APAFAM Unit 1 PDF

# APAFAM Unit 1 ## Topic 1.1 APAFAM - Focuses on the history of people of African descent, slavery, and how racism has influenced our social structures. - Organized protests by Black students and white students who took over Brookings. The school accepted the demands and made a Black studies progr...

# APAFAM Unit 1 ## Topic 1.1 APAFAM - Focuses on the history of people of African descent, slavery, and how racism has influenced our social structures. - Organized protests by Black students and white students who took over Brookings. The school accepted the demands and made a Black studies program because they advocated for their education. - African American studies reframes misconceptions about early Africa and people of African descent because it corrects stereotypes and highlights significant moments of African history. ## Topic 1.2 AFRICAN CONTINENT - The spread of people of African descent to different parts of the world, mainly from the transatlantic slave trade. - Different types of Africa's climate: - Tropical rainforest: hot and humid - Savannah: wet season and grasslands - Desert: very dry and hot - Mediterranean: mild, wet winters and hot summers ## Topic 1.3 POPULATION GROWTH, ETHNOLINGUISTIC DIVERSITY - The Bantu migration: - occurred because of climate change. - pushed out because of population pressure, and needing more land to raise livestock and grow crops. - caused blending of languages, leading to the "language shift". ## Topic 1.4 ANCIENT SOCIETIES - **Nubia (Kush)** - Appeared in 200 BC. - Very powerful. - Produced incense, ivory, and ebony while also growing many crops. - Mining gold and carnelian was also important. - **Aksum:** - In east Africa. - One of the 4 great empires. - Traded textiles, iron, steel, weapons, glassware, etc. - **Nok:** - One of the earliest societies in west Africa. - Traded iron, terracotta figures, crops and raw materials like clay. - **Africa's ancient societies:** - Significant because it shows how successful Africa was and how complex their societies were. - Shows how diverse their cultural and language were. ## Topic 1.5 - **Ghana:** - Rose because of their location, being the center of trade between the Sahara and West Africa - a prime location for trade routes. - Had strong leadership, military, and trade. - Declined because they heavily relied on gold, and the Bure (Guinea) took away their attention. Trade routes had also changed. - **Mali:** - Rose because their most profitable item to trade was gold, so there was high demand. - Declined because their resource of gold began to lower and it hurt their economy. - **Mali's wealth and power** - Grew because of the gold and salt trade routes. - Helped them build connections with other African societies and around the Mediterranean. - **Songhai:** - Rose because of reclaiming independence from the Sunni dynasty and having many powerful warriors and traders from the trans-Saharan trade. - Declined because of unstable rulers, tension caused by religion, and constant rivalries. ## Topic 1.6 - **Timbuktu:** - Center of learning. - Significant because it had many universities and libraries that attracted people from different places. - **The Epic of Sundiata:** - Important because it tells the story of how Sundiata Keita created the Mali empire. - **Oral tradition:** - Narrated great leaders' life events and recorded them. - Passed down from generations and told to children about their ancestors. - Male griots often perform in public, telling stories of history and playing instruments. - Female griots usually sing and storytell at private events (weddings, parties). ## Topic 1.7 INDIGENOUS COSMOLOGIES & RELIGIOUS SYNCRETISM - **Religious syncretism:** - When 2 separate religions are blended together, like their practices and culture. - **One example:** Voodo from West Africa, brought to the Americas when they were enslaved. Christianity was brought by Portuguese sailors to Kongo. ## Topic 1.8 CULTURE & TRADE IN SOUTHERN & EAST AFRICA - **Stone architecture of Great Zimbabwe:** - Used for military defense and a hub for long distance trade. - Represented prominence, autonomy, and agricultural advancements. - **City-states of the Swahili Coast:** - Rose because it stretches from Somali to Mozambique and the location was linked to Arab, Persian, Indian, and Chinese trading communities. - Their strength caught the attention of the Portuguese who invaded major city-states and established settlements. ## Topic 1.9 WEST CENTRAL AFRICA & KONGO - **Kingdom of Kongo:** - Conversion to Christianity strengthened its trade relationship with Portugal, increasing Kongo's wealth. - A form of African Catholicism emerged (merging elements of Christianity and local cultural traditions). - In the beginning, their relationship was positive focusing on trade. - Later on, Portugal started to demand more slaves, and Kongo faced pressure leading to a weakened political structure. ## Topic 1.10 KINSHIP & POLITICAL LEADERSHIP - **Queen Idia of Benin:** - Political advisor to her son, the king. - Iconic symbol of black women leadership. - An ivory mask of her face was the symbol for FESTAC. - **Queen Njinga of Ndongo-Matamba:** - Symbol of resistance. - Her example led to nearly 100 years of women rulers in Matamba. ## Topic 1.11: GLOBAL AFRICANS - African elites went to Mediterranean port cities for education or religious reasons. - The Portuguese colonized Atlantic islands of Cabo Verde and São Tomé where they had cotton, indigo, and sugar plantations.