₦airaland Forum

Manhiya Palace Precolonial

https://img534.imageshack.us/img534/7648/precolonialghana50.png

https://img94.imageshack.us/img94/3075/precolonialghana6.png

Kumase, Execution Square

https://img41.imageshack.us/img41/9775/precolonialghana53.png

Amoafo, Asante Kingdom 1890
https://img691.imageshack.us/img691/356/precolonialghana8.png

If people have pictures and stuff to post please do. This one is from Lovango, Kongo

https://www.ankhonline.com/civilisations_africaines/kongo_lovango_dapper.jpg

Kumase, Asante Kingdom

Bantama Mausoleum.
https://img138.imageshack.us/img138/1280/17thcenturymausoleum.png

After British Conquest


https://img37.imageshack.us/img37/1418/precolonialghana55.png

Random Building, Kumase, Asante Kingdom Pre Colonial

https://img687.imageshack.us/img687/8789/precolonialghana3.png

What is the african language and african council? Africans never referred to themselves as Africans.

Traditional Yoruba clothes

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Ancient_Benin_city.JPG/771px-Ancient_Benin_city.JPG

https://wysinger.homestead.com/benin78.jpg

[img]http://thelosttreasurechest.files./2011/07/oba-king-of-the-benin-empire-in-the-great-capital-city-of-ile-ibinu-during-a-ceremony.jpg?w=640[/img]

http://missingnews./2008/04/13/voodoo-in-benin-is-splitting-families-and-making-parents-decide-either-to-sell-their-children-or-make-the-rest-of-their-family-starve/

What is this nonsense i am reading about. Is this real? Do they mean to tell me I cannot go to a voodoo ceremony without being in a miserable state of pity for all the little children?

What is it with the west and their demonization of all things African? So when they are in their catholic schools raping the little boys and girls that is fine, smh.

I know I was born & raised in America so I get it

which part?

Yeah Mercy Johnson is Nigerian, and yes, lol she has a big behind

yes but in the movie when she is the police officer u cannot see it. Did u see that one? I thought she was skinny till i saw the movie about her and the white men. LMAOOO @ the song for that one. However, I thought the way her character dressed distracted me from the movie at times.

well to me culture and politics/corruption are separate things, especially in Africa however I do agree to a extent that pride at one point takes over corruption but that is obvious, Almost every country in the world has that existing in their country.

You are right, but culture instills that pride. If you believe your culture is superior, how can you do things that lead others to think the opposite?

Middle Eastern countries are slightly different because they are used to centralized power/wealth. This has probably always gone on in their lands.

In Africa, even in the empires they still had chiefs and kings who were bound directly to their people and to serve their people justly, not only through cultural pride but through religion. If you read the Bible carefully esp. the old testament you can see that pretty much it is laying out the way the Hebrew king should deal with his subjects.

If the British could have simply paid Sokoto and Benin to play their way they would have. The leaders wanted none of it.

Amen, even some middle eastern countries are corrupt as hell and they are still living like how they were in the 14 hundreds with certain things

Because their leaders have been bought and sold by the west.

Do you think Nigeria ever would have been colonized if 110 years ago it had the same leaders it has today?

Corruption may exist within every man but at some point pride takes over and you cannot accept.

Mercy Johnson is Nigerian and from the bini tribe, also village life will always be part of most african countries, especially Nigeria. Not every where is turning to a city. You really need to go to Nigeria to different parts before making wild assumptions.

I dont make assumptions. I listen to people talk and pick up from them. Do you know I come from a marginalized people? I live in the effects of what marginalization can do. Everytime you turn on your tv and see lil wayne rapping about "money over everything" or nicki minaj telling you to bust her puss-y open in the islands of wakiki after you "give her all your money and all your residuals" you are seeing an example of marginalization. Sure to God our ancestors were not taken here with those morals and values.

BTW, mercy johnson I did not even know she had a big butt. My first movie I saw her in was the one where she is the police officer, I was so captivated by her. So she is from naija that's good to know.

How has that got to do with culture and it's death. Corruption knows not the face of any tribe.

And how are they (first of all, who is they?) selling their states?

Because I associate a strong identification with culture to a weak affinity for corruption. People who truly care about the place and people they come from, and who have been raised with traditional moral values cannot take bribes at the expense of their own people.

You love your mother, but assume she is fixed inside her house and plot of land and can never leave. Would you accept $1 million to let someone drill for oil in her vicinity if you knew it would pollute the water she drank? Could you do this if the entire neighborhood was Yoruba even if your mom was not in it? If you knew it would pollute their water and give cancer?

This is a Yoruba movie but these hair styles shown in the movie are examples of hair styles still being done in Nigeria. You need to go to Nigeria really there are many more still being practiced

I will try to sometime, do you have a good place for me to go?

What are you talking about? Huh

Im talking about how come Nigeria isnt getting any better? The governors have almost unchecked power, and many of them are supposed to be from the same states and tribes within. Yet, the corruption is so rampant. How can you sell your people cheap?

^^^^

This was refreshing, although the reporters ignorant comments annoyed me a little bit.

I do not understand though, if people have strong ties to their African religions and their tribes, how can they sell out their states?

After all Nigeria is a Federation made up of independent states, and the governors and govt officials dont seem to have heart. This british style of politics is the worst.

It is still going on in the villages and non-cities of Nigeria. You will see it still going on with the fulani's, Yoruba's and etc. In Yorubaland it still exist in the villages of course(in small numbers), so don't worry. You will see signs of it on Yoruba movies. Do you watch Yoruba movies?

No, I have seen some Ghanian movies. Mercy Johnson is my favorite, but I dont see anyone doing the kolo markings anymore, least i cant find it on the internet.

The thing is these things die out. There is immense discrimination against villagers in African societies. I dont see how these people can hold out.

Excellent response, I can't believe he use that as a source for his thread.

I cant believe you read it in 4 minutes.

By a Yoruba woman who posted on a forum like this?

If I tell you your head is full of hot air, will you be convinced too? After all, am I not also Yoruba?

Did u read the article? Did you go through those rights? What about your daughter?

Do you have kolo marks? Does your daughter? Does anyone in your family practice scarification? Do you know anyone who knows how to do the intricate works that we see from the old days? Does anyone know how to make the dyes they made? I cant find any MODERN evidence that it still goes on.

What about traditional hairstyles, how many of those are still worn. Do you ever wear them? Do you know why they are worn or what their significance was?

Traditional Yoruba clothes, do you know how to make them? Do you know what they were? Do you consider them "indecent"?

Your traditional religion, do you worship it? You know African culture and customs revolved heavily around the religion, many African customs were seen as evil and contrary to christianity, so how can you expect them to survive?

Before Anonymous comes back like im trying to be a know-it-all I want you to know my questions are sincere ileke. I am not coming at you from the position of one who knows, but from one who inquires and tries to help you probe your thoughts.

Next time visit some african Countries before making wild assumptions like you are making

Aren't you Jamaican?

No and I did not just dream up these things. See my previous post, and learn from a Yoruba woman your elder.

It was this Yoruba woman who convinced me. The language may not die, but everything else will.

http://eccentricyoruba./2009/10/16/demystifying-african-female-initiation-rites/#comments

It appears to me that various things that held the tribe together like initiation rites, religion, scarification, dress, hairstyles, and tattoos have all but disappeared within the short space of just 100 years.

With language being the main thing now distinguishing tribes in Nigeria, I predict that in the future for the most part tribal culture will decline in the next 50 years and will become nothing more than a political issue. To me this is sad, because African culture along with its tribes was one of the greatest cultural repositories we have known in these times.

The thing that made us African is disappeared.

^^^^

Wow that is so pretty thanks for posting.

It's amazing how quickly Africans have abandoned their culture. Can anyone tell me why? Those marks are beautiful.

And whatever happened to the natural indigo cloth and handmade clothes? Do they still make it like that anymore? I see so many Africans with what appears to be made in China/India fabrics now.

The markings indian women put on themselves are considered beautiful and people can get them done in malls and amusement parks, why cant we have people imitating us anywhere? Why do our marks have to be ugly in our own eyes? Please tell me there is somewhere in Nigeria where Yoruba women hold on to these traditions.

[flash=500,500]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA85QFQ6wPE?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="960" height="720" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>[/flash]

This is one of my favorite songs by Thandiswa. Her voice is amazing, she always adds an african flavor to her songs. Xhosa is an amazing language. Tell me what u think?

BTW I listened to the Jesus story in Yoruba it sounded like chinese, do chinese ppl learn Yoruba quick?

she has a wonderful voice ikedi. Thank you for sharing this beautiful piece.

Morpheus I just do not see you as a pan-africanist. Either that or you are an African supremacist, and believes in absolute purity of the African bloodline before one can call themselves African or identify with Africans.

We as African-Americans and our Latin and Brazilian-American cousins(continental sense) do not always know what place we come from in Africa. Although chances are if you are Latin or Brazilian American then you might actually know exactly where, but anyway, it is us who attach the greatest meaning to pan-africanism. We want to celebrate the entire continent of our ancestors, because unlike many Africans living in the continent, we believe we are better than the white people. We do not aspire to be like them.

Of course I cannot be talking about all of us, but for those of us who choose to learn about Africa. This is why we do it and what we believe. As a 5th grader I asked my teacher why all of the African people in our history book were so ugly. This is what we deal with, you dont.

Lovely Song and video

BTW I like this.

For the life of me, I have never known Congolese girls were so beautiful! Why the hell are so many Congolese white-washed when they have this in front of them!?

[flash=500,500]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJOQHh2Nd4E?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="1280" height="720" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>[/flash]

This was my first time hearing J.Martins song. Jupka, the video bothered me because some Afro-Indian girl and the white people seem to get all the camera time in the video. The song is nice though, but i see this quite alot, u dont see white ppl putting

[flash=500,500]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opskW5Mqgxg?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="1280" height="720" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>[/flash]

This is the most romantic view I have encountered in a long time.

Ever heard of the human condition @BlackLibya?

I forgot about the pessimists here, who dont realize people writing about human condition were European philosophers living in the wretches that were European cities at the time.

'Great Benin, where the King resides, is larger than Lisbon, all the streets run straight and as far as the eyes can see. The houses are large, especially that of the king which is richly decorated and has Fine columns. The city is wealthy and industrious. It is so well governed that theft is unknown and the people live in such Security that they have no door to their houses'.
                                                                                                                                          -Lourenco Pinto, Portuguese Captain

Are you Fozie Bear Grin

N u call urself a naija girl! Abeg!

Ashawoooooo

[flash=400,400]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMSTYtMSbL0?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="1280" height="720" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>[/flash]

BTW, the girls at 1:47 and 2:05 KILL IT!

Well considering your dislike of West Africans, I really don't think it matters in the grand scheme of things Grin

Lol, Flavour is actually a good artist. Now waka waka baby I want some pom pom lol

^^

Hmm, not bad, i like the first one better than the 2nd one, but for both of them they are a little to pop-ish for me. You know, the beats sound very much like a Kylie Minogue or blue-dah-bo-dee-dah-bu-dah-dah-bu-dee-dah-bu-dah type song if u remember that song. I dont know how to describe it, but it's generic you know? Whatever happened to 2face Idibia by the way? The only Naija artist I could hear on American radios here. Beautiful voice that man.

Kneel and Pray! (Ndebele/Shona)
[flash=400,400]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0WTfcXPlis?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="960" height="720" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>[/flash]

Ok so I have been listening to African artists over the past few days. This runs the gamut from P.Square(horrible), to Flavour(Igbo, good), Asa(amazing in Yoruba), Bojo Mojo and Tequila(Thando Iwam), Obsession(Uganda), Camp Mulla and others from Kenya, Ethiopia, and Zahara(Xhosa).

After all of this I have come to the unshakeable conclusion that Lira is the most beautiful sounding, beautiful, soulful, and emotion provoking. She sings this song in zulu

[flash=400,400]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-vNXhxzMnc?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="960" height="720" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>[/flash]


BTW, what do you guys think?

Which Africans helped?  Also do you have books, lectures, or videos for me to learn more?

Im not sure, here is the wikipedia article on benin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benin_Expedition_of_1897

They have several books listed in the bibliography, most of them appear available for reading online without purchase.

It's great that u take an interest in this, I have an excerpt from a memoir written by a British commander invading the Asante Kingdom. It's not Nigeria, but it is interesting, and sad at the same time.