by Nafeesah Allen June 7, 2020 This brief collection of speeches and essays by former President of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara (1949-1987), reflects his thoughts on female participation in politics and society. Before he was assassinated in Ouagadougou, his beliefs...
by Nafeesah Allen June 7, 2020 This book 2013 book was written by Dr. Jemima Pierre, who studies how "racecraft" came to exist and manifest itself in Ghana. Her work considers the ways in which race exists in a predominantly Black society. This includes stereotypes...
by Nafeesah Allen June 7, 2020 This book is a collection of diary entries from the personal journal of Deolinda Rodrigues (1939-1967) also known as "Langidila," an exile and freedom fighter from Angola. The pages here include her concerns about racism and colonialism,...
by Nafeesah Allen June 29, 2020 Chinua Achebe is known for fiction that is so realistic that it offers a prophetic glimpse into West African cultural expectations and descendant beliefs. Yet, this book is a collection of three essays that are revelatory about the...
Book review written by Marina Davis The purpose of this book is to document Islam in the African diaspora globally and the many ways Islam is expressed by African descendants. The name of the book comes from one of the first converts to Islam, Bilal ibn Rabah, an...
To speak of a “Born Free” in South Africa has a similar connotation as speaking about a “Millenial” in the U.S. It is part insult, part inspiration, and heavily laden with the burden of somehow being distinct from the generation that birthed it. The book begins with...
Richard van der Ross’ book is a veritable introductory course to the Coloured people of South Africa, who are both ethnically and politically distinct from other mixed-race groups found around the world. The text is meant to be a basic tutorial that explains the...
Book review by Marina Davis This chapter book is a brief biography of Kenyan environmental activist Dr. Wangari Maathai (1 April 1940 - 25 September 2011). The book’s level is recommended for ages 6-9 and includes colorful illustrations throughout. The book chronicles...
ENG: Heroines of Angola is a rare find among books about anti-colonial history on the continent of Africa. This author is a Cuban ex-military trainer who came into direct contact with the women featured through her 1966 training with their platoon, Camy Squadron. The...
Book review by Marina Davis This book is an edited volume of essays and studies on the subjects of “unfree” labor and abolition in the Indian Ocean World (IOW). The book starts with an introduction outlining the basic components of slavery in the IOW, how the enslaved...
Book review by Marina Davis Francis Abiola Irele (1936-2017) was a Nigerian-born, former Harvard professor. Irele was one of the world’s foremost authorities on African and Black Diasporic literature. He acknowledged that the depth and breadth of the subject of...
Review by Marina Davis/ Translation by Sandrine Jacquot This book looks at different aspects of pre-colonial African life divorced from the popular histories, namely of Egypt. The author chooses instead to focus mainly on west African experience. The book is not...
Book Review by Marina Davis This book is the memoir of Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee. Her experiences during the first and second Liberian Civil wars prompted her to lead a female-led nonviolent movement. The book is organized into three sections along the...
Book review by Marina Davis In what is now the west African country of Mali, a cultural and economic mecca was built at the crossroads of the African salt and gold trades. The city was named Timbuktu. For centuries, taxes on trade financed a thriving academic culture...
Stay Connected!
