World War One: The Crucial Battle for Togo

Map of colonised Africa 1914

I watched this very interesting short film on the BBC today. 

The wireless station at Kamina in Togo, West Africa, was a crucial centre for German communications.  Built by a huge workforce of African men and women during the German occupation, the station allowed the German colonisers to communicate with their home country and with Asia.

This is just one of many examples of how African labour, land and resources were exploited by European colonisers during the war. 

See also:  Black People in the First World War. 

Black Victims of the Germans and the Nazis from 1904 Onwards

I attended another excellent Black history presentation with Tony Warner at the Imperial War Museum yesterday.

Black Victims of the Nazis traced the history of the atrocities committed by the German military and settlers in Namibia from 1904 onwards. 

One important point which Brother Tony emphasised is that the atrocities committed by the Germans against African people set the stage for the Holocaust and significantly influenced postwar events.

In order for us to heal ourselves, our families, our communities and our world, we need to know our history. See also: The Importance of History. 

For future events with Tony Warner, see London Black History Walks. 

See also: Small Island. 

In my book Black Success Stories Volume 1, I interviewed Len Garrison, founder of the Black Cultural Archives in South London. He describes how, when Black people in the 1970s started offering to donate their artefacts to museums, they were told "We are not collecting this type of material". So, off his own bat and without any funding or training in this area, he set up the Black Cultural Archives. 

Click here for more information and to buy Black Success Stories. 

For more books about Black history and Black achievers, go to African American Holiday Shopping.