Despite a devastating slave trade and European colonial domination, Africa today is able to adapt, change and redefine its people and cultures, two Prison University Project history teachers told a class of San Quentin Prison students.
Nathaniel Moore described pre-colonial Africa as a continent of great nations and kingdoms.
“There were numerous prosperous kingdoms and civilizations throughout the continent, including the Egyptian, Zulu, Yoruba, Mali, Ethiopian and Nubian empires,” he said. “These empires maintained complex central governments, trading networks and robust societies with many achievements and innovations.”
The arrival of Europeans dramatically changed the development of the African continent, he said. “The transatlantic slave trade disrupted many societies throughout Africa by depriving societies of their most promising young people and stunting technological innovation,” Moore added.
After the slave trade, the imperial European powers divided Africa up during the Berlin Conference of 1884 and promised not to interfere with each other as they colonized the continent. “Colonialism brought uncountable changes to African communities, everything from gender roles to language to land ownership to resource control,” said Moore.
“African communities resisted their colonial rulers in a variety of ways, but it wasn’t until the 1960s and 1970s that most African nations were able to achieve independence. After independence, African nations have faced a number of challenges in political, economic, and social areas. However, the continent continues to possess diverse, dynamic, and vibrant culture and communities,” he added.
Anne Henry, who co-teaches the class with Moore, pointed out the ways in which past colonialism in Africa still affects Africans today. “Colonialism has had a large impact on the continent, and those impacts can be seen from the statues commemorating European officers who colonized African lands and from the European languages spoken all over the continent,” she said.
“Many countries’ governments and economic systems are still organized accordingly to colonial structures. Roads still connect resource-rich areas to the coast. Urban areas have distinctly more infrastructure than rural areas.
“Most newspapers, TV shows, and other media are in European languages. Most Africans will speak at least one European language,” Henry said.
“Travelers would see the colonial influence in the products you would buy at a store, for example. Grocery stores are full of all sorts of products from England, France, Portugal, et cetera. However, on a day-to-day basis, especially in urban areas, you will see Africans from all over the continent wearing name brand clothing similar to what we might see anywhere in the United States or Europe,” said Moore.
Henry concluded by emphasizing how Africans are gradually recovering from the colonialism. “Despite the impacts that colonialism still holds in the continent, the people of Africa have been able to adapt and change to the positive or negative influences that have c+ome their way. Even though colonialism still impacts Africans, African societies continue to define themselves.”
Antoine Brown, one of the students of the class, said, “I learned a lot about Africa that I did not know before due to the fact that schools don’t teach it in history class. Knowing about what I know now gives me a different perspective about the continent and what Africans went through.”
