Africa has long been associated with disease and illness, at the expense of widespread recognition of the continent’s history with healing and medicine. Reports of malaria, yellow fever, ebola, and HIV from travelers, colonial personnel, and contemporary media have long eclipsed an understanding of the continent’s contributions to health and science from its herbal pharmacopeia through 21st century laboratory research. In this episode, we examine the associations with Africa and disease while also recognizing the innovations that are owed to the continent.
Breeanna Elliott is a doctoral student in the History of Science and Medicine Program in the Department of History at Yale University.
Free Resources and Featured Books
Health, Healing and Illness in African Historyby Rebekah Lee offers readers a rich history of the way African people understood and managed illness and disease from the 1800s through the 21st century. The book centers the experiences of healthcare providers, patients, and families across Africa.
East African Doctors: A History of the Modern Professionby John Iliffe traces the history of medical training and practice among physicians in East Africa from the 1870s through this medical community’s contributions to the study of AIDS, focusing on the professionalization of the field.
Episode Acknowledgements
Thanks to Endy Ezeluomba and Hannah Cohen for sharing their insights and expertise.
Thanks to Nico Rivers for audio editing, mixing and mastering this episode.
Museums make the world of human creativity and expressiveness accessible to the public. It is through curation and display that museums play an important role in constructing meaning and understanding of Africa’s histories, societies, and belief systems. Throughout Europe and the United States, there are museums exhibiting material culture originating in Africa. Yet, the history of “exhibiting Africa” intersects with colonial exploitation and is fraught with problems. From theft and coercion to control over narrative formation, there are numerous critical questions that must be addressed in order to understand what is found in museums. In this episode, we examine the history of how African cultural products made their way into Western museums and discuss the politics and possibilities of reckoning with this history today.
Guest Bios
Dr. Ndubuisi C. (Endy) Ezeluomba
Dr. Ndubuisi C. (Endy) Ezeluomba is the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Curator of African Art. Dr. Ezeluomba previously served as the Françoise Billion Richardson Curator of African Art at the New Orleans Museum of Art. He was raised in Benin City, Nigeria and received his Ph.D. in art history from the University of Florida, Gainesville.
Hannah Cohen
Hannah Cohen is a social studies teacher at Sharon High School in Sharon, MA.
Loot: Britain and the Benin Bronzesby Barnaby Phillips explores the controversy of the Benin Bronzes at the British Museum through examinations of empire, race, and justice.
“The MFA is showing looted African art. Here’s how to deal with it.” by The Editorial Board of The Boston Globe traces the history of Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts’ relationship with the Benin bronzes that were taken by British colonial forces in 1897 while positing an argument for restitution with Nigeria.
“What does it mean to decolonize a museum?” by Elisa Shoenberger is a primer for the ongoing and expanding discourse of museum decolonization, drawing from various examples across the United States, Europe, and Australia.
“The Benin Bronze Debate” by thoughtsonart.com offers an overview of the history of the Benin bronzes, describing the process for their creation and their original use before offering an account of the controversy regarding their ongoing presence at the MFA in Boston and elsewhere around the world.
Episode Acknowledgements
Thanks to Endy Ezeluomba and Hannah Cohen for sharing their insights and expertise.
Thanks to Nico Rivers for audio editing, mixing and mastering this episode.
The study of Africa is not limited to one continent. Africa itself is entwined with the rest of the world through politics, cultures, foodways, and technologies. Also, over the course of centuries, African and African descendant people have taken root around the world. The story of the African diaspora intersects with the history and legacy of slavery and imperialism but also with the search for economic and educational opportunity. The African diaspora brings into focus the way people survive, adapt, flourish, forge new identities, and take root, even when displaced from an ancestral home. In this episode, we explore the African diaspora, considering its origins and the way communities outside of Africa maintain a sense of Africanness in their forms of expression and communication.
Sunn m’Cheaux is a Gullah/Geechee Charleston, SC “binya” (native) speaker. He teaches Gullah in the African Language Program. He’s also fluent in various Afro-Caribbean creoles, including Bahamian Creole English and Jamaican Patois. Sunn is an artist, activist, and social commentator for whom representation and preservation of Gullah/Geechee culture, language and people are integral to his work.
Kevin Toro
Kevin Toro is a history and social studies teacher at Arlington High School in Arlington, MA and educational consultant working on issues of race and racism.
Free Resources and Featured Books
African Diaspora Consortium provides lesson plans, articles, videos, and guides for integrating the study of Africa and African diasporic experiences.
African Diaspora Fellows Program at Duke University is a professional development opportunity for social studies, world language, and English teachers and also includes digital resources for K-12 educators.
Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission works to preserve, share, and interpret the history, cultural practices, heritage sites, and natural resources associated with the Gullah Geechee people of coastal North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
Africa has been home to numerous states and civilizations for millennia. Along the Nile Valley – in modern-day Egypt and Sudan – is Nubia, the site of multiple complex and sophisticated political, military, artistic, and architectural achievements that are indigenous to Africa. However, Nubia has been the source of misunderstanding, forgetting, and erasure in the Global North as archaeologists have downplayed and diminished the standing of Nubia in the ancient world. In this episode, we explore the vastness of Nubian history while also examining the racial politics of knowledge and memory. We focus on the way Nubia has been misunderstood and how classrooms can be sites where Africa’s ancient civilizations can be remembered and appreciated in renewed and dynamic ways.
Guest Bios
Dr. Debora Heard
Debora Heard is a Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology specializing in Nubian Archaeology at the University of Chicago.
Stephen Guerriero
Stephen Guerriero is a 6th grade social studies teacher in Needham, Massachusetts.
Free Resources and Featured Books
Nubia Resources is a curated collection of teaching materials compiled by Boston University’s African Studies Center. The collection includes lesson plans, videos, music, podcasts, books, and more from PBS, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the BBC, and more. Visit the collection for up-to-date and expansive materials to learn and teach about Nubia.
The American Research Center in Egypt offers a trove of innovative research, programming, and content that makes North African archeology accessible to the general public.
The William Leo Hansberry Society is a scholarly society that promotes diversity and equity in the study and research related to the ancient Nile Valley and Northeast Africa.
Episode Acknowledgements
Thanks to Debora Heard and Stephen Guerriero for sharing their insights and expertise.
Thanks to Nico Rivers for audio editing, mixing and mastering this episode.
Photo of Debora Heard provided by the University of Chicago website.
Featured Music
“Amazigh” by Brahim Fribgane, from the album LIve at WFMU’S Transpacific Sound Paradise, 6/6/2009, under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
“Mwali” by Xylo-Ziko, from the album Polyrhythms, under CC BY-NC 4.0. This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
“Kurbu” by Abdoulaye Alhassane Toure, from the album Live with Banning Eyre at WFMU on Transpacific Sound Paradise 5/19/09, under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
“Maru Kiray” by Abdoulaye Alhassane Toure, from the album Live with Banning Eyre at WFMU on Transpacific Sound Paradise 5/19/09, under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
“Bamba Dji” by Youssoupha Sidibe, from the album Sacred Sound, under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
“Mystic” by Youssoupha Sidibe, from the album Sacred Sound, under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
“Live Improv” by Brahim Fribgane, from the album LIve at WFMU’S Transpacific Sound Paradise, 6/6/2009, under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
In the aftermath of violence and oppression, nations face the dilemma of confronting past suffering while also rebuilding and preventing future injustice. There is no formula for avoiding vengeance, soliciting forgiveness, and exacting truth and justice. However, recent history offers examples of societies that have navigated these quandaries. In the wake of apartheid in South Africa and genocide in Rwanda, both societies developed legal, political, and cultural campaigns meant to expose and record oppression and violence while attempting to restore the wounded nations. In this episode, we explore the attempts at healing South Africa and Rwanda. We focus on the pain and hope that are built into campaigns for truth, justice, and reconciliation.
Guest Bios
Timothy Longman
Timothy Longman is Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Boston University, where he serves as the Director of CURA: the Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs. From 2009 to 2017, he served as the Director of BU’s African Studies Center.
Claude Kaitare
Claude Kaitare is an educator working with students to raise awareness about the Rwandan genocide and genocide prevention. To learn more about Claude’s life in Rwanda and work with students visit his bio and view a video of him visiting the Kigali Genocide Memorial.
Free Resources and Featured Books
Coexistis a documentary film by the Upstander Project that examines the way Rwandans have attempted to heal. The film captures the perspectives of victims, perpetrators, and witnesses to the 1994 genocide.
Confronting Apartheidis a book produced by Facing History and Ourselves and the Boston University African Studies Center. It focuses on the themes of membership and belonging, resistance to and the consequences of violence, tools for civic engagement, and approaches to civic education, all while focusing on the historical case study of apartheid in South Africa.
Ghosts of Rwanda is a PBS documentary about the genocide in Rwanda. The online teacher center includes lesson plans, accompanying materials, and pedagogical guidance for teaching this history and incorporating the film into classrooms.
Witness to Apartheid: A Teaching Guide was developed by the Zinn Education Project and includes free excerpts from the 1986 Academy Award nominated documentary. The teaching guide also includes pedagogical advice for introducing the idea of apartheid in classrooms and lesson materials.
Life Under Apartheid: Teaching with Primary Sources was produced by PBS and includes a curated set of multimedia resources, including primary sources such as posters and photographs from the apartheid era in South Africa.
Episode Acknowledgements
Thanks to Timothy Longman and Claude Kaitare for sharing your insights and expertise.
Thanks to Nico Rivers for audio editing, mixing and mastering this episode.
There are over fifty cities throughout Africa with a population of more than one million inhabitants. However, urban spaces tend to be left out of America’s collective imagination of the continent. Cities are cosmopolitan places where ideas circulate, people mix and mingle, trends are set, and influences of innumerable origins meld together. In this episode, we explore the experiences of young people in urban settings throughout Africa. We focus on the ways youth cultures can affirm a vision of Africa that cuts against the grain of stereotypes and dominant narratives.
Episode Terminology
Afrofuturism: A cultural aesthetic that combines science-fiction, history and fantasy to explore the African-American experience and aims to connect those from the black diaspora with their forgotten African ancestry (tate.org)
Cosmopolitanism: Having wide international sophistication; having worldwide rather than limited or provincial scope or bearing (merriam-webster.com)
Afropolitan: Someone who has roots in Africa, raised by the world, but still has an interest in the continent and is making an impact (cnn.com)
Collective Effervescence: A powerful form of synchrony that is associated with intense emotions and communal shared experiences (psychologytoday.com)
Vibe: A distinctive emotional quality or atmosphere that is sensed or experienced by someone (thefreedictionary.com)
Guest Bios
Anima Adjepong
Anima Adjepong, PhD, is a sociologist and Assistant Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality studies at the University of Cincinnati whose research examines culture, identities, and social change in West Africa and the diaspora.
Lilian Sibanda
Lilian Sibanda is a English Second Language Teacher in Peru and a Graduate Research Assistant at the University of Massachusetts Boston who is from Zimbabwe.
Shamiso Ngongoni
Shamiso Ngongoni is a Salesforce Administrator at The African, a nonprofit in Columbus, Ohio focused on the socioeconomic advancement of the African Diaspora, and is from Zimbabwe.
Irene Asuwa
Irene Asuwa is a graduate of the University of Nairobi and an environmental activist in Kenya.
Katherine Manning
Katherine Manning is a World History teacher and Model UN Advisor at Lexington High School in Lexington, MA.
“I Didn’t Know There Were Cities in Africa!” is an article by Brenda Randolph and Elizabeth DeMulder published by Learning for Justice focused on the misconceptions and prejudices frequently associated with Africa that can be countered through teaching that includes, among other approaches, an emphasis on urban life.
“Bye-Bye Babar” is an article by Taiye Selasi is an early and iconic expression of Afropolitanism and which offers accessible and vivid imagery of the vibrant cultural hybridity embodied by Afropolitan youth.
“Don’t Ask Where I’m From, Ask Where I’m a Local” is a TED Talk by Taiye Selasi which presents a vision of global interconnectedness and identities that transcend borders, origins, and static definition.
“15 Most Beautiful & Developed African Cities in 2021” is a video by African Insider that provides succinct descriptions of urban spaces throughout Africa, featuring descriptions of the cultural scenes across the continent.
The Afropolitan Podcast is a podcast series that delves into the contours and particularities of Afropolitan identity by hosts who identify with and embody the spirit of certain forms of its expression.
“Why I’m Not an Afropolitan” by Emma Dabiri is an article that provides a critique of Afropolitan expressions as the new “single story” that has its own blindspots and limitations for representing Africa and Africans.
Episode Acknowledgements
Thanks to Anima Adjepong, Lilian Sibanda, Shamiso Ngongoni, Irene Asuwa, and Katherine Manning for sharing your insights and expertise.
Thanks to Nico Rivers for audio editing, mixing and mastering this episode.
Climate change, habitat loss, and the endangerment of wildlife has brought about international interventions and conservation efforts throughout Africa. However, policies and programs are not without their problems. Throughout Africa, questions of environmental and climate justice are raised when communal lifestyles are threatened by initiatives that are not designed with a mindfulness of the needs of people throughout Africa. In this episode, we explore the human toll taken by climate change and sometimes even by efforts to protect the environment.
Guest Bios
Richard Schroeder
Richard Schroeder is a Professor of Geography in the Department of Anthropology at Brandeis University with expertise in political ecology, Africa, and conservation.
Malavika Vyawahare
Malavika Vyawahare is a staff reporter for Mongabay, a nonprofit environmental science and conservation news platform.
James Herrera
James Herrera is a researcher and program coordinator at the Duke Lemur Center SAVA Conservation program, Duke University, and based in Madagascar.v
Fulgence Thio Rosin
Fulgence Thio Rosin is a PhD student at the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar in collaboration with the University of Goettingen in Germany. He is a lecturer in animal biology and ecology at the Regional University Centre of SAVA region.
Oladosu Adenike
Oladosu Adenike is a Nigerian climate activist and eco-feminist working for equality, security, and peace across Africa, in particular the Lake Chad region.
Briana Brown
Briana Brown is an environmental science and biology teacher at Brookline High School in Brookline, MA.
Roger Grande
Roger Grande is a world history, social justice, and global leadership teacher at Brookline High School in Brookline, MA.
Free Resources and Featured Books
African Studies Association promotes the teaching of Africa in K-16 classrooms, promoting this work through an annual teacher workshop and the production of teacher resources.
Introducing Africa, Racial Stereotyping, and Environmental Justice is a video from the virtual 2020 African Studies Association Annual Teachers’ Workshop: Transnational Solidarities, focused on a a framework for teaching about Africa in early grade, including an emphasis on environmental justice.
Enhancing Children’s Literature with African Voices is a video from the virtual 2020 African Studies Association Annual Teachers’ Workshop: Transnational Solidarities, featuring Irene Asuwa talking about the book Seeds of Change by Jen Cullerton as part of the Boston University African Studies Center K-16 Education Outreach Program Children’s Literature Enrichment Project.
Teach Climate Justice Campaign consists of teaching resources, voices from classrooms, and other information about workshops and opportunities for youth engagement around the issue of climate justice.
Oladosu Adenike: I Lead Climate includes videos and writings by Oladosu regarding climate change and the role of African youth in addressing this global problem through campaigns that are centered around the voices and perspectives that tend to be eclipsed in the discourse around climate change.
Episode Acknowledgements
Thanks to Rick Schroeder, Malavika Vyawahare, James Herrera, Fulgence Thio Rosin, Oladosu Adenike, Briana brown, and Roger Grande for sharing your expertise in this episode!
Thanks to Nico Rivers for audio editing, mixing, and mastering.
In the larger context of development in Africa, often criticized for its colonial underpinnings, African women demonstrate resilience and empowerment in ways that often go unrecognized. One visible form of empowerment is where women address community needs as leaders and visionaries. In this episode, we explore the intersection of race, gender, and work through stories of women who are creatively shaping their fields and creating change.
Guest Bios
Adryan Wallace, PhD
Adryan Wallace, PhD is an assistant professor in the Department of Africana Studies at Stony Brook University.
Walter Mswaka, PhD
Walter Mswaka, PhD is an associate professor of social entrepreneurship in the Department of Social Entrepreneurship at Rollins College.
Thabiso Mahlape
Thabiso Mahlape is the founder of Blackbird Books, an independent publishing house in South Africa that is dedicated to giving young Black writers a platform. Learn more about Blackbird Books at www.blackbirdbooks.africa.
Charlot Magayi
Charlot Magayi is the founder and CEO of Mukuru Clean Stoves, a social enterprise that produces clean, affordable and reliable cook stoves for under-served markets to reduce household air pollution. Learn more about Mukuru Clean Stoves at www.mukurustoves.org.
Rachel Laryea
Rachel Laryea specializes in racial capitalism, ethical entrepreneurship, and social good. After working on Wall Street, Rachel pursued a dual PhD in African American Studies and Sociocultural Anthropology at Yale University, and also launched Kelewele to showcase the diversity of Africa and its diaspora through healthy food. Learn more about Kelewele at www.kelewelenyc.com.
Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho
Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho is the CEO of Futuresoft Software Resources, a full-service digital agency and IT Solutions company based in Nigeria. Learn more about Futuresoft at www.futuresoft-ng.com.
Kaylene Stevens Petrin, EdD
Kaylene Stevens Petrin, EdD is a lecturer and program director of social studies education at the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development at Boston University and a former high school social studies teacher and department chair at Framingham High School in Massachusetts.
Taylor Collins
Taylor Collins is a history teacher at Framingham High School in Massachusetts and the director of Step Up to Excellence Mentoring.
Free Resources and Featured Books
Lionesses of Africa provides blogs, audio content, profiles, and other resources on women entrepreneurs across Africa.
“The Danger of a Single Story” TED Talk video by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie provides a reminder of the need to diversify representations of Africa and create spaces for narratives that are too often marginalized.
Voices from Africa: Colonized Women Talk Back from Howard University offers a three-part lesson plan on African women who challenged colonial rule, debunking the myth of submissive African women.
Episode Acknowledgements
Thanks to Adryan Wallace, Walter Mswaka, Thabiso Mahlape, Charlot Magayi, Rachel Laryea, Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho, Kaylene Stevens Petrin, and Taylor Collins for generously sharing their expertise and insights in this episode.
Thanks to Nico Rivers for audio editing, mixing, and mastering.
African decolonization has a complex history, involving resistance against and liberation from European colonial subjugation. In this episode, we examine the political and cultural interplay between race, resistance, and decolonization across Africa while considering ways to teach about racism in classrooms today.
Guest Bios
Michael Ralph
Michael Ralph is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis and the School of Medicine at New York University. His research integrates political science, economics, history, and medical anthropology through an explicit focus on debt, slavery, insurance, forensics, and incarceration. He is the author of Forensics of Capital (University of Chicago Press).
Julian Kenneth Braxton
Julian Kenneth Braxton is the Director of Community and Multicultural Affairs and a history instructor at the Winsor School in Boston, Massachusetts. Linda Morse is a social studies teacher at the Foxborough Regional Charter School in Foxborough, Massachusetts. J. Malcolm Cawthorne is the METCO Coordinator and a social studies teacher at Brookline High School in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Free Resources and Featured Books
Colonialism and Resistanceis a resource collection compiled by the African Studies Center at Boston University. The collection includes lesson plans, literature lists, maps, and numerous other primary and secondary resources.
Colonization and Independence in Africa is a unit developed by The Choices Program at Brown University which features multiple lessons and a short video series.
Lesson of the Day: ‘A Continent Remade’is a lesson produced by The New York Times focused on 1960, a year when 17 African countries would declare independence from colonial rule.
Things Fall Apart is Chinua Achebe’s first novel about Nigerian life before and during colonialism. The novel was published in 1958, two years before independence from Britain.
Episode Acknowledgements
Thanks to Michael Ralph, Julian Braxton, Linda Morse, and Malcolm Cawthorne for sharing their expertise in this episode.
Thanks to Nico Rivers for audio editing, mixing, and mastering.
“Tsuro Magena (Live @KEXP)” by Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited from the album Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited (Live @KEXP) 5/11/09, under FMA- Limited: Download Only License. This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
“Smile (Live @KEXP)” by Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars from the album Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars- Live @KEXP 6/15/2009, under FMA- Limited: Download Only Licence. This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
Art and culture often intersect with politics and music has been a potent instrument of social movements. In this episode, we explore recent historical and contemporary examples of protest music throughout Africa as musicians and communities turned their creative talents towards anticolonial, antiapartheid, and anti-corruption campaigns.
Nathaniel Braddock is a musician, composer, and teacher. Braddock performs solo fingerstyle guitar and collaborates with Ghanaian, Zambian, Congolese musicians in numerous soukous, highlife, and jazz groups. Braddock has taught at the Passim School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the Old Town School of Folk Music and the Waldorf School in Chicago, Illinois.
Free Resources and Featured Books
Whether you’re new to teaching Africa, or just looking for new material to spice up your existing curricula, check out these free online resources for educators!
Music Beyond Borders: Music for Human Rights is a project organized by Janie Cole, an ethnomusicologist and historian. The project focuses on the study of musicians living under and creating music addressing oppressive regimes.
Decolonization Resource Collection: Africa is produced by the National History Center and offers a curated resource list of primary and secondary sources for teaching about decolonization struggles.
“Zimbabwe’s Powerful Music of Struggle” by Anakwa Dwamena provides an overview of chimurenga music, featuring the influence of artists such as Thomas Mapfumo.
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