The Seven African Powers

“West African societies were shaped by competition for wealth and the search for independence from more powerful kingdoms” (History 2011). Most of Africa’s oldest kingdoms originated from West Africa. These old kingdoms contributed to the development and growth of Africa in many ways, especially trade and economic growth. As the new kingdoms replaced the old ones, they experienced a vast change. Conquest and warfare along caused these transformations to occur. It was also influenced by the patterns of trade. The earliest civilizations were in West Africa south of the Sahara desert. These civilisations grew at a time when most of the outside countries were experiencing The Dark Age. “After the fall of the Western half of the Roman Empire around

Traditional religions in ancient Mali were polytheistic, they did not believe in one single supreme being, and the believed in animism. They believed that all plants, animals and objects had spirits. “Spirits of the land” were also a big part of the ancient civilization’s beliefs and they were taught to ensure the success of their crops. They had no sacred texts to support their beliefs but they thought that the spiritual world and the physical world were connected.

When most western people think about Native American or African religions there is a certain stigma that comes with the topic. This is in part because there is a lot of misinformation in the world about Native American and African religions. When most westerners think of African religions they think of voodoo and black magic. Likewise, the view of Native American religions is still looked at through the lens of the pilgrims who wrote about Native Americans as being savages and less than human. These stereotypes were all formed from a lack of accurate information. African and Native American religions are very similar. It is difficult to find a lot of accurate information on African and Native American indigenous religions because of the lack of written history but there is a lot of oral history that has been passed down from generation to generation. From this information, it is clear that Native American and African religions have many more similarities than they do differences. Three of these similarities will be discussed in this paper. The first topic of discussion is the similarity between African and Native American people when it comes to their perception of the spirit world. Following this topic are the similarities between Native American and African views on the afterlife and finally, the diversity of beliefs within African and Native American religions.

There is also a supernatural belief in the spirits of the forest. Some villages today have four pairs of crosses and four jaguar spirits at the village's four entrances, in order to keep evil away. It is still believed that evil winds loose in the world cause disease and sickness.

Modern practitioners of Santeria may be attracted to the religion for a variety of reasons, notable among which are curiosity with secret rituals and the longing among many immigrants and people of color to get in touch with Caribbean and African roots. What each specific individual wants from a religion is difficult to generalize upon, but Santeria offers a way for people to achieve harmony in their lives through communication with and obedience to orishas, the divine beings that act as intermediaries between humans and the Supreme Being, Olodumare. Santeria teaches how to know and appease the specific desires of a pantheon of orishas who alert devotees to problems in their lives and protect them from harm. In

Amidst the thriving chaos of the Industrial Revolution and subsequent to the politically volatile French Revolution, Europe in the 1800s was an ever-changing realm of new systems, machines, methods of transportation, ideas, and leaders. Those leaders faced a plethora of challenges both internally and externally, as both their subjects and other countries were angry with them for various reasons. One of the problems these rulers faced was the matter of imperial power on other continents. So, the more relevant European leaders met at the Berlin Conference to decide what each country was allowed to colonize. In doing so, the rulers they legalized the Scramble for Africa, therefore allowing colonization

Orishas are spiritual beings whose experiences and characteristics are told with the use of patakis. According to the Santeria religion, everyone has a "parent" orisha. The term "parent" in the Santeria tradition holds the same meaning as guardian. The orisha chooses whom they will guard from birth and often the "child" and "parent" will have interactions at a young age. One does not know who their parent orisha is until they have gone through with initiation into Santeria. Within

There are a multitude of common elements of religion as practiced by the West Africans. Five of these elements include community, ancestors, a high God, Tricksters, and animal sacrifice. Community kept everyone together both physically and religiously, with no one left alone. The West Africans also believed that their ancestors were still present and watching over them. The ancestors were placed between God and the community, and sometimes they held all the power. Furthermore, a high God had developed everything in existence and the West Africans could not be without him. There were also multiple tricksters that blended the boundaries of sacred and ordinary. The chaos brought on by these tricksters, such as a hare or spider, would lead to order. Another element is animal sacrifice, where these rituals were done to praise the Gods.

The Nature of Ronald CoaseDecember 29, 2014The Ideas That Shaped AfricaJanuary 7, 2015 As protests in Ferguson and elsewhere have brought police militarization to the forefront of public debate, some voices suggest that reigning in police militarization requires stricter gun control laws. For example, Matthew Yglesias argues at Vox that “when civilians are well-armed, police have to be as well.” Yglesias claims, “The officer always has to worry that if he doesn’t reach for and use his own gun, the suspect will.” He further contends that the disproportionate rate at which blacks are shot by police means “Young black men pay the price for gun rights.” While “officer safety” is the common refrain used to justify police violence and police militarization,

In the wake of the industrial revolution, many European countries gained economic power as well and eventually military power. The first to invest in the industrial revolution was Great Britain, making the nation one of the most hegemonic powers since it was able to gain advantage over the other European nation who was involved in the Balance of Power, which was created in 1815, and involved Great Britain, Russia, Prussia, France, and Austria. The Balance of Power was created to help prevent major wars between the nations whereby, every nation stated would have and equitable military based on its size and location however, since Britain industrialized, the nation was able to erode the balance of power and industrialization was able to make size obsolete because of mechanized and advanced weaponry. As a result, Britain was able to surpass the other nations and was able to expand its nation and belief around the. Ultimately, as a result Britain was able to become the most hegemonic nation around the world. One of the locations Britain was able to colonize was Africa by the nineteenth century where it was ultimately able to aid the Africans, by spreading Christianity and helped improve the overall conditions in the conquered area and assimilated the Africans to European cultures, as well as advance the Africans technology.

This is a traditional Brazil religion practiced by the Africans communities living there . The dance was performed to appease their gods. It is done in traditional styles derived from the Yoruba and Bantu traditions. The songs and dances were developed by African priests who were traded as slaves. The priests had strong African beliefs and had gained great experience on the task thus they could easily influence more followers. The religion had no formal scripture and the priests used the word of mouth to pass their message to their congregations. The believers were followers of a god by the name Oludumaré who they asserted was their creator. The oludumare has his servants called the Orishas. The Orishas are in every person and every Orisha is assigned an individual to offer protection. The believers organize a number of ceremonies each year to commemorate some important events. In the ceremonies, Candomblé songs fill the air. The believers also offer offerings to their

Witchdoctors also known as african folk healers were traced back from time of slavery. The name witchdoctors gives a bad representation of them even though they are very wise and knowledgeable. Witchdoctors are great outlets and sources to to their communities. Everything that was known from past generations would be passed down to the newest generation. Looking at the history of witchdoctors it is apparent that many can be found dispersed throughout Africa along with their different cultures, beliefs, and treatments. All of these aspects can be seen in the book “No Witchcraft for Sale”

During the 1870’s Europeans started colonizing countries in Africa. Europeans did this because they needed all of Africa's valuable resources.Africa was a big target because they were not very modernized in technology so it was easier for the Europeans to seize control. The Europeans were able to enter Africa through ships and scare the Africans with their guns. The Europeans controlled Africa in two ways direct and indirect rule. Direct rule is when the country in charge rules strictly over the country and they try to civilize the people they are ruling. For example in Algeria the French had direct rule. The French were in Algeria and gave Algerians their needs but no rights. Indirect ruling is when the country in charge is ruling from far

But from their African roots and Catholicism were already made and this would create Santeria. Santeria itself focuses on building relationships between humans and powerful but mortal spirits, Orishas. According to the Encyclopedia of Africa American Society “the main spirits in Santeria are called Orishas, which are complex beings that have several characteristics. They are seen as forces of nature, as well, as aspect of God and intermediaries between the human and spirit worlds.” An Orisha is a manifestation of Olodumare, who is there God.

Joseph Conrad 's Heart of Darkness is both a dramatic tale of an arduous trek into the Belgian Congo at the turn of the twentieth century and a symbolic journey into the deepest recesses of human nature. On a literal level, through Marlow 's narration, Conrad provides a searing indictment of European colonial exploitation inflicted upon African natives. By employing several allegoric symbols this account depicts the futility of the European presence in Africa.