User:4shizzal

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This user is a member of
WikiProject Africa.


This user is interested in the History of Africa.
This user's ethnicity is
African American.
This user is descended from an African slave †



Hey this is 4shizzal, some of y'all know me as Scott Free. Happy lovely (always wanted to say that). I specialize in (obsessed with) African history. If you're researching anything on pre-colonial Africa on here, i've probably contributed to it. My biggest interest is the Mali Empire. I think it is one of the most overlooked empires in history and of great importance. I've also done a fair amount of net research on the dynamics of the Atlantic Slave Trade. I've produced a lot of statistics (who was selling, who was buying and how many were dying). Holla at ya boi if you have any useful info or just for questions. One luv to everyone at WIKI keepin the info FREE.

--Scott Free 16:36, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

I am mainly devoted to compiling info on the Mandé civilization. I am a Black American with hereditary ties to these great people, which has boosted my zeal for researching them. Last year I discovered via African Ancestry DNA testing that my maternal heritage stretches back to the Mendé (a branch of the Mandé of Sierra Leone). It was amazing to find that I came from the same people I had been researching for the past five years! Also, my paternal heritage is shared with the Igbo people of Nigeria (don't know which dialect, but probably northern or central) and also the Mbundu of Angola. I've been told the Mbundu match is likely just due to sharing fragments of DNA contributed to those populations during the Bantu Migration. In all likelyhood, my ancestors were taken directly from northern and central Igboland to Louisiana via French slave vessels.

Contents

[edit] What I'm Working on Right NOW

Well that's enough about me. Below are the topics I am currently contributing to. My aim is to provide Wikipedia with substantial info on all the significant pre-colonial states of Africa, especially those which affected or were affected by the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. I feel it is not enough for Black Americans to look at Africa as one giant hodgepodge of civilizations but to know the details of its past as intricately as one knows Europe or Asia.

[edit] Recently Completed

[edit] Sources

Hi and thnx for hittin me up. Here are some of my favorite sources. I'm a stickler for reliable data. There is not enough research on African historical subjects, and this tends to force good intentioned folks to use lackluster sources. I am firmly committed in correcting the lies Eurocentrists have propigated about Africa, but doing so requires using UNIMPEACHABLE SOURCES. I have several qualifications for sources I am willing to use..

  • The source in question should be from at least 1970. Some exceptions may be made for more reliable authors, but nothing before 1960. I really prefer setting the line at 1990 and above, but the subjects in question are often obscure. I often need all the help I can get.
  • Sources must be published in a book or from a website that also publishes in books under reputable publishers. If I find a website is backed by a book publisher who releases material seriously lacking logic (like... All Greek historians were Black African or Egypt was a Middle Eastern civilization) I cannot use them.
  • Sources must come from scholastic publications. I prefer them in this order: Private Universities (Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Princeton, etc), State Universities (British, American, African, etc), Scholastic Journals (Journal of Africna History, etc) and Well-known publications (Longman, Walter de Gruyter, Continuum International, Penguin, etc)

[edit] Library

Here is a list of my private library on African and African-American history. It's forever increasing. I put this list here for folks looking for good data on hard to find subjects.

[edit] Bibliography

  • 1. "Africa: a short history" by Robert O. Collins (Markus Wiener Publishers, 2006)
  • 2. "Introduction To African Civilizations" by John G. Jackson (Citadel, 2001)
  • 3. "Peoples and Empires of West Africa: West Africa in History 1000-1800" by G.T. Stride & C. Ifeka (Nelson, 1986)
  • 4. "Slavery and African Ethnicities in the Americas: Restoring the Links" by Gwendolyn Midlo Hall (University of North Carolina Press, 2005)
  • 5. "Exchanging Our Country Marks" by Michael A. Gomez (University of North Carolina Press, 1998)
  • 6. "Africa and Africans in the Formation of the Atlantic World, 1400-1680" by John K. Thornton (Cambridge University Press, 1998)
  • 7. "Warfare in Atlantic Africa, 1500-1800" by John K. Thornton (Taylor and Francis, 2005)
  • 8. "African Arms and Armour" by Christopher Spring (British Museum Press, 1993)
  • 9. "Warfare and Diplomacy in Pre-colonial West Africa" by Robert S. Smith (University of Wisconsin Press, 1989)
  • 10. "AFRICAN KNIGHTS: The Armies of Sokoto, Bornu and Bagirmi in the 19th Century" by Conrad Cairns (Foundry, 2006)
  • 11. "SUNDIATA: An Epic of Old Mali" by D.T Niane (Longman, 1995)
  • 12. "Amazons of Black Sparta: The Women Warriors of Dahomey" by Stanley B. Alpern (Hurst & Co Ltd, 2001)
  • 13. "Fall of the Asante Empire: The Hundred Year War for Africa's Gold Coast" by Robert. B. Edgerton (Free Press, 1995)
  • 14. "The Kongolese Saint Anthony: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706" by John K. Thornton (Cambridge University Press, 1998)
  • 15. "Blacks in Antiquity" by Frank M. Snowden (Belknap Press, 1971)
  • 16. "Medieval Africa, 1250-1800" by Roland Oliver (Cambridge University Press, 2001)
  • 17. "Black Africans in Renaissance Europe" by T. F. Earle and K. J. P. Lowe (University of Oxford, 2005)
  • 18. "Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles, and the Foundaton of the Americas, 1585-1660" by Linda M. Heywood and John K. Thornton (Cambridge University Press, 2007)

[edit] What I Got 4 Christmas

  • 19. "Forged In Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers" by Joseph T. Glatthaar (Free Press, 1990)
  • 20. "Africa In History: Themes and Outlines, Revised and Expanded Edition" by Basil Davidson (Phoenix Press, 2003)
  • 21. "Great Zulu Batles 1838-1906" by Ian Knight (Castle Books Press, 2003)
  • 22. "History of Slavery" by Susanne Everett (Chartwell Books, Inc., 2006)
  • 23. "Equiano, the African: Biography of a Self-Made Man" by Vincent Carretta (Penguin Booka, 2005)
  • 24. "Monsieur De Saint-George; Virtuoso, Swordsman, Revolutionary: A Legendary Life Rediscovered" by Alain Guede (Picador, 2003)




[edit] Africa At A Glance

I've decided to use my page as a crash course in African history for anyone that's interested. The biggest problem with African history is that most Africans don't have written language of their own. That doesn't mean they're stupid, however; it simply means they are very different from the rest of the world. From what I've garnered, literature wasn't really necessary for them so it was never invested in. Another startling difference between Africa and Eurasia is the value of land (or lack thereof). Africa is huge so land has little value. Things grow well so agricultural advancements weren't sought (like the plough for instance). Populations are dispersed into clumps around valuable tracts of land creating densly populated cities with complex systems of government tending toward strikingly republican types of rule. Very few absolute monarchs or leaders prior to Cold War. Slavery was big business since labor was more scarce than land. Chattel slavery was pretty much unheard of, but certain civilizations could be quite brutal. Africa was more or less a decent place to live prior to the 16th and 17th century. This was changed by the destruction of the big African Empires and the arrival of Europeans with their insatiable appetite for cheap labor. Both of these instances led to political instability that has never been fully resolved. The troubles of Africa continued as more African leaders fed into this irresistable chance at power and wealth. Between 1502 and 1853, some 20 million Africans died as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. By 1900, Europeans had the knowledge and firepower to conquer most of Africa. World War II pretty much killed Europe's hold on Africa and by 1975 about every colony was independent. Africa reemerged under a series of dictators and idealist who squandered their resources, slaughtered thousands and repressed the population. Africa's still going through its growing pains, and HIV/AIDs isn't making it any easier (thanks a lot Belgium). That's Africa in a nutshell. Below is a timeline of Africa based off of the wiki article on African History. I took the liberty of adding some dates to paint a clearer picture.

  • Stone Age Africa 150,000 years ago (Modern Humans Arrive) - 600 B.C. (Nubia begins spreading Iron technology)
  • Iron Age Africa 600 B.C. (Nubia begins spreading Iron technology) - 1600 (End of the great empires)
  • Transition Age Africa 1600 (End of the great empires) - NOW.

[edit] African Monuments

Here are some African structures/monuments of note. People always talk of going to Europe or Asia to see historical sites while Africa is largely slept on. Well, you don't know what you don't know. Take a look and hit me up if you have any other suggestions. I'm always adding stuff.

[edit] Great Africans in History

Here's a list of some very interesting men and women in African history. I count many of them in my list of heroes.

[edit] Men

[edit] Women

[edit] African Military History

Below is an index of battles waged by African states. This list will grow as I get more organized and familiar with Wiki's current articles. I'm very interested in expanding info on lesser known wars such as the conflicts involving the Kingdom of Kongo and those of the Ethiopian Empire

[edit] African Wars

[edit] African Battles

[edit] African States

My expertise is in West and West African pre-colonial states, however; I'm expanding this user page to outline all the ones I can find now that I got a good timeline to organize them by instead of just geographic features. This is a work in progress so bear with me. A portion of these states (about 31 now) can be found on the African Empires page complete with maps.

[edit] Africa in the Stone Age

This section here outlines African states (kingdoms, empires, etc) established between 6000 BC and 1500 BC. That's basically from the rise of agriculture in Africa to the expasion of iron technology throughout the continent. Once again, hit my discussion board if I'm leaving anyone out.

  • Kemet 3100 BC to 31 BC
  • Damot 800 BC to 400s BC
  • Kush 780 BC to 350 AD

[edit] Africa in the Iron Age

I know it's kind of odd jumping from Stone Age to Iron Age. You gotta remember that Africa, as a whole, didn't have a Bronze Age or Copper Age. Stone was used by all African civilizations (even Egypt) until about 600 BC. That isn't to say iron technology was developed earlier (Iron smelting was first practiced in Niger around 2500 BC), but the main thrust of tech development came out of Nubia in the 500s BC. By 400 AD, all of Africa was in the Iron Age. Iron assisted in the development of states and the birth of "Golden Age" Africa.

[edit] Africa in the Transitional Age

In about 1600 AD, everything changed. Iron Age societies were transformed by the fall of the great African Empires and the explosion of the Atlantic Slave Trade. This period was full of chaos, and according to Basil Davidson, still going on. Africa is still trying to define itself and recover from destabilizing events of this age.

Scott Free (talk) 18:38, 19 November 2007 (UTC)