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John Andrews, Alethea Doran, Joy Evatt, Lydia PROJEMCeTe nAaRl GT oEeDlITOR Without limiting the rights under the copyright Halliday, Victoria Pyke, Esther Ripley, Dorothy Stannard, Rachel Warren Chadd ART EDITORS reserved above, no part of this publication may be Mridushmita Bose, Nobina Chakravorty, reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval US EDITOR Debjyoti Mukherjee system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means Megan Douglass SENIOR EDITOR (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, ILLUSTRATIONS Dharini Ganesh or otherwise), without the prior written permission James Graham, Anthony Limerick EDITOR of the copyright owner. PICTURE RESEARCHER Ishita Jha Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Sarah Hopper Limited SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR ADDITIONAL TEXT Rohan Sinha Dr. Abimbola A. Adelakun, Dr. Kimberly Brown A catalog record for this book Pellum, Prof. Marlene L. Daut, Sarah Lusack, Seun MANAGING ART EDITOR is available from the Library of Congress. 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For more information go to www.dk.com/our-green-pledge UUSS__000044--000055__IImmpprriinntt__CCoonnttrriibbuuttoorrss..iinndddd 44 1100//0066//2211 44::5511 PPMM CONTRIBUTORS PROF. NEMATA BLYDEN, CONSULTANT EDITOR DR. RAPHAEL NJOKU Nemata Blyden is Professor of History and International Affairs at Professor of African History and Global Studies at Idaho State University, George Washington University. A product of many places in the Black Raphael Njoku specializes in intellectual history, decolonization, African world, she teaches and has published on various aspects of African and diaspora studies, and African politics. African diaspora history. Most recently, she is the author of African Americans and Africa: A New History. LUKE PEPERA PAULA AKPAN Anthropologist, historian, writer, and broadcaster Luke Pepera is an expert on the African past, about which he has written articles and Journalist and writer Paula Akpan is a Black British History master’s spoken as a guest on numerous podcasts. student with an interest in mapping out Black lesbian histories in the UK. Her work mainly focuses on Blackness, queerness, and social politics, and GEORGE SWAINSTON she regularly writes for a variety of publications including Vogue, Teen Vogue, The Independent, Stylist, VICE, i-D, Bustle, and Time Out London. George Swainston studied Arabic and Persian at the University of She is also a published essayist with work in Slay In Your Lane’s Oxford. He is a journalist and documentary maker with a particular anthology Loud Black Girls and The Queer Bible anthology. interest in the history of the Middle East, Brazil, and Africa. MIREILLE HARPER ROBIN WALKER Mireille Harper is an award-winning editor, writer, sensitivity reader, Author, lecturer, and entrepreneur Robin Walker has published several and communications consultant. Her work has been published in books on Black history, African contributions to STEM, Africa and Vogue, Digital Spy, Good Housekeeping, Nation of Billions, GUAP, religion, and African contributions to music and literature. Nataal, TOKEN Magazine, and more. As a communications consultant, Mireille has worked with Punch Records, BYP Network, ShoutOut PROF. JAMIE J. WILSON Network, and other organizations. She is a contributor to Timelines of Everyone and the author of Timelines from Black History (DK). Professor of History at Salem State University (Massachusetts), Jamie KEITH LOCKHART J. Wilson teaches courses in Black American history and is the editor of 50 Events That Shaped African American History. London-based journalist and writer Keith Lockhart has contributed PROF. DAVID OLUSOGA, FOREWORD to the UK newspapers The Independent and The Observer, and to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. David Olusoga is a British-Nigerian historian, broadcaster, and filmmaker. His TV series include A House Through Time (BBC2), Black and British: DR. TYESHA MADDOX A Forgotten History (BBC2), and the BAFTA Award–winning Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners (BBC2). David is also the author of Black and Tyesha Maddox is a historian of the African diaspora and Caribbean British: A Forgotten History, which was awarded both the Longman- immigration. She is an Assistant Professor at Fordham University. Her History Today Trustees’ Award and the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize. He work examines Caribbean immigrant mutual aid societies and writes for The Guardian, is a columnist for The Observer, and is Professor benevolent associations in the early 20th century. of Public History at the University of Manchester. UUSS__000044--000055__IImmpprriinntt__CCoonnttrriibbuuttoorrss..iinndddd 55 1100//0066//2211 44::5511 PPMM 6 CONTENTS 10 INTRODUCTION 36 One bright blaze turns learning into air PREHISTORY AND The lost library of Alexandria ANCIENT HISTORY 38 Carthage must be destroyed The Romans reach Africa BEFORE 1 CE EMPIRE AND 18 Africa, the mother of humanity EXPANSION The first humans 1–800 20 We were all Africans CE Humans migrate out of Africa 74 The daughters of my 44 The third great kingdom dispersed ones 22 The crucible of ancient on Earth The Ethiopian Jews Egyptian civilization The trading empire of Aksum Predynastic Egypt 75 All the kingdoms obey 48 Devotion under persecution its king 24 The gift of the Nile Christianity reaches Africa The origins of the Songhai Egypt’s Old, Middle, and Empire New Kingdoms 52 Ghana, the land of gold The Ghana Empire 76 A unique African civilization 30 The land of the bow The Nubian kingdom of Kerma 58 We have conquered The city of Great Zimbabwe Alexandria 32 A dispersal of language The Muslim conquest of Egypt 78 We are people of the desert The Bantu migrations Ghana converts to Islam 60 The endless journey 34 The richest city of antiquity The trans-Saharan slave trade 80 The crossroads of Africa, Ancient seafarers settle the cradle of Islam Carthage 62 The people of the coast The Kanem Empire The rise of Swahili city-states 82 The enchanted holy city 64 Masters of every art The beginnings of Benin and industry The Moors in Al-Andalus 84 The miracles of Lalibela Ethiopia’s rock churches FAITH AND TRADE 86 Mali will never be in thrall The Mali Empire 800–1510 92 The people who pray in 72 The Zanj called one another it will bless your name to arms The Great Mosque is founded The Zanj slave rebellion at Djenné UUSS__000066--000099__CCoonntteennttss..iinndddd 66 1100//0066//2211 44::5511 PPMM 7 93 A mission to spread the 132 A bloody rebellion in light of Islam the sugar fields The sultanate of Ifat Enslaved people rise up in Mexico 94 All birds will flock to 136 Warrior villages a fruitful tree Brazil’s slave resistance camps Europeans arrive in Africa 140 The lady of thunder 96 The blue men from the Sahel Queen Nzinga takes on Portugal The city-states of Hausaland 146 We are kin, and we are free 98 They follow where their The Jamaican Maroons animals go The migration of the Maasai 148 From heaven in a cloud of white dust 100 The mastery of technology The birth of the Asante Empire 182 To send the Africans to their native quarter and art 152 The rock that is unharmed The founding of Sierra Leone The great bronzes of Benin by the hoe Changamire Dombo and his 184 Independence or death 102 Commerce, not conquest army of “Destroyers” The Haitian Revolution Ming China trades with East Africa 154 Race is a human invention 190 The weary travelers flying The creation of “race” from the land of bondage 104 Fostered and powered here The Underground Railroad Blackamoors* in Tudor England *Language used in the 16th century (see p.4) 196 The bright swords of REVOLUTION AND Quranic verses 108 The quest for an African RESISTANCE The Fulani conquest El Dorado The gold trade in Mozambique 1700–1900 198 Up! Children of Zulu The Zulu Empire 110 Our kingdom is being lost 162 We were never enslaved 200 Land of the free The manikongo succession The Garifuna The settlement of Liberia 164 Remarkable for their courage 202 White spirits and Black ENSLAVEMENT AND and ferocity spirits engaged in battle The warrior women of Dahomey Nat Turner’s revolt REBELLION 166 Slaves have no right 204 Exchanged for cloths 1510–1700 to property and beads Louisiana’s Code Noir The Zanzibar slave trade 116 A stain on the fabric of 168 Am I not a man and a brother? human history 206 Men of color, to arms! The birth of the Atlantic Abolitionism in Europe The war to end slavery slave trade 172 What, to the American slave, 210 The price of the disaster 122 Sick or well, it was is your Fourth of July? of slavery work, work, work Abolitionism in the Americas The golden age of Reconstruction Life on the plantations 180 The dead will rise to drive 214 Exploiting the land and 130 America’s first slave revolt the white man out its resources The slave rebellion in Hispaniola The Xhosa Wars The gold rush in Botswana UUSS__000066--000099__CCoonntteennttss..iinndddd 77 1100//0066//2211 44::5511 PPMM 8 215 We are now a part of Europe 254 We were wearing the The construction of the same uniform Suez Canal Black combatants in World War II 216 Separate but equal 258 They tell you it is the Jim Crow mother country The Windrush migration 222 Divide and rule The scramble for Africa 260 There is no easy road to freedom 224 The golden law Nelson Mandela and the anti- The ending of slavery in Brazil apartheid movement 226 The conquering lions 262 We don’t want war, of Abyssinia we want justice Ethiopia defies colonialism The Mau Mau uprising 264 Why should our children have 294 Enough is enough DECOLONIZATION AND to travel so far to school? The Brixton uprisings Brown v. Board of Education DIASPORAS 298 We are not sure the police 268 Let the people see are there to protect us (1900–PRESENT) The lynching of Emmett Till The police assault on Rodney King 270 The only tired I was, was 232 A United States of Africa 299 Zero tolerance of racism tired of giving in Pan-Africanism The Macpherson Report The Montgomery bus boycott 236 The water of life 300 We wish to inform you that 272 Ghana is free forever! The Maji Maji uprising tomorrow we will be killed Ghana declares independence The Rwandan genocide 238 For Black people by Black people 274 This is a new day in Africa Black Wall Street The Year of Africa 302 African renaissance is around the corner 240 The voice of the race 276 No gender justice without The African economic boom racial justice Brazil’s Black movements The rise of Black feminism 304 Yes, we can! The election of Barack Obama 242 Young, gifted, and Black 282 I have a dream The Harlem Renaissance The March on Washington 306 Black Lives Matter Global antiracism campaigns 246 The eternal tom-tom beating 286 Independence has come in the Negro* soul “Zik” and independent Nigeria The Jazz Age 314 Our ancestors live with us *Language used in 1926 (see p.4) The African diaspora today 288 A new society must be born The Black Power movement 250 We demand to be citizens 316 DIRECTORY Black movements in France 290 Denying race means denying reality 326 INDEX 252 Was your mother counted? Color-blind policies in France The Women’s War of 1929 335 QUOTE ATTRIBUTIONS 292 I came, I saw, I conquered. 253 A Black king will be crowned That’s a ball The Rastafari movement Ball culture in the United States 336 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS UUSS__000066--000099__CCoonntteennttss..iinndddd 88 1100//0066//2211 44::5511 PPMM 9 FOREWORD Black history is global—it takes place in Africa, Europe, It explained the history of the British Empire, of the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East. Black history which my interracial family was a product. It is ancient, which is hardly surprising as it was from the explained where the racist ideas that I saw all African continent that the very first humans emerged around me had come from, and it explained how hundreds of thousands of years ago. Yet at various and why those ideas had been invented. Black times and places, the history of Black people and history also revealed to me the long history in which the history of the African continent have been Black people have struggled against racism and marginalized or left unwritten. colonialism—struggles that continue to this day, led in the 21st century by young people. Black civilizations that ruled over huge swathes of the world and created great art and architecture This book presents Black history in all its have often been left out of the history books written complexity; from ancient times to the debates in Western nations. Some European philosophers and activism of right now. Through its pages we went as far as to suggest that Africa had no real learn of Africa’s true place in world history, and history. Likewise, the centuries in which Black can trace the origins of the inequalities that still people fought and campaigned against enslavement, shape modern societies. colonialism, and racism were often brushed under the carpet. During the centuries in which the history of Africa was pushed to the margins, and the contributions of In the face of this, the preservation and the celebration Black people to global civilization went unrecognized, of Black history has become almost sacred to many the whole world was denied access to these Black people, particularly those whose ancestors were remarkable and inspiring stories. The histories enslaved. Yet while Black history has a very specific contained within these pages place the long history significance in the lives and identities of millions of of Africa and her people back into the mainstream of Black people across the world, Black history itself is world history, to the benefit of us all. everyone’s history. Just as you do not need to be European to be fascinated by the history of Ancient Rome, you do not have to be Black to be astonished by the great empire of Mali or the kingdom of Benin. Just as non-Jewish people learn about the horrors of the Holocaust, all of us should learn of the horrors of slavery, and of the Black people who fought against it. I became interested in Black history when I was a teenager. It was the place I looked to find answers. David Olusoga UUSS__000066--000099__CCoonntteennttss..iinndddd 99 1100//0066//2211 44::5511 PPMM INTRODU CTION UUSS__001100--001111__IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn__OOppeenneerr..iinndddd 1100 1166//0066//2211 55::5522 PPMM