Africa’s global connections span millennia and have resulted in the development of sophisticated trade networks and cultural hybridity. In this episode, we examine two global systems of movement and exchange, focusing on the transport of material culture and goods in the Indian Ocean World and the transatlantic slave trade in the Atlantic World.
Guest Bios
Carina Ray
Carina Ray is an Associate Professor of African and African American Studies at Brandeis University.
Kristin Strobel
Kristin Strobel is a social studies teacher at Lexington High School in Lexington, Massachusetts.
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!
Indian Ocean in World History features teaching resources such as maps, videos, and lesson plans spanning the prehistoric era through the twentieth century.
Africa and the Indian Ocean World from Early Times to Circa 1900 by Gwyn Campbell. Campbell chronicles the ebbs and flows of the Indian Ocean World with an emphasis on human-environment interaction.
Transatlantic Africa 1440-1888 by Kwasi Konadu. Konadu’s scholarship features the narratives of Africans recounting their experiences in the transatlantic slave trade.
Abina and the Important Men: A Graphic History (Second Edition) by Trevor R. Getz and Liz Clarke. Recipient of the James Harvey Robinson Prize from the American Historical Association, this graphic history is based on an 1876 court transcript of a West African woman named Abina, following the case of her wrongful enslavement.
Kanga for Women – Kwanza, Tanzania by Ten Thousand Villages and produced by Natural Light Films. This film describes the origins of Kanga cloth and introduces Rose Makoyala, Manager of the Batik Centre in Dar es Salaam.
The Tanzania Experience, Khanga – clothing for Africa by Taher Nassrulla. This article describes how to identify Khanga and the many roles it plays in Tanzanian society.
Episode Acknowledgements
Thanks to Carina Ray and Kristin Strobel for sharing their expertise in this episode.
Thanks to Nico Rivers for audio editing, mixing and mastering.
Special thanks to the Boston University Africa Studies Center and the Teaching Africa Outreach Program for collaborating and providing support for this podcast.
Image Credits
Photo of Carina Ray provided by Brandeis University website.
“Africa!” by Vandy Massey, under Creative Commons License Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
Featured Music
“Bowmazan Ya Mahaba Bi Kidude Song” by The Sounds of Taraab, from the album Live at WFMU on Rob Weisberg’s Show on 4/7/2007, under Creative Commons License Attribution Non-Commerical Share Alike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0). This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
“Bowmazan Ya Mahaba Bi Kidude Song” by The Sounds of Taraab, from the album Live at WFMU on Rob Weisberg’s Show on 4/7/2007, under Creative Commons License Attribution Non-Commerical Share Alike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0). This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
“Enyi Wana Damu Sharmila and Black Star Orchestra” by The Sounds of Taraab, from the album Live at WFMU on Rob Weisberg’s Show on 4/7/2007, under Creative Commons License Attribution Non-Commerical Share Alike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0). This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
“Lala Mpenzi Lala” by The Sounds of Taraab, from the album Live at WFMU on Rob Weisberg’s Show on 4/7/2007, under Creative Commons License Attribution Non-Commerical Share Alike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0). This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
“Mahaba Wa Taka Nini” by The Sounds of Taraab, from the album Zanzibar, New York, under Creative Commons License Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 U). This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
“Eni Wana Damu” by The Sounds of Taraab, from the album Zanzibar, New York, under Creative Commons License Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 U). This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
“Kpanlogo” by Akoko Nante Ensemble, from the album Live on WFMU’s Transpacific Sound Paradse: Feb 6, 2016, under Creative Commons License Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
“Bamaya” by Akoko Nante Ensemble, from the album Live on WFMU’s Transpacific Sound Paradse: Feb 6, 2016, under Creative Commons License Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
“Bamaya” by Akoko Nante Ensemble, from the album Live on WFMU’s Transpacific Sound Paradse: Feb 6, 2016, under Creative Commons License Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
“Bistoon” by Mamak Khadem, from the album Live at WFMU on Rob Weisberg’s Show on 10/4/2008, under Creative Commons License Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivatives 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). This track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.