Africa’s Discovery of Europe
by David Northrup
I just read a very interesting book on Africa’s discovery of Europe written by a professor of History at Boston College. The book gives an overview of the encounters between Europeans and Africans, from 1450 till 1850. It starts with the first contacts between Portuguese sailors and African coastal states in West-Africa and is as much as possible based on sources from Africans.
The author doesn’t look at Africa as a victim but rather as an active contributor and partner in the African-European relations. He studies how religion and culture interacted, how sexual relationships came to be, what the effects of new products and technologies were, how politics, economics, culture and religion interacted, etc. (I discovered e.g. that cassava and corn are not indigenous to Africa).
The reader discovers how Africans were an integral part of the globalizing of economical and cultural transactions. Through the life stories of black missionaries, kings, princes, emissaries, traders and slaves we get an insight into the life and times of the first encounters between Europe and Africa. A whole chapter tells us about the stories of Africans who lived in Europe during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries and how they lived their lives then. I was surprised to discover how racial mixing in the British Isles didn’t raise many eyebrows in those days, even less in Africa.
We discover that the first encounters were encounters of equal parties, each trying to gain as much as possible from the transaction. Racial stereotypes and racial discrimination were only to take their full and aggressive form in Europe and Africa in the second half of the 18th century, most of all due to the influence of the colonists from the Americas and the justification of colonization and slavery.In the first centuries of the slave trade it was rather a coincidence that most slaves were black as Africa had a culture of slavery which post medieval Europe didn’t have. Europe bought the slaves Africa had to offer, for a major part to be able to colonize America. Still, in the first centuries of the slave trade, blacks could buy themselves free and becoming colonizers and slave traders. During those first centuries European presence in Africa was also focused on trade (among it slave trade of course) not on the colonization of the land and peoples of Africa.
To all who want to deepen their understanding and knowledge of history between Africa and Europe I recommend to read this book. The author bases his research on primary sources written by mostly Africans and refers to most important works on the topic.Europe’s history with race is very different compared to that of America, although both sides influenced each other deeply and both regions are becoming more and more alike at the beginning of the 21st century. I’d like to end with a citation I found in this book, it is taken from Frederick Douglass correspondence when travelling in Europe in 1845. It illustrates wonderfully the difference in racial relations in those days: “It is quite an advantage to be a 'nigger' here. I am hardly black enough for the British taste, but by keeping my hair as wooly as possible - I make out to pass for at least half a negro at any rate" Frederick Douglass (1845)
__________________________
New Book! That's the Joint!
The Hip-Hop Studies Reader
(2nd edition)
'The Caribbean Writer'
dedicates
silver anniversary
to Haiti
For its 25th anniversary, The Caribbean Writer takes readers to Haiti, originally known as Ayiti, land of high mountains.
Opal Palmer Adisa, the editor, decided to focus this special, silver anniversary issue on Haiti for two reasons - first, to pay homage to their survival of the 2010 earthquake that devastated the country and killed over 100,000 thousand people; and secondly, to commemorate their role as freedom fighters, they being the first to wage war and win their freedom in 1803.
In addition to providing readers with glimpses of both of the above mentioned historical events, Volume 25 features prose and poetry by some of Haiti's local as well as internationally celebrated writers such as Edwidge Danticat, winner of the 2009 Fellow 'Genius Award;' Évelyne Trouillot, novelist and professor at Haiti's State University; and Marilène Phipps-Kettlewell, winner of the Iowa Award for short fiction. It also showcases the works of emerging Haitian-American voices such as Michelle Y. Remy and Wilna Julmiste.
Volume 25 also marks a new epoch in the journal's trajectory as being a seminal publication in the Caribbean region. With this first bi-lingual issue, English and French, The Caribbean Writer is forging ahead to reach a wider readership in the Caribbean region, as well as position itself for a more diverse international market. The volume opens with congratulatory remarks by V.I. Gov. John de Jongh Jr., UVI's President David Hall, Provost Karl Wright, Vice Provost for Research and Public Service Henry H. Smith, founding editor Erika J. Waters and an introductory overview by editor Opal Palmer Adisa, who references her January 2011 trip to Haiti to bear witness.
This 640-page edition features 70 pages of poetry by some of the leading Caribbean poets including Kamau Brathwaite, Jennifer Rahim, Ernest Pépin and Sonia Sanchez, plus 100 pages of prose, a special section on Haitian Art and interviews with Earl Lovelace, who recently won the 2011 Caribbean Literary Prize, and Trinidad-American writer, Elizabeth Nunez. The next section of the journal is in French, and editor Adisa, in the acknowledgement section, called on colleagues and friends from various universities and other sites around the country to make this dream of a bi-lingual issue a reality. Volume 25 is historical and a collector's item for three reasons - its emphasis on Ayiti/Haiti, its assemblage of many of the most important Caribbean writers today and its bi-lingual edition to celebrate being 25 years old.
The Caribbean Writer, an international literary journal published by the University of the Virgin Islands, showcases the literary production and visual works by Virgin Islanders as well as others from the greater Caribbean region. The cover art work for this special issue features the painting of Pasko "Easter Rock" Mérisier, renowned Haitian painter who resides between Haiti and France. Interior art includes works by Sam Doudou, André Eugène, Chéby and Evelt Romain, some of the most innovative artists in Haiti today. Local writers who are included in this collector's volume are Arnold R. Highfield, writer, historian and professor emeritus of UVI; Daisy Holder Lafond, Maud Pierre-Charles and Winifred "Oyoko" Loving, and book reviews by current professors such as Simon Jones-Hendrickson, Gillian Royes, Lomarsh Roopnarine, Valerie Combie and Lucia R. DiMeo.
To maintain its credentials as a referred journal in the academy, works were selected blind by the local editorial board comprised of Edgar O. Lake, President of the Society of Virgin Islands Historians; Alscess Lewis-Brown, director of the Human Resources Bureau of the V.I. Police Department; Kenny Hendrickson and Dolace Mclean, professors from both UVI campuses.
The Silver Anniversary/Volume 25 of The Caribbean Writer is currently available at local bookstores on St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John, as well as UVI bookstores on both islands. Copies are $25, and can also be ordered directly from The Caribbean Writer's office by calling 340-692-4152, emailing orders@thecaribbeanwriter.org or visiting www.TheCaribbeanWriter.org.
The winners for Volume 24 are Randy Koch, The Daily News Prize for poetry; Barbara Jenkins, the Canute A. Brodhurst Prize for short fiction; David Edgecombe, The Marguerite Cobb McKay Prize to a Virgin Islands author; Joanne C. Williams, The David Hough Literary Prize to an author residing in the Caribbean; and Fabian Thomas, Charlotte and Isidor Paiewonsky Prize for first-time publication.
The Caribbean Writer is now accepting entries for the Volume 26. The theme is "Nature and Ecology." The deadline is Oct. 15. Submit poems, short stories, personal essays and one-act plays. Maximum length for short stories and personal essays, is 3,500 words, or 10 pages. Only previously unpublished work will be accepted. This issue will be printed in English and Spanish. Bi-lingual submissions are welcome.
For submission, list your name, address and title of submission on a separate sheet. Write the title on the submission itself. All submissions should be on separate pages. Include a brief biographical information and mention previous publications and any Caribbean connection. All manuscripts should be typed, double-spaced.
Email submissions to submit@thecaribbeanwriter.org as a Word or RTF file or mail to: The Caribbean Writer, University of the Virgin Islands, RR 1, Box 10,000, Kingsill, St. Croix, USVI 00850-9781.
For information, call 692-4152.
New Book Chronicles
Black Gay and Lesbian Fiction
Cleis Press
Black Like Us, edited by Devon Carbado and Dwight McBride, serves as an anthology for more than 100 years of gay and lesbian black fiction, featuring prominent writers such as James Baldwin, Alice Walker and Langston Hughes. Black Like Us puts the authors and their work in perspective, offering critical analyses of the periods in which the authors lived and the pieces were written.
The book offers a wide selection of black gay and lesbian fiction from throughout the 20th century and beyond, covering seminal movements such as the Harlem Renaissance. Black Like Us is a must-read for diehard African-American fiction enthusiasts.
>via: http://www.theroot.com/buzz/new-book-chronicles-black-gay-and-lesbian-fiction