Il faut souffrir pour être belle (proverbe Comorien – Comores).
Nyanga no di hurt (Cameroonian say in pidgin).
You must suffer to be beautiful (Comorian proverb – Comoros).
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.
African Joke: Copied to Perfection
The professor collects the students’ homework:
Toto says to his friend John:
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- Thank you John, one more homework not done, and the professor was going to call my parents!
- Yup. I don’t really like this. I hope you did not copy word-for-word?
- You can be certain that I copied everything to perfection! and when I say everything, I mean everything!
The professor returns the homework, looks, and all of a sudden says:
- Toto, how come I do not have your homework? and how come I have two copies from John?
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Ethiopians urge Britain to return bones of ‘stolen’ prince after 150 years
Here is another outrageous article about British looting in Africa, and particularly in Ethiopia. The remains of Prince Alemayehu, son of the Emperor Tewodros II are still in Great Britain 150 years after his death. How preposterous is this! When the Ethiopian government asks, the British say that they cannot identify his bones, when in this day and age the remains of King Richard III of England have been identified 500 years after his death (Body found under parking lot is King Richard III, scientists prove). This makes you wonder: After King Mkwawa, and Prince Alemayehu, how many African kings, princes, and queens’ remains are still stuck in Europe?
Below are snippets of the article; for the full version, go to: The Guardian.
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For 150 years, Ethiopians have been asking when Prince Alemayehu will come home. The orphan prince, a descendant of Solomon, was taken to England – some say “stolen” – after British soldiers looted his father’s imperial citadel following the Battle of Magdala in 1868. The fortress was looted and razed to the ground. It is said to have taken 15 elephants and 200 mules to remove the loot.
He died at the age of 18, after an unhappy childhood, and was buried at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle at the request of Queen Victoria. Now, as discussions take place with the Victoria & Albert Museum about the return of royal treasures taken by British forces during the battle, the Ethiopian government told the Observer it is “redoubling” its efforts to finally bring back the prince’s remains. Last week there were celebrations in Addis Ababa to commemorate the life of the prince’s father, Tewodros II, on the 150th anniversary of his death in the battle. A selection of the objects in the V&A’s possession went on display last week.
[The poet Lemn Sissay said:] “The first corrupt theft of an Ethiopian child was this one in 1868,” Sissay said. “He was taken from his family. He deserves, too, for his remains to go back to Ethiopia, back to where he was stolen from.”
In the aftermath, as the British forces carried off crowns, scrolls and fine clothing, a war artist cut a lock of Tewodros’ hair. The lock of hair is now at the National Army Museum in London. Sissay and others believe that a DNA test could establish whether any of the remains in the grave match it. …
After the sacking of Maqdala, a British officer named Tristram Speedy took the prince and his mother, the Empress Tiruwork Wube, to Britain. The empress died on the way and before the party was due to embark on a ship from Alexandria in Egypt, the officer ordered all the other Ethiopians to return. …
The intensity of feeling among Ethiopians is growing, according to the Ethiopian embassy. “Ethiopians revere Prince Alemayehu as a young prisoner of war – he was only seven years old when taken hostage,” it said in a statement. “Prince Alemayehu remains the son of a hero, who chose to end his own life, rather than surrender to foreign soldiers. Ethiopians view the Prince with the same level of affection and respect.”
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Proverbe Angolais sur la tâche journalière / Angolan Proverb on the Daily Task
Il n’y a pas qu’un jour, demain aussi le soleil brillera (Proverbe Andonga – Angola). – Ne pas vouloir faire tout en un jour.
There is not only one day, tomorrow too the sun will shine (Andonga proverb – Angola). Do not try to do everything in one day.
Não há apenas um dèia, amanhã também o sol vai brilhar (provérbio Andonga – Angola). Não quero fazer tudo em um dia.
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Why the Name: Huambo?
As you travel around Africa, have you ever wondered about the name of the second largest city of Angola, Huambo ?
Previously called Nova Lisboa (New Lisbon) after the capital of Portugal, Huambo got its name from Wambu, one of the 14 old Ovimbundu kingdoms of the central Angolan plateau. The Ovimbundu, an old tribe of Angola, which originally arrived from Eastern Africa, had founded their central kingdom of Bailundu as early as the 15th century. Wambu was one of the smaller kingdoms and was hierarchically under the King of Bailundu, though it enjoyed, as the other kingdoms, a considerable degree of independence.
Situated in the Angolan central highlands, Huambo is located near the headwaters of the Kunene River. It was founded in 1912 by Portuguese colons and was called Nova Lisboa until 1975, when it resumed its name of Huambo. It is located 600 km southeast of the capital Luanda, and 220 km east of Benguela; it is at high altitude, on a plateau 1800 m above sea level. Huambo is a main hub on the Caminho de Ferro de Benguela (CFB) (the Benguela Railway), which runs from the port of Lobito in Angola, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo‘s southernmost province, Katanga. It is the second industrial city of the country, and a big agricultural center.
If you ever visit Huambo, as you tour its neighborhoods, and get on the Caminho de Ferro de Benguela, remember that it was once an old Ovimbundu kingdom, Wambu, and reconnect with the feel of this ancient kingdom!
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Great Quote on Shaka Zulu by Miriam Makeba
“The British often talk of Shaka Zulu as the ‘Black Napoleon’, but I think that Napoleon was a white Shaka!” Miriam Makeba
“Les Britanniques parlent souvent de [Chaka Zoulou] comme du ‘Napoléon noir’, mais je dis que Napoléon était un Chaka blanc.” Miriam Makeba
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Denmark and Slavery: Danish Forts and Possessions on the Gold Coast
If you are like me, you probably did not know that Denmark (and Norway) was involved in slavery in Africa, and that Denmark had several colonies, and forts in Africa, and exported slaves to its colonies in the Americas. Just last week, Denmark erected its first public statue of a Black woman, a rebel Queen, in Copenhagen; this was the statue of Queen Mary, a Black slave who led the slave uprising in the Virgin islands. The sculpture was inspired by Mary Thomas, known as one of “the three queens.” Thomas , along with two other female leaders Agnes and Matilda, unleashed an uprising in 1878 called the “Fireburn.” Fifty plantations and most of the town of Frederiksted in St. Croix were burned, in what has been called the largest labor revolt in Danish colonial history.
Denmark was one of the Signatory Powers to the Berlin Act of 26th February, 1885 (No. 17), as well as to the Brussels Act of 2nd July, 1890 (No. 18); she has also entered into Treaty Arrangements with the Congo Free State (No. 45).
By a Convention dated 17th August, 1850, ‘the Danish forts and Possessions on the Gold Coast were ceded to Her Britannic Majesty for the sum of £10,000.
The following are extracts from that Convention:—
Preamble.
“ HIS Majesty the King of Denmark having offered to cede to Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland all the forts and Possessions belonging to the Crown of Denmark, situated on that part of the coast of Africa which is called the Gold Coast, or the Coast of Guinea, and Her Britannic Majesty having resolved to accept that offer, their said Majesties have named as their Plenipotentiaries to conclude a Convention for carrying such cession into effect, that is to say :”
[Here follow the names of the Plenipotentiaries.]
Cession of Danish Forts and Territorial Rights on the Gold Coast, or Coast of Guinea.
“ART. I. In consideration of the sum of £10,000 sterling, to be paid by Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to His Majesty the King of Denmark, on the exchange of the Ratifications of the present Convention,+‘
His Danish Majesty cedes to Her Britannic Majesty, to be possessed by Her Britannic Majesty, her heirs and successors, in full property and Sovereignty, all the forts belonging to the Crown of Denmark, which are situated on that part of the Coast of Africa called the Gold Coast or the Coast of Guinea, and which comprise Fort Christiansborg,1 Fort Augustaborg,2 Fort Fredensborg,3 Fort Kongensteen,4 and Fort Prindsensteen,5 with their appurtenances and all the guns and stores contained therein, together with all other Possessions, property, and territorial rights whatever belonging to His Danish Majesty on the said coast.” The exact extent of the Possessions thus ceded was not at that time clearly defined; but, on the 9th May, l887, the Kings and Chiefs of the country of Aquamoo signed a Declaration acknowledging that they and their country formed part of the Protectorate of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland on the Gold Coast, and that they were subject to the jurisdiction and authority of Her Majesty, and declaring that they had that belief inasmuch as their country of old enjoyed similar protection from His Majesty the King of Denmark, who, they said, they understood had ceded his right and title to their country to the British Crown in 1850.
On the 1st July, 1890, an Agreement was entered into between Great Britain and Germany, for defining their respective spheres of influence on the Gold Coast and in other parts of Africa (No. 129); and on the 14th April, l893, a further agreement was entered into between the two countries for defining the limits of their respective spheres from the Gulf of Guinea into the Interior (No. 131).
1 Fort Christiansborg (Accra).
2 Fort Augustaborg (Adda).
3 Fort Fredensborg (Fingo).
5 Fort Prindsensteen (Quetta).
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Looted Ethiopian Treasures in UK could be returned on Loan
I was stunned by the title of this article on the Guardian, and the preposterous thought that a country whose treasure it is, Ethiopia, would have to be loaned its own treasures which were looted by the British and taken to Great Britain. It is just so outrageous that such a thought could even be uttered! Below are snippets of the article. For the full article, go to The Guardian.
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” Victoria and Albert Museum director says artefacts could be sent to Africa on long-term loan.
Treasures including a gold crown and a royal wedding dress, which were taken from Ethiopia by the British 150 years ago, could be returned to Africa by the Victoria and Albert Museum on long-term loan.
Ethiopia lodged a formal restitution claim in 2007 for hundreds of important and beautiful manuscripts and artefacts being held by various British institutions, all plundered after the 1868 capture of Maqdala, the mountain capital of Emperor Tewodros II in what was then Abyssinia.
That request has been refused. But in the run-up to a Maqdala display opening this week at the V&A, a compromise has been offered by the museum’s director, Tristram Hunt, who said: “The speediest way, if Ethiopia wanted to have these items on display, is a long-term loan … that would be the easiest way to manage it.”…
The British Museum has about 80 objects from Maqdala, including a number of tabots – believed by Ethiopian Christians to be the dwelling place of God on earth, a symbol of the Ark of the Covenant.
They have never been on public display because of their religious importance and can only be seen, even by a curator, with the agreement of the Ethiopian Orthodox church.
Other objects are on display but the British Museum argues the value of them being seen by the public is in a global context. A spokeswoman said the museum would consider any loan request from Ethiopia.
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French Colonies in Africa: Dahomey under French Protectorate
Below is the notification by Alfred-Amédée Dodds from the French Republic stating that the Kingdom of Dahomey is now under the Protectorate of the French Republic, with the exception of Whydah and certain other territories, which were declared by a French Notification issued on the 3rd December, 1892, to be annexed to France.
The following is a Translation of that Notification :—
(Translation)
“In the name of the French Republic:
“We, Brigadier-General, Commander-in-Chief of the French Settlements of Benin, Knight Commander of the Legion of Honour.
“In virtue of the powers conferred upon us,
“We declare :
“That King Béhanzin Ahy-Djere has been deposed from the throne of Dahomey, and has been banished for ever from this country.
“That the Kingdom of Dahomey is, and remains, placed under the exclusive Protectorate of France, with the exception of the Territories of Whydah, Savi, Avlékété, Godomey, and Abomey-Kalavy, which constituted the ancient Kingdoms of Ajuda and Jacquin, which are annexed to the Possessions of the French Republic. The limits of the annexed Territories are: to the west, the River Aheme; to the north and to the east, the River Savi and the north-east frontiers of the Territory of Abomey-Kalavy; to the south, the Atlantic Ocean.”
Done at Porto-Novo, 3rd December, 1892.
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Role of Timbuktu as the Market of Gold
Here are the words of the Scottish explorer Mungo Park in 1795 about the great city of Timbuktu, and its central place in the gold trade in Africa, and the world at the time.
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“Timbuktu is regarded as the gold warehouse of the Manding. It is where the merchants of Tunis, Tripoli, Fez, Morocco, come to take it [gold] to distribute it in the whole North of Africa. The biggest part of this gold then moves on the Europe. One can observe that the Gold Coast of Guinea, which is thus called only because the trade of the gold dust is done there, is located towards the Manding: but I don’t know if the gold found there was brought from the mountains, through the rivers of the north or those of the south. Maybe through all ; because part of the gold of the Wangara is being sold on the south coast.”
Mungo Park, Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa: Performed Under the Direction and Patronage of the African Association, in the Years 1795, 1796, and 1797. Vol. 2, P. 338, Paris, 1800.
African Heritage 