It wasn't Malaria that defended Africans against colonialism Portugal colonised Mombasa and the East African coast for 105 years in the 17th century; that was 37 years longer than the British lasted in 19th-20th cent. Kenya The disease barrier is a myth www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/guns-germs...

Can’t trust anyone who uses the Mercator projection to talk about geography

I published this late, so here's a quick summary⤵️ -Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel is not anti-racist; The chapter on "How Africa became Black" and the focus on South Africa, just 3 years after the end of apartheid, should have made this fact clear to any reader

This was a remarkable read. Pretty telling that Jared's book is popping up in bookstore in South Africa again. Read this rather.

This is an incredible read.

The dispersion of domesticated animals across Africa was relatively "rapid", at a rate of about 1.2-1.3km/yr www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/guns-germs...

The misleading but popular Mercator projection makes Africa appear smaller than it is. This is one of the reasons why the African Union is backing a campaign to adopt a world map that more accurately reflects the continent’s relative size. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/guns-germs...

Map of continental orientations according to Diamond. In reality, Africa is almost as wide as Eurasia. The red line from Dakar (Senegal) to Ras Hafun ( Somalia) is 7,458 km, which is about is about 94% the distance between Brussels and Beijing at 7,958. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/guns-germs...

Portuguese invasions of west-central Africa (in red) and counter-attacks by Kongo (blue) and Ndongo (green) www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/guns-germs...

Apparently, the Sudanese and Ethiopians (who are literary named after the Arabic and Greek terms for 'black' folks) are counted among the "whites."

The stone ruins of the HighVeld in South Africa www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/guns-germs...

The Portuguese (16th century) and Dutch (17th century) in south Africa www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/guns-germs...

cave painting from Cristol cave, south Africa, showing the types of cattle herded by the region’s pastoralists. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/guns-germs...

18th-century drawing of a village in the Khoe Kingdom of Gonaqua Jared Diamond’s image of a widely distributed prehistoric Khoe-san population is based on Greenberg’s (1954) now-discredited theory that the language family formed a single genealogical unit www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/guns-germs...

Jared Diamond’s map of Africa’s “races.” Diamond uncritically reproduces antiquated theories of colonial scientific racism, despite acknowledging the limitations of this highly unscientific division of Africa into arbitrary races. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/guns-germs...

In the case of the Xhosa, the historian Jeff Peires writes: “the limits of Xhosadom were not ethnic or geographic, but political” Its clans claimed both Bantu and Khoe-San origins, the latter of whom “became Xhosa with the full rights of any other Xhosa” www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/guns-germs...

Diamond reproduces theories of scientific racism in the section: ‘How Africa became Black’ Despite acknowledging the limitations of this highly unscientific division of Africa into races, Diamond insists that it “is still useful for understanding history” www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/guns-germs...

“Jared Diamond’s ideas about human society and human nature continue to be enormously influential. he was one of the first Western scholars to challenge earlier explanations that credited Europe’s colonial expansion to inherent racial superiority.” www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/guns-germs...

Guns, Germs, and Steel in Africa: Jared Diamond and the Limits of Geographic Determinism www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/guns-germs...

Tomorrow's Substack article explains what this book gets wrong about African history

Bournouaise (woman of Bornu) ca. 1844 #ethnographxt

Funeral procession in Sierra Leone, ca. 1880 #ethnographxt mourners wear white costumes; a colour associated with death and the land of the dead in most Atlantic African societies

'Sanusi People' Kano, Nigeria ca. 1950 #ethnographxt

Wow that’s gorgeous. Have a good day and thank you for your work - it’s always fascinating.

Have a Merry Christmas, everyone! Yoruba nativity scene, mid-20th century

Slavery in African History: New Perspectives on Its Dynamics, Legacy, and Historical Memory. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/slavery-in...

An essay of mine about Mahmood Mamdani's new book, Slow Poison. www.thenation.com/article/worl...

Silko inscription is online, incidentally

VERY important thread of cultural history that some of us were never taught but acquired later that's of immense value in getting perspective on the past.

"Christianity was present in Africa long before the imposition of colonial rule; however, it remained only one of several religious traditions, and despite centuries of sustained contact with Christian societies, its influence across the continent was relatively limited." @rhaplord.bsky.social

A truly intriguing read.

'The kiss of Judas' ivory pyx by Sapi artist, Sierra Leone, ca. 1490-1530. Madonna and Child, Yorubaland, Nigeria, mid-20th century. www.patreon.com/posts/146362...

-Tombs of the Christian kings of Kongo. Mbanza kongo, Angola. -Crucifix. Kongo Kingdom 16th–17th century. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/a-brief-hi...

The medieval church of Bangnarti, Sudan. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/a-brief-hi...

The church of Yemrehanna Krestos in Ethiopia. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/a-brief-hi...

The Garima Gospels, ca 330–650 and 530–660 CE. Tigray, Ethiopia. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/a-brief-hi...

Golden amulet of the goddess Isis suckling her son Horus 7th century BC, Meroe, Sudan. www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/a-brief-hi...

Festival of Dangbe at Ouidah, Benin. 19th-century www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/a-brief-hi...

“Christianity was present in Africa long before the imposition of colonial rule; however, it remained only one of several religious traditions, and despite centuries of sustained contact with Christian societies, its influence was relatively limited.” www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/a-brief-hi...

A brief history of Christianity in Africa's Religious Traditions www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/a-brief-hi...

Early Christianity in the religious history of West Africa (ca. 1500-1820) www.patreon.com/posts/146362...

Tomorrow's Patreon article is about 'indigenous' and 'foreign' belief systems

The King's Seat at Axum, Abyssinia (Aksum, Ethiopia) The old church at Axum ca. 1809 #archivesxt

Fomboni, Moheli. Comoros archipelago ca. 1869 #archivestx

'Costumes of West Africa - Foolahs' ca. 1820-1830 #ethnographxt

Freetown, Sierra Leone Auguste Francois Laby (1784-1860) #archivesxt

'History of Costumes' ca. 1905 First row: 1) Rich woman from Senegal (2) Fulbe man (3) Hausa nobleman (4) man from southern Morocco (5) Caravan leader from Senegal Second row: 1) Man from Kordofan (2) Man from Bornu (3) Tuareg man (4) Tibbu man (5) Tibbu men

I make maps without borders for this reason. They are temporary and blind the eye to geographic factors as separators of human groups.

One Portuguese chronicler who visited Suakin in 1541 compared it to Lisbon: “All the city is an island, and all the island is a city.” www.patreon.com/posts/histor...

African-Ottoman borderlands during the early modern period www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/african-ot...