Author: Dr. Y.

I am an African in love with the history of the world, and particularly that of Africa. I am a child of love, an artist, a scientist, a lover, a friend, a human. I am in love with nature and beautiful things, art, history, geography, travel, dance, food, science, and technology, and much more.

Great Zimbabwe, a civilization of stone

On By Dr. Y.In Great CivilizationsLeave a comment
A Conical tower
A Conical tower

Have you ever felt tired of people telling you that there was no great Black civilization? that there was nothing in “sub-saharan” Africa? Well,… I have heard of a great African kingdom in the southernmost part of Africa: Great Zimbabwe which stands for “great house of stone” in the Shona language! Houses upon houses made of stone, and today some of them still stand tall in Zimbabwe. When a German geologist ‘stumbled’ (you know what I mean… like christopher Columbus discovered America at a time when it was already full of people) upon it, he was convinced that it could not be the work of Africans! Well, then… let me present to you Great Zimbabwe, a kingdom located between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers! It is a civilization which flourished from the 11-15th centuries. Just like the Maya, Aztec, incas, we also have our own!

UNESCO made it a world site heritage in 1986. (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/364/)

Check out http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/zimb/hd_zimb.htm

Great Zimbabwe ruins
Great Zimbabwe ruins

There are great documentaries about Great Zimbabwe, but I decided to choose a short doc made by school children (please don’t be distracted by the masks shown in these video which are not from southern Africa but from West and Central Africa), since all the others mostly focused on the European researchers rather than Great Zimbabwe itself. If you are curious, feel free to go check all the other documentaries on youtube or dailymotion (such as Zimbabwe’s Ancient Ruins Part 1-3, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kdhyj2kc6c).

Thomas Sankara, The African Che

On By Dr. Y.In Great People33 Comments
Captain Thomas Sankara
Captain Thomas Sankara

Thomas Isidore Sankara was a great visionary African leader, the kind which comes around once every 50 years or century. He had an unlimited and undying love for his country, his fellow countrymen, and his continent. He had a vision for a true independent African country, and continent. He strongly believed in justice, and worked extremely hard. He was a man of great integrity and discipline. At a time when women were relegated to the kitchen, Thomas spoke out loudly for women’s rights, and admitted women in the military, and in key positions within his government (the minister of Budget was a woman). What kind of man names his country “the land of upright people” (le pays des hommes integres)? What kind of man, by his passion and vision, reorganizes an entire country in just 4 years! no wait… actually just 3 (since the last year, Sankara’s government was crippled by internal division with Compaore’s factions). Well… let me tell you who that is: the great, and only, splendid Thomas Sankara, who made me proud of being an African child, who made me raise my chin up and walk upright!

Thomas Sankara in Ouagadougou
Thomas Sankara in Ouagadougou

At the time Sankara was assassinated, he was only 38 years old, a year younger than Ernesto Che Guevara… but just like Che, he left an indelible mark in the history of the world! Please join me in celebrating Captain Thomas Sankara!

(If you would like to learn more about him, please check out the website: – http://www.thomassankara.net/?lang=fr which does a good job of keeping Thomas Sankara’s memory alive and  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sankara which I contributed to).

Click on the link below and watch the video!

Thomas Sankara, le Che Africain

 

Hello World!

On By Dr. Y.In Uncategorized4 Comments

Dear All,

This is going to be a blog about African legends, African problems, African diaspora, African history, and history of other countries and continents. For this blog, I will mostly use pictures, videos-documentaries, and audios. I have created this blog because I am curious, I love history, and particularly history of the African continent. I have found that many of my African friends, young or old, are like me and are not well-acquainted with their history… since most of it is not written. I have learned a lot these days, and would like to share with others what I have found.

I do not claim to know the absolute truth or that these videos say the absolute truth, but I would like you to think… and ask yourselves questions, and be curious… History is history, sometimes good and great, and other times ugly and bitter… You cannot erase the bad, you can only learn from it. History is like a compass: it gives a sense of direction to future generations. Like the journalist Alain Foka from RFI always says: “A people without history is a world without soul! (Un peuple sans histoire est un monde sans ame!)” Some of these videos will be in French, others in English, Spanish, and even Portuguese. As you know, French, English, Spanish, and Portuguese are official languages in many countries of Africa.

I would like to inform those who don’t know, and would like to be informed as well. Feel free to comment if you find good information that could be shared with others. I will try to post as many as I can find… and would create interesting topics that could be discussed.