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similarity

One idea that connected both chapters for me was identity during moments of instability. In periods of revolution or economic depression, people often become more attached to religion, culture, nationalism, or community because these identities provide stability when society feels uncertain. It helps keep them grounded and some might even say keep them sane. Chapter 6 showed this through Islamic reform movements, while Chapter 12 explored identity during political and economic struggles. This connection helped me understand that identity is not something that is black and white. It is a bunch of grey area that shifts and changes depending on the conditions the people are enduring.

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example of resistance and protest against a corrupt government

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chapter 12: hard times, protest, identity, and depression

I wanted to connect chapter 12 with chapter 6 and how the two go hand-in-hand. One of the major themes in Chapter 12 is that economic issues create political resistance/reforms. During the times of depression and lack of stability, people began questioning governments, the systems, and any social inequalities. Protest movements don’t happen randomly they happen when people feel ignored, exploited, or unable to survive under their conditions. What makes this topic feel relevant, especially in today’s time, is how similar these patterns still are today. Across the world, economic struggles continue to fuel strikes and social movements. Just last week a strike began here in New York City, where workers of the LIRR system are not doing their jobs because of lack of pay. Apparently their pay rate has been the same since 2022 and with inflation going on and everything being overly expensive they got fed up and decided to start a strike and fight back against the system that doesn’t care for them. The company makes billions every year yet can’t afford to up the pay rate. This is what they’re fighting for. Whether in Africa or elsewhere, hard times force people to reconsider identity, belonging, speaking up and using their voice,and power. Reading this chapter showed me that protest is not only political; it is also something that isemotional and personal because survival itself becomes political during crises.

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SOKOTO CALIPHATE

The Sokoto Caliphate was a big Muslim empire in West Africa and was founded by Usman dan Fodio in 1804. This came to be after he defeated the Hausa kingdoms during the religious wars called the Fulani jihads. The empire followed Sunni Islam and included areas that are now parts of Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, etc. and by 1837 it became the largest and most populated empire in all of West Africa. It had about 10 to 20 million people living there but that ended in 1903 when the European powers like Britain, France, and Germany conquered and took control of the region and divided the land into their own colonies.😒

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Jihad and Revolution in Western Africa (Chapter 6)

People usually hear the word “jihad” and immediately associate it only with violence because of how the media has always portrayed anything connected to Islam or Muslims to terrorism etc but in chapter 6: jihad movements in Western Africa, it showed that the jihad movements in West Africa were also deeply connected to political reforms , the education, the kinds of leadership, and social justice. Leaders like Usman dan Fodio spoke up and went against corruption and argued that society had moved away from moral and religious principles. I have my own experience in morality, religious principles, and culture being a big jumble and people using it to their advantage in very negative ways. I know how serious people can get about it as well so reading and learning about how this man was so fearless and going against it was chilling . This chapter also made me realize that African societies were actively shaping their own political futures wayyy before Europeans came along on their colonial domination

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YouTube link on Usman Dan Fodio and his role in Jihad.

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Digging deeper into western Africa.

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african housewife in traditional clothes cooking foufouwith wooden mortar in home kitchen in cameroon Stock Photo | Adobe Stock

Download african housewife in traditional clothes cooking foufouwith wooden mortar in home kitchen in cameroon Stock Photo and explore simil

The backbreaking work women do just to put a meal on their families table is something that I will forever admire. African women are the most strongest people I know.

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Smiling black African housewife in a beautiful colored dress with matching headscarf, sitting in her simple outdoor kitchen, preparing a mea

Download this stock image: Smiling black African housewife in a beautiful colored dress with matching headscarf, sitting in her simple outdo

This is how majority of women cook meals back home. This is also what you will find a majority of them doing. From sunrise to sundown.

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Eating the cake

An image tagged hmmmm,memes,politics,woke hypocrisy

White Saviorism is more common than we realize, you just have to look for it.

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Socially Constructed Memes for Anthropological Teens

tag your gals on their gap yahs 🤙🤙

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The Side of Africa Unseen on TV - Cities and Rivers Revealed

Discover the hidden beauty of Africa with stunning pictures showcasing cities and rivers in South Africa, West Africa, and East Africa. Expl

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I have have first-hand experience with what this image is portraying. Since I was a kid, I've been bullied for being African and whenever there were clips or movies shown in class that show parts of Africa or malnourished kids, people would turn and look at me and ask me if that's how it is over there. The gag is, at the time, I have never been to Africa so they were asking me things that even I had no say on. I ended up living in Africa years later and did high school there. Needless to say, I have my own maids back home, many summer homes that my father has built, a chauffeur, and so forth. So, what you see on TV is not at all what life over there actually is.

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a clip from the documentary "Savior Complex"

The story of Renee Bach, a white missionary who practiced medicine in Uganda without a license, unfolds in this documentary called "Saviour Complex." This case serves as an example of structural violence, which is when systems allow harm to happen under the cover of "helping" and white privilege. Renee's behavior also shows what Lowe was talking about in his text; how the Western portrayal of Africa was as chaotic, defenseless, and dependent on outsiders. There are many qualified medical experts in Uganda, but their opinions were dismissed because of foreign aid.

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The Woman King - Viola Davis as General Nanisca

The Woman King - "Viola Davis" as General Nanisca and leader of the Agojie, the all-female warrior unit that protected the West African...

In the film, Nanisca tells the King, "some things are worth fighting for."

The stereotype that African women are just housewives or victims is proven wrong by the movie The Woman King. The Agojie, who were actual fighters from Dahomey which is present-day Benin, are shown as fierce leaders. Growing up in Africa, where women were frequently expected to stay at home, I witnessed gendered stereotypes that this movie challenges. It also supports Lowe's demand for more accurate, colonial-filter-free depictions of Africa. The movie takes back African female agency in history through the Dahomey warrior women.

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"Talking about Tribe" text

In the text "Talking about Tribe" Chris Lowe criticizes how the West uses the term "tribe" to reduce African identity to something primitive and outdated. This relates to structural violence because Western media simplify measures that ignore actual cultures and political systems by portraying Africans as "tribal."