Unfortunately, black history taught in America consists of slavery, Jim Crow, and celebrating a few people who managed to defy their circumstances and make a difference – very little is taught about Africa. Growing up in the Caribbean, it was strikingly similar for me too, with some more Caribbean and Turks and Caicos history sprinkled into the mix. I remember learning about Ancient India, Ancient China, and primarily European history, which focused mainly on the British Empire. I recall explicitly asking about Africa and being told that not much was written down. The response caused me to suffer from an inferiority complex for much of my life as I wondered why other continents had all this great history while Africa was just in disarray.
This book played an essential role in my life as it served as the starting point to begin filling in the gaps that my history teachers should have covered, and the author takes it a step further to explain how and why the intentional coverup of African history happened. As the continent with the most natural resources, the systematic dehumanization of Africans, partly through the denial of the greatness of their history, has allowed the wealthiest people in developed nations to take advantage of the resources without the masses of those nations asking too many questions. The book begins with Pre-Egyptian settlement, then goes into Ancient Egypt, Libya, and Kush, then discusses the various empires leading up to modern-day. It even goes as far as to suggest how we should help Africa get on its feet now.
The book discusses Africa’s impact on Ancient Greece. It goes on to shed light on Meroe, Timbuktu, the Ghanaian Empire, Mali, Songhay, Benin, Zanj, African trade with India, China, and Arabian states, Ethiopia, East Africa, The Moors, Zimbabwe, Medieval Rhodesia, Engaruka, Sheba’s Cities, Niger, the Congo, and much more. It tells a few stories about some of the most influential leaders like the wealthiest man in human history, Mansa Musa of Mali, and one of the greatest military leaders of all time, Shaka Zulu. One of the most impactful parts of the book to me, was when it detailed the journey and impact of Vasco da Gamma, the Portuguese explorer. Davidson explains how Vasco da Gamma was the one who first sailed around Africa and discovered the trade routes between Africa and Asia.
After taking that knowledge back to the European royal families and the Vatican, they began plotting to disrupt the trade by going to war with the cities in Eastern Africa to disrupt trade and insert themselves as the middlemen between the African and Asian empires. These wars started the decline of African civilizations and began the disarray that continues today. He discusses how Africans often had a much different relationship with their leaders than their European counterparts, who suffered through the feudalist system and mostly lived to serve royalty and aristocrats. Many of the African leaders considered themselves custodians of the people’s wealth, and the book highlights how in those days, Africans often enjoyed a higher average standard of living than their European counterparts coming from less biodiverse environments.
This book is an excellent introduction to African history but only provides a preface to most of these topics and civilizations. However, since most people don’t know much about the continent’s history, I consider it a great place to start. No matter your nationality and race, this book is a must-read because it’s vital to understand how the world got to the state it’s in today if we want to fix it and right the wrongs of the past.
