Unit 4: African Culture, History, and Geography
A Struggle for Power: From Colonial Oppression to Self-Determination
In this unit we study the motivation for and methods by which the Europeans began to dominate the world in the late 19th century. In particular, the colonization of Africa allowed Europeans to take power away from the once thriving African kingdoms. You will explore the socially constructed concept of race used by the colonizers to dehumanize the native populations, which eventually resulted in a struggle for power and fight for freedom. Then, you will analyze Lorraine Hansberry’s play, Les Blancs, a fictionalized example of this power struggle in which— despite the devastating effects of colonial domination—the main black characters assert their humanity and begin the process of regaining control of their lives.
In the second part of the unit, we look at how these dynamics played out in the country of South Africa, including how black South Africans both violently and non-violently overthrew the Apartheid regime.
English
This unit begins with a study of proverbs that establishes a foundation for an understanding of Africa’s rich culture. Students will also read selections from the novels, Joys of Motherhood and Things Fall Apart, to fully comprehend the concept of human dignity and dehumanization. We conclude the unit with a focus on nonviolent resistance in South Africa in order for students to appreciate an alternative way of reclaiming one’s dignity in the face of oppression.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS UNIT
This unit begins with a study of proverbs that establishes a foundation for an understanding of Africa’s rich culture. Students will also read selections from the novels, Joys of Motherhood and Things Fall Apart, to fully comprehend the concept of human dignity and dehumanization. These novels set up a context that allows students to delve into these issues with the play, Les Blancs, by Lorraine Hansberry. We conclude the unit with a focus on nonviolent resistance in South Africa in order to create an appreciation for an alternative way of reclaiming one’s dignity in the face of oppression.
Key Concepts:
Oppression
Dehumanization
Emasculation
“White Man’s Burden/Brown Man’s Burden”
Colonization
Dignity
Ubuntu
Non-violent Resistance
RAW Model
Dramatization
Readings:
“The Power of the Word,” adapted handout from The African Literary Tradition
Adapted selections from Joys of Motherhood, Buchi Emecheta
Adapted selections from Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
Hansberry, Lorraine. Les Blancs. New York: Vintage Books, 1972. Print.
“White Man’s Burden,” Rudyard Kipling
“Brown Man’s Burden,” Henry Labouchere
“Writing a Research Paper,” adapted handout from History: A Student’s Guide to Research and Writing
“Nonviolent Resistance,” adapted handout from “Martin Luther King, Jr. Philosophy on Nonviolent Resistance, Civil Rights Movement”
“The Bench,” Richard Rive
Social Institutions
The first unit is an introduction to the basic understanding of culture and geography. Students are asked to take on the role of a cultural anthropologist, one who critically thinks about the political, social, economic, and cultural institutions of societies.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS UNIT
We begin the unit with an overview of the land and geography of Africa to celebrate the richness of the continent with a discussion of the early thriving civilizations. Despite these prosperous African societies, European nations conquered them in the late 19th century, which resulted in the struggle for power between the colonizers and native populations. In order for students to understand this struggle, they analyze the motives behind the first and second waves of Imperialism. Then, we use South Africa as a case-study to demonstrate the difficulties the black South Africans endured during the Apartheid regime. This resulted in a need for black south african leaders to model the different strategies of resistance and how to reclaim one’s freedom under oppressive conditions.
Key Concepts:
Imperialism
Colonialism
Dehumanization
Oppression
Segregation
RAW model (Resistance, Accommodation, and Withdrawal)
Black Consciousness
Ubuntu
Reconciliation
Reading:
Adapted handouts from Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond
Video:
Cry Freedom
Art and Religion
The theme for the Africa unit focuses on a person’s worth and how one maintains dignity in the face of oppression. We begin the unit by looking at Islam as one of the most influential religions of Africa. Then, students will explore African Art from various regions and how it was appropriated by Europeans during the Second Wave of Imperialism.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS UNIT
Environmental Science
In science, students discover the abundance of natural resource deposits in Africa that attracted many European powers to the continent. The colonial concept of race is introduced and students study the science behind the evolution of skin color.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS UNIT
In science, students discover the abundance of natural resource deposits in Africa that attracted many European powers to the continent. We then evaluate the colonial concept of race that was used to justify the deplorable treatment of African people and land. Students examine how this concept of race has changed over time from a biological explanation presented by the colonizers (that supposed innate superiority) to a current understanding of race as a socially constructed tool used to oppress “the other”. Also, we examine one of Africa’s current struggles: the fight to control infectious disease amidst the political turmoil that followed colonial rule.