The History Of Africa: Journey into African History and Culture
The goal of the Ancestor's Fire is to bring the attention of society to the beliefs, culture, and ways of our Ancestors. I set out to explore and discover ancient civilizations, their history, customs and culture.
One of the themes of the Ancestor's Fire is to write the voices of the unheard. Sometimes that is going to take me to cultures that I have had no experience of living, but I know I have the responsibility to share their story and give those cultures a platform to share their experiences to help educate others in a divided society that does not embrace the uniqueness of those who are different.
In today's blog, I am going to start writing about the history of Africa. Initially this will be an overview of the history of Africa and then in the future will lead into discovering the various eras of African history and the ancestry and culture that comes with it.
Africa is the world's 2nd largest continent and has ⅕ of the Earth's land surface at 11,724,000 square miles.
Africa has a wealth of mineral resources including the world's largest reserve of fossil fuels, metallic ores, gems and precious metals.
The very first history that we have of Africa are the Archaic humans from 300,000 years ago in East Africa.
The first known recorded history was from Ancient Egypt, Nubia and the Horn of Africa.
Eventually North African history would follow that of the Middle East and Southern Europe. At the same time the Bantu expansion went from Central West Africa and across the Sub-Saharan continent. This happened between 1000 BC and 1 AD and created a common language across the central and southern continent.
During the Middle Ages, Islam spread across the African continent.
Before European colonialism it is estimated that Africa had up to 10,000 states or groups with distinct languages and customs.
At the end of the 15th Century Europeans entered the slave trade starting with Portugal acquiring slaves through trading and then eventually by force. Enslaved Africans from the west, central, and southern part of the continent were forcefully sent overseas. This was the beginning of the cruel and inhumane treatment of this culture because they were different from the Europeans. Sadly, not giving the same rights and freedom to someone because they are different still goes on today in different forms.
Once the African people were forcibly removed from their homes and sent overseas as slaves, European colonialism started spreading throughout the African continent.
With the Europeans struggling with different African groups fighting for independence, and the issues facing Europe with World War 2, decolonization started to take place across the African continent. 1960 was the Year of Africa with many states gaining their independence from the Europeans.
There are many different eras and events to explore in the History of Africa, and just like other ancestral societies that I am writing about, I intend to discover and write about information on each one in my future blogs.
It is easy for one to look up information on the history of a culture and convey it to others. It is completely different to be of that culture and share the experiences. The results can be completely different most of the time because the written history is by the viewpoint of the writer and that oftentimes is much different than those who experienced the history or the results and ramifications of it.
I am writing this information about African history based on information I can research and not from experience. I recognize the fact that I can't truly convey or describe the culture, as I have not experienced it personally. However, I want to make sure that this website offers the same opportunity for people to discover and learn about all cultures, and also the opportunity for all people to write, comment and share their experiences and knowledge of their own culture.
I intend to embrace the uniqueness of all people and be open to them and not have a closed or limited platform to those who are different.
I have had several people comment to me that they do not know their ancestry because of the slave trade which resulted in the eradication of cultures and the removal of people from their homes. I understand the privilege I have to be able to trace my ancestry blueprint, while others do not have the same opportunity. I also think we can learn and discover many things about this world and ancient civilizations by working together side by side. We can discover many things about cultures and ancestry and tear down the walls that this society has created.
I hope that all cultures can find this site as an opportunity to share. An opportunity to educate. An opportunity to help others learn about your culture. There are many of us out here that want to join with you and embrace your uniqueness and not treat you differently because you are not the same.
This is just the beginning of my exploration into different cultures and different ancestral histories of many civilizations. I hope you will help me learn about yours. I hope you will feel like this can be one platform where you are able to share your culture and your experiences. I hope you will journey with me to discover the ancestry and the history of all people.
Blessings!
By Michael Walters
The Ancestor's Fire
Writing the voices of the unheard
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