate the ambitious scope and the effort to present a comprehensive view of African history.
  • The writing style is bland or broad, arguing that it lacks depth in certain areas due to its extensive coverage.
  • It often reads like disconnected snippets rather than a cohesive narrative.

Excerpts

I like that Badawi admits upfront that her book is not balanced. She wants to emphasize the positive sides of African history, especially when the natives look good. She writes:

Some may object that by downplaying such gory practices I swing the pendulum too far in the other direction and put forward an Elysian view of Africans. But I would point the reader to a multitude of writings on these subjects that have attracted a disproportionate amount of attention, and that must now be counter-balanced. Indeed, these very practices were used to justify the murderous excesses of European colonialism.

Sometimes Badawi falls into tired tropes:

Although the transatlantic trade was abetted by some Africans, it was driven by its principal beneficiaries, the Europeans. 

"Principal beneficiaries"? Says who? When we buy products from China, who is the principal beneficiary?

Both parties MUST benefit from trade, and it's often hard to say who wins more.

She contradicts herself when she later writes...

A common misperception is that Africans bartered their fellow Africans for trifling amounts or frivolous items. This may seem the case when viewed through a Western lens, but within the African cultural system, objects deemed by Europeans to be of no consequence were ascribed value. For instance, Africans accepted beads as payment for humans because these were regarded as valuable goods by West Africans, who used beads and shells as a currency and as a means of projecting wealth and prestige.

Exactly. Africans may have thought they were the "principal beneficiary" when they sold their enemies for beads and shells.

She continues by saying that Africans enslaving other Africans wasn't as bad as when Europeans or Arabs did it: 

The [African] enslaver did not believe he or she was racially superior to their captives and enslaved people were not regarded as being sub-human. 

True, but the enslaver felt he was tribally superior. Does it matter if your master thinks you're sub-human, racially inferior, or just unlucky when you're a slave? Either way, it sucks to be enslaved. 

Badawi goes back far in history, but seems to forget some of it when she writes:

The Khoikhoi were deeply unhappy by this encroachment of their ancestral land. They told the Europeans, 'Why are you ploughing up the land? Why don't you go back to your own country? What would you think if we came to your country and began to take over your land?"

The Khoikhoi said the same thing to Bantu people 1,000 years before the Europeans.

The Bantu originated in West Africa 4,000 years ago, and 2,000 years ago started expanding into Southern Africa. Although some historians like to spread fairy tales of a peaceful assimilation and integration with the Khoikhoi, anyone who understands tribalism and human nature can deduce that there was also plenty of bloodshed. Neither documented anything, so we'll never know, but it's safe to assume that the Bantu and Khoikhoi often clashed violently just like both would clash with the Europeans.

Only a small minority of respondents in the 36 African countries surveyed stated that they felt more affinity for their ethnic group than their nation. Only Nigeria and South Africa showed a sizeable minority - a quarter of respondents - who said ethnic identity was more important to them than national sentiment."

That's good news. More good news is Badawi's intentions: 

I did not intend to embark on detailed arguments about the impact of colonialism on Africa in this book - many tomes have already been written on the subject. And my aim was not to write a book that pits the 'African against the European.' Nor do I ascribe all of Africa's problems to its colonial past. My goal, as expressed in the introduction, was to examine aspects of Africans' history from an African perspective and to highlight and celebrate the achievements of a people - sometimes in the face of great adversity.

Final quibble at the end:

This book, I hope, has shown [young Africans that they should invent] with their heads held high and their hearts full of pride in their magnificent past."

Don't be proud of something you didn't accomplish.

Conclusion

Overall, An African History of Africa significantly contributes to historical literature, providing a platform for African voices and perspectives. While its breadth and writing style may irk some, it is a significant step towards recognizing and celebrating Africa's complex history. I feared it would be too woke and too politically correct. It was not. That's refreshing.

 

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