African History: Invasion 1897

My blog post, a review of the film Invasion 1897, was published on Africa on the Blog some time ago.  Click here to read it.   

You have probably heard of the Benin bronzes - artefacts which were stolen from Africa and added to collections around the world.  Some of the Benin bronzes are on display in the British Museum.   

The Benin bronzes contain the record of a people and its history and culture.  

Invasion 1897 portrays the invasion and colonisation of Benin in West Africa in 1897.  Benin was known for being a very advanced civilisation with its own unique culture.  It is now part of Nigeria.  

Click here to read my blog post.  Please leave a comment on my blog, and please share this with your networks.  Thanks.  

For more about the devastating long-term effects of European colonisation on African countries, see: Black People in the First World War.

Goodluck Jonathan Wins Nigerian Election

Goodluck Jonathan has won the Nigerian election. Click here to read more.

See also: Naij: A Film History of Nigeria

See also: Africa and Africans on Film.

Why Do We Never Talk about This?

People from Africa often talk about the corruption in their countries, the corrupt governments. But they rarely mention the fact that it was European intervention that allowed corrupt governments to rise and flourish.

People from the Diaspora talk about slavery and the effects of Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome. But we are often unaware of what happened in Africa.

How many people know that the first German death camp was built in Namibia in 1905?

Or that the British in Kenya slaughtered thousands of people, stole their land, and relegated the remaining Kenyans to menial jobs? Or that Teddy Roosevelt said that the same people who did well in the old West would do well in Kenya?

How many people know that people in Nigeria were enslaved and forced to work for the British armed forces during the Second World War?

To read more, see Naij: A Film History of Nigeria