Cultural Assessment : Western Africa Region

Africa, like many other continents, was a very tremendous and a very diverse civilization that is very complicated to introduce due to all its wonderful but also diverse features and beliefs. From the differences between its society and language to its religion and politics, Africa always had the reputation that its empires, cities, and kingdoms never progressed in the developments and achievements for their civilization. Many people believed that the Europeans were actually the cause of Africa’s achievements and advanced developments for their civilizations. However, this is further than the whole truth. Before the arrival of the Europeans between the 15th and 16th century, African kingdoms, empires, and cities had many achievements and accomplishments

Culture is one of the most relevant elements that can define not only a society but also a country’s cumulative beliefs and system. Often noted as the origins of a country, culture is definitive in the sense that it harbors all the elements that can provide justification on the traditions and norms set by the society for its members. More often than not, the society members follow norms in order to create a harmonious community, and the beliefs and the traditions serve as the poles or grounding rules for each member to follow. Culture is very dynamic in the way that it can change over a variety of foreign influences but what is permanent about it is that original elements about it often lingers with the influences, therefore making it multi-faceted and broad. More importantly, culture serves as an individual and unique trait each society has, and therefore sets it apart from other countries and other societies.

Culture is the characteristics of a group of people defined by language, cuisine, religion social habits music and art. There are many different types of culture including western culture, eastern culture, African culture and many more. Culture is influenced by the groups of people that make up the country (Zimmermann, 2012). The term culture was first used by an English Anthropologist named Edward B. Tyler. It was first mentioned in 1871 in his book named ‘Primitive Culture’. He stated that culture is "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”. Since then culture is the main focus of anthropology.

The development and growth of civilizations in African history were contradicted by several American and European historians in the sixteenth and early twentieth centuries. The reason for this lack of understanding is because the focus was mainly on Europe’s chaotic society at the time. In addition, Africa didn’t have physically written documents to present their actual history. Instead, it was orally passed down. This is why historians have falsely concluded that Africa was an uncivilized “Dark Continent.” But what does it mean to be civilized? A group of people is characterized as civilized when they are organized as a society, and able to advance it. Since West and East Africa were able to develop advanced forms of economy, education, and government, they are characterized as civilized

The following paragraphs in this section will seek to elaborate on the scores that make up Nigeria’s Cultural Dimension and to place these numbers in context. The definitions presented and the numbers given will be calculated based on the information presented in the Cultural Visualization table in Appendix C.

From the 1500s to the 1700s, African blacks, mainly from the area of West Africa (today's Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Dahomey, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon) were shipped as slaves to North America, Brazil, and the West Indies. For them, local and tribal differences, and even varying cultural backgrounds, soon melded into one common concern for the suffering they all endured. Music, songs, and dances as well as remembered traditional food, helped not only to uplift them but also quite unintentionally added immeasurably to the culture around them. In the approximately 300 years that blacks have made their homes in North America, the West Indies, and Brazil, their highly honed art

WH9 Kaulike Jansen Africa DBQ January 6, 2016 Before the Europeans arrived to the empires, kingdoms, and cities of Africa, the African civilization flourished in many achievements with Art, political status, trade, and culture. The Africa we know today is not like the Africa we knew before the Europeans arrived in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Africa traders have used their skills to trade with other lands. Beautiful cities were built with an advanced political structure like the city of Kilwa. They even maintained a thriving culture.

The first empire in West Africa was the empire of Ghana. West Africa has an economic base in gold, 600 years ago. That means that West Africa had a deposit of gold that had brought great wealth to the surrounding people from which great empires emerged. The gold was trade and the trader with camels carried the gold across the Sahara from West Africa to North Africa. From there traders shipped the gold to Europe and to the West Asia. One of the three most powerful empires in West Africa is Ghana. In the 11th century,

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad has been depicted as “among the half-dozen greatest short novels in the English language.” [pg.1] Chinua Achebe believes otherwise. In Chinua Achebe’s An Image of Africa: Racism is Conrad’s Heart of Darkness he simply states that, “Joseph Conrad was a thoroughgoing racist” [pg.5]

Belonging to a group and possessing some form of identity has been the drive to keep people unified within nations. As Empires expanded, many rulers realized that a unified people would prove less difficult to govern. Therefore a common trend amongst states battling to establish their colonies was to integrate the beliefs of their nation into those they had conquered. The aftermath, though destructive in numerous areas, was rather effective. People were easier to organize when they believed in the same things, something that proved fatal in the lives of many cultures, such as the African culture during the era of decolonization. However, the cause of rebellions and wars for freedoms, many nations decided on rebuilding their scattered people. Instead of conquering foreign lands, which proved more and more difficult to maintain with technology advancements and globalization, states are now more content with collaborating than expanding their empires. Yet while such movements have quelled the hunger for creating vast empires, conflicts within states, particularly ethnic

Notwithstanding being an immigration organization originated by and sustained by Nigerian immigrants, the members at Nigerian youth Alliance are more than what they look like in the surface. Even though they are immigrants in the United States, they have integrated into American culture and hold a concept of morals not controlled by ethnocentrism. I have always observed immigrants to be ethnocentric. Nevertheless, expectations based on speculation are poor. Also, same can be said about drawing deductions established on cultural formations. Culture can be seen has sets of shared values, goals, attitudes, and practices that characterized

The scholars begin to debate whether Egyptians were black or white because the states of Africa were becoming independent. The West African art and music related to religion because the art symbolize their ancestors, spirits and they’re used for rituals practices. The music is related to religion by using the instruments to create rhythm and to dance to the religious rituals. The difference between the practice of Christianity, Islam and the indigenous religions in West Africa. Christianity was the first religion to arrive in Africa and it travels to the West from Alexandria and East of Ethiopia. For Islam, Arab traders introduced Islam in West Africa. “Unlike Christianity, Islam tolerated traditional values, allowing a man to have more than

In this course we have learned about all of the different cultures and their musical traditions. My favorite so far has had to be the west African music culture. They have a variety of different music, instruments, and dances to contribute to the reasons I liked this music culture so much. So, I have taken it upon myself to further my research on this particular musical group. I will compare and contrast a variety of different videos from the west African music culture and I will analyze how they connect to this culture.

     Before one starts to outline the traditional religion in Africa, one must first explain the way Africa is as a whole. Without the knowledge of the past combined with knowledge of culture, one would have a very vague, if any, understanding of traditional religion.

Every day that there was a link with Nigeria or I chatted with my partner about the main topics of life I always learned something new. It ranged from college life to religion, without overstepping any boundaries. The eagerness to learn about another country and their views on life was just as exciting for me as it was my partners. Although there are many differences between Nigeria and America, there is also much in common that I would have never expected. I enjoyed all the conversations that I encountered with the Nigerians who also share a love for their own culture.