Benin

Portugal’s Influence on The Kingdom of Kongo The slave trade has been argued to be one of the world’s most disastrous eras and its history is deeply rooted in Central-West Africa. In the early 16th century, The Kingdom of Kongo’s ruler, King Afonso I, addressed the King of Portugal in a series of letters where he expressed his concerns about their interconnected trading system; in which merchandise and slaves were exchanged between both states. Portugal noticed the naivety of the Kongo’s…

  The mighty Congo Empire, at Cote d’lvoire, Aka, the Ivory Coast of West Africa had the Burkina Faso warriors originally from the Bantu migration 600AD. They were skilled in horse riding and the use of the bow. Their earliest history starts with the Dagomba tribe neighboring the Boussansi, the Ninisi, the Gourounsi and the Kabisi their union brought about a great warrior kingdom called the Mossi. The greatest warriors of this Empire were the Wagadogo and the Yatenga. They used weapons such…

What do you think of when I say Africa? That was the first question I remembered you asking. As I sat somewhere in the middle of the classroom, I was suddenly overwhelmed by a series of stereotypes that for as long as I have been American I have heard and seen. The Starving children crying and a feminine voice saying donate today, that is the image that pops into my head when I think of Africa but that is not what Africa means to me. Perhaps it is because I come from Haiti, the first black…

where he’s from “…to be alienated from the collective wealth, power, and protection of the natal lineage group was tantamount to social death, a virtual erasure of one’s personhood.” (p.33) By building the many social networks that he did, first in Benin, then North East Brazil, Rio, and lastly Lisbon he organizes an extensive following across the countries that comprise The Atlantic World, making his mark on this vital time in history. He was needed, trusted, sought after, persecuted, but above…

Born to a peasant farmer in Nigeria, Africa, I had so many unpleasant experiences growing up as a child: I suffered lack of every basic need as a result of poverty and I suffered neglect as a result of ignorance, oppression, depression and deprivation. Growing up in the midst of these social monsters was not fun at all. I can still remember vividly being absent from school on many occasions due to a lack of such basic writing materials as pen and pencil and not being able to afford even the…

Nigeria is in West Africa, along the eastern coast of the Gulf of Guinea and just north of the equator. On the west of Nigeria is Benin, on the north is Niger and Chad, and on the east is Cameroon. Nigeria covers an area of 356,669 square miles (923,768 square kilometers), or about twice the size of California. There are more than 250 ethnic tribes in Nigeria. The three most largest ethnic groups are Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo (pronounced ee-bo). Some other smaller groups include Fulani, Ijaw,…

Doctrine into a child solider “If the first casualty of war is innocence, them perhaps with each bullet fired, bomb detonated, leader overthrown, wall built, economy destroyed and family member killed, we are not creating goodwill and harmony, but rather another child who believes violence is the only means to bring about change in the world” Michael Franti. If kids were being turned into soldiers at a young age what kind of a world is expected? They don’t know any better than then life style…

extensive process of making a bronze sculpture is described. The oral account given by the artisan states, “This work is one to cause wonder” The very artistic and masterful process of making metal statues involves using a wide variety of materials. Benin figures are made by pouring wax, copper,, zinc, and lead into a clay forms. These materials are then heated with fire. Once the statue is cooled, the clay outside is broken away. This process leaves a beautiful sculpted…

Throughout the semester, when observing multiple forms of art; while all struck me to be beautiful, the one individual piece of work that I saw truly inspiring was the Bronze Head of Ife, which dated back to 600 A.D. This work inspired me because of how the art was way ahead of the time period in which it was created. The procedure to craft these bronze heads was complex in the way of casting the metal, and furthermore, it required large amounts of manual labor. This form of artwork was…

They eventually arrived at Benin, where they at first did hit and run raids. A commercial treaty between African rulers and the Portuguese came to be because the Africans t resisted well to the raids. The Portuguese were also allowed to build forts along the coast, which were used…