APAAS Unit 1- Origins of the African Diaspora

African Diaspora

The separation of Africans from their homeland through centuries of forced removal to serve as slaves in the Americas and elsewhere.

Black Campus movement (1965-1972)

Movement to incorporate African American Studies into University programs

Sahel

Belt south of the Sahara where it transitions into savanna across central Africa. It means literally 'coastland' in Arabic.

Savanna

a grassy plain in tropical and subtropical regions, with few trees.

Tropical Rainforests

climate regions found near the equator that have a lot of rainfall and high biodiversity

Bantu expansion

Bantu-speaking people who expanded their territory vastly; acquired iron technology and learned to breed livestock and grow grain crops that were better than their previous yams

Sahara Desert

the world's largest desert (3,500,000 square miles) in northern Africa

Nomadic Herders

a person who raises livestock for a living and has no settled home but moves from place to place

Nubia

A civilization to the south of Egypt in the Nile Valley, noted for development of an alphabetic writing system and a major iron working industry by 500 BCE

Kush

An African state that developed along the upper reaches of the Nile c. 100 B.C.E.; conquered Egypt and ruled it for several centuries.

Nok

West Africa's earliest known culture; lived in what is now Nigeria; between 500 B.C. and A.D. 200; first people known to smelt iron; fashioned iron into tools for farming and weapons for hunting

Ancient Ghana

c. 5th century BCE to 12th century CE. A kingdom that controlled trade between northern and southern Africa. Called "Land of Gold. Became Muslim after the Romans left. Had a slave trade. Capital was Kumbi Saleh.

Ancient Mali

An important trading center located in West Africa where people from the Salt Region (in the Sahara Desert in the North) and people from the Gold Region ( in the South) come to make trades

Mansa Musa

Emperor of the kingdom of Mali in Africa. He made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca and established trade routes to the Middle East.

Songhai

a West African empire that conquered Mali and controlled trade from the 1400s to 1591

Aksum

A kingdom in northwestern Ethiopia that was a sizable trading state and the center of Christian culture.

Griot

A West African storyteller

Timbuktu

Mali trading city that became a center of wealth and learning

Gao

Capital of Songhai

Syncretism

a blending of beliefs and practices from different religions into one faith

Santeria

Cuban religion that combines Catholic and West African beliefs

Candomble

African religious ideas and practices in Brazil, particularly among the Yoruba people.

Voodoo

African slave religion primarily in Haiti that developed from the combination of Christianity and old African traditions.

Orisha

A general name for a deity in the Yoruba-tradition religions.

Great Zimbabwe

A powerful state in the African interior that apparently emerged from the growing trade in gold to the East African coast; flourished between 1250 and 1350 C.E.

Swahili Coast

East African shores of the Indian Ocean between the Horn of Africa and the Zambezi River; from the Arabic sawahil, meaning 'shores.'

King Nzinga

A Kongo king who converted to Christianity in the first half of the 16th century. Formed Portuguese alliance and participated in the slave trade and later futilely begged for Mercy from the Portuguese slave traders; kingdom fell apart. Becomes Baptized. Most intense relationship out of all the African kingdoms with Europeans.

Kingdom of Kongo

Kingdom dominating small states along the Congo River that maintained effective, centralized government and a royal currency until the seventeenth century.

Queen Idia of Benin

15th century became first iyoba (queen mother). Served as a political advisor to her son, the king. Relied on spiritual power and medicinal knowledge to bring victories. Queen Idia became an iconic symbol of Black women's leadership throughout the diaspora in 1977 when an ivory mask of her face was adopted as the symbol for FESTAC (Second Festival of Black Arts and Culture).

Kingdom of Ndongo

West African kingdom that between 1623 and 1663 experiences some success in resisting Portugal. By the end of the seventeenth century, the kingdom succumbs and becomes the Portuguese colony of Angola.

Queen Njinga of Ndongo

Supplied Dutch with slaves and they helped her defeat the Portuguese in the region. made Njinga the most powerful rulers in region, changed her name to Donna Ana (felt double crossed by Dutch) and welcome Portuguese teachers back into her kingdom

Cabo Verde, San Tome

Early Portuguese Plantation Communities