It was a pleasure to learn about Nigeria’s first Bobsleigh team, and 2018 winter Olympics hopefuls. Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere, Akuoma Omeoga hope to qualify for the Winter Olympics, and be not only Nigeria’s first winter olympians, but also Africa’s first Bobsleigh representative. True these former track & field athletes are all based in the US, and grew up there, but we applaud their dedication, and perseverance, and wish them the very best as they start on this ‘never before done’ journey. Thumbs up to them!
Everybody on the blog loved this video of Timbuktu about its great university, one of the world’s oldest universities. I loved these centuries’ old manuscripts on medicine, art, literature, astronomy, and other subjects. The idea that my ancestors knew all these things, and that even today people are still trying to decipher these, make me so proud. The great historian Ibn Battuta talked about Timbuktu’s great universities, scientists, and scribes, and the beauty and wealth of the place when he visited in the 1300s. Enjoy the video below.
A long long time ago, yes it was at the beginning of the world, there were three friends: the vulture, the hornbill, and the hen who became sick. The first one was suffering from baldness, the second from an anomaly on the beak, and the third from cramps on its legs. To make themselves heard, they started singing.
Hornbill feeding another
“Adaunia Nomba Dauni Nomba yôyé Dauni Nomba Inden sanga nomba kôyé Life here what life here ! Life is in auction !”
God did not answer, so they decided to go see Him directly so that He would heal them. The hen challenged:
Hen
– My friends let’s not go beyond protocol, God will not delay. By acting as you intend to, we will make Him angry. Why the hurry?
The vulture and the hornbill did not listen to the hen and went up the sky flying as hard as possible. As they rose higher and higher, God arrived and healed the hen. Since then, the vulture has remained bald, and the hornbill has a crooked beak. To this day, they keep hovering in the air in search of God.
The French original can be found on Ouologuem Blog. Translated to English by Dr. Y., Afrolegends.com
Happy international Women’s Day. I am so proud to celebrate the achievements and milestones of women. I decided to reblog Dr. Maya Angelou’s poem: ‘Phenomenal Woman’.
In celebration of the Women International Day on March 8th, I decided to post this poem by the great African American poet, Maya Angelou. It is dedicated to all the women of the world, the gorgeous, natural, and phenomenal women who make up our lives. Enjoy Phenomenal Woman.
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size But when I start to tell them, They think I’m telling lies. I say, It’s in the reach of my arms The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me.
I walk into a room Just as cool as you please, And to a man, The fellows stand or Fall down on their knees. Then they swarm around me, A hive of honey bees. I…
Yesterday, just as I published my article “Why the name: Zanzibar?” the BBC published a photo-journal on “ Saving Zanzibar’s Heritage.” This made for a happy surprise, and showed the effort taken by locals to save and restore Stone Town (Mji Mkongwe in Swahili)’s architecture. So please check out the article on BBC HERE. Enjoy!
Sultan Palace in Old Stone Town in Zanzibar (1871 – 1875)
The name Zanzibarcomes from the ArabicZanjibār(زنجبار), which in turn comes from the PersianZang-bār (زنگبار), a compound of Zang (زنگ, “Black“) + bār(بار, “coast, land, country“), name given by Persian navigators when they visited the area in the middle ages. So, in essence, Zanzibarmeans the “land of the Blacks” or “the land of the Blackpeople,” or “the coast where Black people live.”
Cloves
Traders from the Arabian Peninsula, the Persian Gulf region of modern-day Iran (especially Shiraz), and west India probably visited Zanzibar as early as the 1st century. Zanzibar was used as a base for voyages between the Middle East, India, and Africa. In the olden days, the archipelago was known as Spice islands, and was world famous for its cloves (see the article I wrote So much for that clove in your food!) and other spices.
Malindi in Zanzibar City was the Swahili Coast’s main port for the slave trade with the Middle East. In the mid-19th century, as many as 50,000 slaves passed annually through the port. Many became rich through the slave trade, such as the notorious Arab slave trader and ivory merchant, Tippu Tib. Today, there are still vestiges of old slave forts in Stone Town.
Until around 1890, the sultans of Zanzibar controlled a substantial portion of the Swahili Coast, known as Zanj, which included Mombasa and Dar es Salaam. Beginning in 1886, Great Britain and Germany plotted to obtain parts of the Zanzibar sultanate for their own empires. Over the next few years, however, almost all of these mainland possessions were lost to European imperial powers.
Sultan Sayyid Abd Allah ibn Khalifa
In 1890 Zanzibar became a protectorate (not a colony) of Britain. This status meant it continued to be under the sovereignty of the Sultan of Zanzibar. From 1890 to 1913, traditional viziers were in charge; they were supervised by advisors appointed by the Colonial Office. However, in 1913 a switch was made to a system of direct rule through British governors. The death of the pro-British SultanHamad bin Thuwaini on 25 August 1896 and the succession of Sultan Khalid bin Barghash, whom the British did not approve of, led to the Anglo-Zanzibar War, known as the shortest war in history lasting 38 minutes.
The Harem and tower harbor of Zanzibar ca 1890
On 10 December 1963, the Protectorate that had existed over Zanzibar since 1890 was terminated by the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom did not grant Zanzibar independence, as such, because the UK had never had sovereignty over Zanzibar. Rather, by the Zanzibar Act 1963 of the United Kingdom, the UK ended the Protectorate and made provision for full self-government in Zanzibar as an independent country within the Commonwealth. Upon the Protectorate being abolished, Zanzibar became a constitutional monarchy under the Sultan. However, just a month later, on 12 January 1964 Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah was deposed during the Zanzibar Revolution. The Sultan fled into exile, and the Sultanate was replaced by the People’s Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba. In April 1964, the republic merged with mainland Tanganyika. This United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar was soon renamed, blending the two names, as the United Republic of Tanzania, within which Zanzibar remains a semi-autonomous region.
Beach of Zanzibar (Zanzibar.net)
Today, Zanzibar is world-renowned for its great tourism, with Stone town showing remnants of the ancient Swahili kingdom, and the melting pot of cultures (Persian, Arabic, Bantus, European), and its cloves. Enjoy the video below, and whenever you visit Zanzibar, remember that it is the Land of the Black people!