Using African history as a tool for Change | Zeinab Badawi | TEDxEuston
Summary
TLDRThe speaker passionately advocates for the importance of African history, emphasizing its role in fostering self-respect and identity. They recount their family's commitment to education and the paradox of being educated yet ignorant of one's own history. The speaker highlights the rich historical contributions of Africa, from ancient civilizations to modern diaspora, and calls for a reclamation of African history to counteract its underrepresentation and misrepresentation in global narratives.
Takeaways
- 📚 The speaker emphasizes the importance of history, particularly African history, for self-respect and identity, arguing that it's been overlooked and undervalued.
- 🌟 History is presented as a tool for empowerment and a means to assert oneself on social, political, and cultural agendas, not just for those in Africa but also for the African diaspora globally.
- 🏫 The speaker shares personal anecdotes about the role of education in their family, highlighting the pioneering efforts of their great-grandfather in female education in Sudan.
- 🔍 There's a paradox highlighted where individuals can be educated but lack knowledge about their own history, which the speaker has observed in Africa and among the diaspora.
- 🏰 The speaker recounts their journey of discovering the rich and extensive history of Africa, including the ancient Sudanese pyramids and the influence of ancient Sudanese kings.
- 📖 The General History of Africa (GHA) project by UNESCO is mentioned as a significant effort to decolonize history by compiling Africa's history written by African historians.
- 🎥 The speaker's own involvement in creating a TV series based on the GHA to share African history with a broader audience is discussed, emphasizing the need to include both experts and ordinary citizens' perspectives.
- 🌍 The script touches on the historical achievements of various African civilizations, such as the kingdom of Aksum, Great Zimbabwe, and the Mali Empire, challenging the narrative that Africa lacks a significant history.
- 💪 The late environmental activist Wangari Maathai's quote is used to stress the importance of knowing one's history as a means to prevent mental enslavement.
- 🔄 There's a call to action for reclaiming and centering African history in education and media, to counter the infantilization of Africa and to promote a more accurate and empowering narrative.
- 🌈 The script concludes with a plea for unity among all people of African descent, regardless of their location, and the importance of history in fostering a shared identity and collective progress.
Q & A
What is the main argument the speaker is making about the importance of history?
-The speaker argues that history is not just about the past; it is crucial for African people to have self-respect, a reclaimed identity, and a voice in social, political, and cultural agendas today.
Why does the speaker believe that history has been overlooked in education?
-The speaker believes history has been overlooked because it is fashionable to focus on education in general, but the quality and content of that education, particularly the inclusion of history, are often neglected.
What paradox does the speaker highlight about education in Africa?
-The speaker highlights the paradox that one can be educated but not know much about their own history, as evidenced by the lack of knowledge about African history among educated individuals in Africa and the diaspora.
What role did the speaker's great-grandfather play in female education in Sudan?
-The speaker's great-grandfather was a pioneer of female education in Sudan, establishing a school in his own family compound despite opposition from the local community and British colonial authorities.
Why does the speaker refute the notion that there is no history in Africa?
-The speaker refutes this notion by pointing out the long and rich history of Africa, including the presence of thousands of pyramids in Sudan, the influence of ancient Sudanese kings, and the contributions of various African civilizations throughout history.
What project did UNESCO initiate to reclaim African history?
-UNESCO initiated the General History of Africa project in the 1960s to decolonize history by compiling volumes of Africa's history written by African historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, and other experts.
What was the impact of the speaker's TV series 'The History of Africa' on the African film crews involved?
-The African film crews involved in the production of 'The History of Africa' expressed gratitude for the opportunity to learn about their own history, indicating a hunger and thirst for such knowledge among Africans.
Why is the study of history important for national identity and individual self-respect according to the speaker?
-According to the speaker, the study of history is important for national identity and individual self-respect because it allows people to assert themselves on social, political, and cultural agendas and to understand and value their own heritage.
What is the significance of the quote by Wangari Maathai mentioned in the script?
-The quote by Wangari Maathai, 'You cannot enslave a mind that knows itself, that values itself, that understands itself,' signifies the importance of knowing one's history to maintain self-respect and resist being marginalized or controlled.
What is the speaker's view on the term 'African-American' and its importance for unity?
-The speaker views the term 'African-American' as important for unity because it evokes a discussion of the world and represents the oneness of disparate communities, drawing on a common shared history to realize the ambitions of early independence fighters and Pan-Africanists.
Why does the speaker emphasize the need for African history to be told by Africans?
-The speaker emphasizes the need for African history to be told by Africans to counter the infantilization and misrepresentation of Africa by Western historians and to ensure that the narrative is accurate, empowering, and representative of the African perspective.
Outlines
📚 The Importance of Historical Education
The speaker begins by expressing their pleasure at being in Abu Dhabi and introduces their academic background in politics, economics, and history. They emphasize the importance of history, particularly from an African perspective, stating that it is not just about the past but also about self-respect and identity. The speaker argues that history is crucial for Africans to assert themselves on various agendas and criticizes the neglect of history in favor of education, which they believe should include quality history education. They share a personal anecdote about their great-grandfather's pioneering efforts in female education in Sudan, highlighting the importance of education within their family and the resistance faced from colonial authorities. The speaker also discusses the paradox of being educated but knowing little about one's own history, using their own family and experiences in Nigeria as examples.
🧐 The Neglect and Rediscovery of African History
The speaker reflects on their own knowledge of history and the realization that despite being well-educated, they knew little about their own history. They recount a professor's dismissive view of African history during their time at Oxford, highlighting the infantilization of Africa's historical narrative. The speaker then discusses their journey of self-discovery, learning about ancient Sudan and its rich history, which contradicted the negative perceptions. They mention the General History of Africa project by UNESCO, which aimed to decolonize history by compiling volumes written by African scholars. The speaker's involvement with UNESCO led to the creation of a TV series to bring African history to a broader audience, emphasizing the need to include both experts and ordinary citizens in the conversation.
🌍 The Rich Tapestry of African History
The speaker highlights the wealth of African history that is often overlooked, such as the kingdom of Aksum, Great Zimbabwe, and the Mali Empire. They argue for the importance of history in providing a sense of identity and self-respect, quoting the late Kenyan activist Wangari Maathai. The speaker discusses the ongoing efforts to decolonize curricula in South Africa and at Oxford University, emphasizing that African history is part of the global narrative. They express a desire to reconstruct African history from an African perspective, putting African intellectuals in the spotlight and addressing the neglect of history faculties in African universities.
🤝 The Unity and Identity in African History
The speaker talks about the importance of African history in fostering unity and identity, drawing on their late father's pan-Africanist beliefs. They discuss the African diaspora's shared history and the need for greater interaction between recently arrived Africans and established African-American communities. The speaker argues against the retrenchment to terms like 'black' and encourages the use of 'African-American' to represent the shared history and unity. They also touch on the importance of history in national and individual identity, using examples like the Olympics and football matches, and advocate for putting African history center stage.
🦁 The Power of History in Shaping Perception
In the final paragraph, the speaker shares a conversation with former South African President Thabo Mbeki about the significance of history. Mbeki's quote emphasizes that until the historically marginalized have their own historians, their stories will not be fully recognized. The speaker expresses gratitude that their children now understand the history of the continent of their heritage. They end with a call to action for all Africans to claim their narrative and identity through history, and the speech concludes with applause and music.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡History
💡Self-respect
💡Identity
💡Education
💡Diaspora
💡Decolonization
💡Plea
💡Paradox
💡Infantilization
💡Narrative
💡Unity
Highlights
The importance of history for self-respect and identity in Africa.
The paradox of being educated but knowing little about one's own history.
The role of history in education and its impact on the African diaspora.
The pioneering efforts of the speaker's great-grandfather in female education in Sudan.
The resistance faced by early advocates of female education in Sudan.
The speaker's personal journey of discovering African history.
The misconception that African history begins with European colonization.
The General History of Africa project by UNESCO.
The significance of African historians writing their own history.
The rich and diverse history of African civilizations predating colonialism.
The influence of ancient Sudanese kingdoms on the African continent.
The need for a reclamation of African history in education and media.
The role of history in asserting oneself on social, political, and cultural agendas.
The impact of historical understanding on the unity of the African diaspora.
The importance of African history for national identity and community.
The speaker's experience filming a history series on Africa and the reactions of African crews.
The call for African history to be put center stage by politicians, academics, and the public.
The quote from former South African President Thabo Mbeki on the importance of history.
Transcripts
[Music]
hello don't you all look terrific from
this vantage point that I have so I'm
saying Abu Dhabi it's my great pleasure
to be with you and although I studied
politics and economics at Oxford I
actually did my postgraduate studies in
history so I am here today to make a
plea for history to say that history is
not something about the past no history
from the African point of view is
something which allows you to have
self-respect it helps you to have a
reclaimed identity it helps you to
assert yourself on the social political
and cultural agenda today so it's a very
very important thing and in my view it's
been overlooked wrongly it's very
fashionable to talk about education
education is important it's the you know
most empowering thing you can give a
young child in Africa and it's true but
what kind of education quality education
is the thing that's very important in
history is an integral part of that and
not just for people living in Africa but
also the established African Diaspora
Beauty in the Caribbean be it in Brazil
beauty in the United States whether it's
also the more recently arrived diaspora
Africans living in the West all part and
parcel of the same history is the shared
history so I've been very struck by the
paradox that you can be educated but not
know very much about your history and
I'll take you on a journey as to why I
believe this is the case
first of all education you could say is
the family business in the Sudan because
my great-grandfather was the pioneer of
female education in the Sudan at the
turn of the last century there were no
schools for girls but my
great-grandfather chef barbequed Beverly
said you know what why should my girls
go uneducated so he established a school
in his own family compound against much
much
not only from the local community but
from the British colonial authorities at
the time they said don't do this you
know it's going to upset people's you
know traditional customs and so on and
he said there's nothing in Islam that
says women should not be educated and
that's why actually whenever I hear
about you know so-called Muslim
societies denying girls education I
think there's nothing inimical to
educate educating girls in Islamic
societies so my great-grandfather
persisted in the teeth of opposition and
he succeeded in fact in the family we
say he was so Pro women he married four
of them we'll just skate over that
particular thing thankfully one
tradition that's not continued and
finally he just you know started schools
and the British in the end said you know
what you've done so well and they
awarded him an OBE in the late 1940s and
he went and accepted it from the
Governor General of the Sudan and
Winston Churchill was prime minister in
the UK and he said well tell mr.
Churchill I fought against him in the
Battle of Omdurman but I won't hold that
against him and he took his OBE so good
on you great-grandfather's so you know I
grew up with women who if they were
alive today would be well over a hundred
highly educated women with degrees from
Western universities you know my mother
was a teacher and so on and so forth so
I grew up with very very powerful female
figures where it was just you know we
imbibed it with our mothers milk really
but having said that I was sitting down
a few years ago with my late father who
died last year very sadly and my mother
and I said you know these are two people
who were highly educated you know in the
Sudan and I said what do you know about
Sudan's ancient history and I think I
said well we were taken to the pyramids
once on a school trip in the 1930s or
the 1940s you know and these were people
could tell you about British history you
know Kings you know King Henry the
eighth his wives and so on and yet when
it came to their own country's history
these two educated people you know drew
a bit of a blank and it wasn't just my
parents I realise this you know over
time that I was filming in lake or
in Nigeria and I was going around the
university there and I talked that you
know the finest the brightest and the
best of Nigeria and I said what do you
know about your history and they said
well we got our Nigeria was formed in
1911 slavery obviously was quite you
know think I said what before that
before that and they all drew a blank
and and I realized that actually this
was a pattern not only in Africa across
generations but also diaspora African
communities who you know perhaps living
in the Caribbean or whatever we're
feeling quite deracinated didn't know so
much about their history and I thought
you know what this isn't right and I and
I began to think about myself what do I
know about my own history and you know
when I and I realized that although I've
always liked to say oh you know I'm a
well-educated person what did I know and
it reminded me of a time when I was an
undergraduate at Oxford who was one of
the history professors when I was
actually there professor Hugh
trevor-roper late Hugh trevor-roper
and this is what he said about African
history perhaps in the future there will
be some African history to teach but at
present there is none or very little
there is only the history of Europeans
in Africa he talked about the
unrewarding gyrations of barbarous
tribes in picturesque but irrelevant
corners of the globe so if you think
that that kind of infantilization of a
continent and I actually think that
Africans have been infantilized to a
degree which we have not seen with
people anywhere else in the world if you
think that's just you know the
ruminations of a man long since dead
know you know the leader of a major
Western country only a few years ago
less than a decade ago was visiting an
African country a key African country
made a speech to his African audience
they all listened very politely as he
said the African people have not entered
the history books they've not entered
history and when I visited this
particular country not so long ago to
this day so many people from you know
presidents politicians down to waiters
and restaurants remembered this speech
made by this Western leader that the
African man had not entered history so
don't
think this is something that you can
consign to the past so it was with these
thoughts that I began to develop an
interest in ancient Sudan and you know I
discovered wonderful things there are
thousand pyramids in the Sudan 300 of
them preserve their superstructure in
around in the eighth century BC the
kings of ancient Sudan the kings of
Koosh were superpowers in Africa they
that you know their influence extended
as far as the modern-day Middle East
they governed Egypt for the best part of
a century and so on and so forth and
then after that so all you know with all
this sort of coalescing in my mind my
metamorphosis was sort of quite gradual
you know the conversation with the
parents that the finding out about
ancient Sudan I then was at UNESCO and I
saw there that there were some volumes
called the general history of Africa and
I asked what these were the GHA and I
was told that in the early 1960s during
that period of rapid decolonization in
Africa the newly independent African
President said look we have decolonized
our countries we want to decolonize our
history so they got together there was a
very enlightened Frenchman line a mile
was director-general of UNESCO at the
time and he said okay you know in Kruger
Kenyatta near re and so on and so forth
you guys pay for this and our
facilitators process so UNESCO scoured
the continent of Africa for the best
historians archaeologists
anthropologists paleontologists you name
it and they compiled volume after volume
after volume of Africa's history written
by Africans themselves there's a
difference between being an African
estándar African historian these were
African historians and these are proper
scholarly works you know they use the
kind of sausage which Western historians
had often overlooked and they also use
you know use culture like music dance
and so on to inform what they had done
and they said just because Western
historians have said in the past that
Africa's history is not always recorded
written it doesn't mean that Africans
don't have a history indeed they had the
longest history in the world because
it's where human beings originated if
you're not from Africa you're an African
export
aren't you so you know yeah well we're
talking about trade you know Africa was
the major exporter par excellence so you
know so the irony that this continent
with this long history should be told
that you know wow you don't really have
a history because you know it just means
we've got to get at it in a different
way and that's what the African
historians did so I thought this is a
wonderful inspiring project but very few
people know about it so I either then
worked out with UNESCO how I could make
a TV history series based on these
volumes Africa's history told by
Africans themselves the experts but I
also wanted to make sure that ordinary
African citizens were also part of this
conversation and I embarked on this
journey of filming around Africa the the
first history series of what was called
the history of Africa was a nap but are
we which went out on BBC World TV and it
was a real eye-opener for me you know
going around seeing the wonderful things
that just at the back of my mind proved
huge revenue per solar so wrong we all
know about ancient Egypt but you know
what about the kingdom of Aksum in
modern-day Ethiopian Eritrea and bits of
the Horn of Africa in the fourth century
this was described by a Greek historian
as one of the four greatest
civilizations of the world
what about Great Zimbabwe the wonderful
you know monuments if you go there what
about King Musa in the 12th 13th century
when who you know was was one of the
kings of the Mali Empire the Ghana
Empire the Nok civilization you know
that was BC BCE before a Common Era in
in in Nigeria today in northern Nigeria
you know really honestly I could go on
and on the berber kingdoms of north
africa with their had you know their
capital in in morocco it was just you
know i there was so much history that
actually my first series stops at around
the 13th century and i've got to start
the second series so really you know
there is so much there that you can get
at and why i think history's so
important is I'll give you a quote from
the late wonderful Kenyan environmental
and social activist Wangari Maathai who
sadly died in 2011 where she received
the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 and she
said you cannot enslave a mind that
knows itself that values itself that
understands itself and I'm very
heartened that you know just as the the
African leaders in the 1960s you know
with this project which is still ongoing
by the way the general history of Africa
at UNESCO just as as they said look
we've got to reclaim our history now you
see for example students in South Africa
wanting to decolonize their curriculum
because even 20 years after the end of
apartheid more than 20 years you still
find that you know higher education in
South Africa is still deeply rooted in
colonial and apart at the apartheid
thinking you see students now at Oxford
University saying we want African
history to be taught because it's part
of world history African history is part
of the global narrative it's not just
something that's just relevant to you if
you are or of African origin you know it
is absolutely for for everybody so this
is what I really I'm very keen to be
part of his reconstructing African
history from an African perspective
putting the African intelligentsia
center stage so I'm not saying do away
I'm not saying
and and you know honestly there were so
many of them I mean in this series every
person I interviewed was you know an
African and the minds you know they
would be comfortable in any major
academic institution anywhere in the
world is just they've not been given the
chance to go center stage
put them center stage you know great
thinkers like shake hand et up from
Senegal the late Senegalese professor
yes yes you know he should be known you
know his he was a polymath one of the
greatest minds of the 20th century you
know accomplished in so many disciplines
people should know about him so you know
I I really want to be part of this
movement but sadly sadly as Professor
Anthony assuage you a wonderful night
year in historian told me when I was
talking to him a few years ago like
Lagos University African universities
right across the continent not just in
Nigeria history the history faculty is
really really neglected of course
Africa's future lies in you know
leapfrogging technology and science and
technology and medicine and all these
things are important to make sure that
you know Africa is part of the 21st
century but it doesn't mean that we
should completely you know forget our
history so it is a plea to say that our
history is about identity it's about
self-respect
it's about claiming our own narrative
working in the media people often say to
me oh you know you always get some
Western you know well meaning often
person to sum up the situation be it you
know the Ebola crisis or some political
situation that's happened what about our
own experts this infantilization over
people whereby you've got to get other
people to come and talk on their behalf
people still see development as
something which has got to be done by
outside agents actually no country in
history has ever been developed by
outsiders
you know perhaps Germany a bit with the
Marshall Plan after the Second World War
but you know it's it's putting age it's
putting Africans in the driving seat of
a train
it means starting that journey are not
just jumping Midway insane
to claim our narrative today let us erm
you know start now no no no you've got
to go all the way back to the past to
bring yourself down to the present and
it's also about unity you know my late
father was a great agitation for
independence in the Sudan in you know in
the 1940s and 50s and he was a great
pan-africanist very inspired by you know
Kwame Nkrumah and George Padmore and so
on and and that's really what I bring as
well to this topic of history because
African history it is about unity it
doesn't matter where you live in the
world you are of African descent be you
you know in Brazil where by the way a
lot of people don't realize that around
a hundred million Brazilians that's
about more than 50% of the population
either have african heritage or mixed
African heritage you know that they are
the second largest African population
after Nigeria or the African American
diaspora the most powerful and
influential diaspora of Africans in the
world you know about 18% of the American
population again a vast number
seventy-five million you know come
together it pains me when I see when I
go to the United States and chat to
people about my relations today between
the recently arrived Africans more
recently arrived Africans from the
continent and the established
african-american community that there
isn't as much interaction and cross
fertilization of you know ideas and and
so on between them there seem to be more
differences than I would really really
like and I don't think that's right I
mean even now there are people amongst
the African American community who are
beginning to say let's go back to
calling ourselves black Americans to
distinguish ourselves from the more
recently arrived you know Africans in
our Diaspora in in the country I think
that would be a retrograde step because
stick to the term african-american I
talked to Jesse Jackson I had the
pleasure of talking to him a little bit
about his history and you remember Jesse
Jackson the 1980s was part of that kind
of scholarly movement in the United
States to claim the term
african-american and he said just as we
were called colored but we were not that
and then Negro but we were not that I
mean African simcha answering i'ma need
I'll call myself a Negro I call myself
colored they didn't to be called black
he said it's just as baseless black
tells you about skin color what side of
town you live on african-american evokes
discussion of the world so it's that
oneness of the disparate community it's
bringing everybody together under you
know one banner so you know I would
appeal to African Americans to maintain
that that name african-american because
it's only by drawing on this common
shared history that we have that one can
really realize the
ambitions of the you know early
independence fighters like my late
father the Pan Africanist who see the
whole African community you know when
you're talking about the black lives
matter campaign or you know racist
attacks or races and feelings or
whatever you know do you think
somebody's going to stop and say oh are
you from Khartoum or are you from
you know Kingston Jamaica or are you
from you know from Boston or whatever no
it's all part and parcel of the absolute
same community and I know that this is
an important topic because you know here
we live in the United Kingdom we know
how important history is for you know
informing your present and if you watch
any major events like the Olympics or
you know whatever football matches
they're always you know a bit of history
coming in whereby a nation asserts
itself so history is important for
national identity for an individual
sense of identity for a community as
well and so Africans must not be robbed
of this you know advantage because it's
something that hasn't been put center
stage and I want to say actually but
when I I know this is right because when
I was filming the film crew who I was
with I used African film crews
everywhere I went filming for this TV
series at the end of each shoot they say
say not thank you we are exhausted
you've worked so hard but we are so
grateful to you saying that because now
for the first time we really know about
our own history it's been an
I open a forest and these are by and
large you know young men and women who
were very struck by the wonderful minds
that they were listening to telling them
about their own history and so there is
a thirst there is a hunger there for
this kind of knowledge and I think that
my plea
would be that be it politicians be its
academics be it you know ordinary
members of the public in whatever guys
you are you should say please let us put
African history center stage I will end
with a quote earlier this year I was
sitting having tea in in a central
London hotel with a former president of
South Africa our president mocked lanty
and we were talking about history and he
said to me you know what say 'no I think
you're absolutely right to focus on
history because only when Lions have
historians will the hunters cease to be
heroes and that is absolutely right and
I am so glad that my four children two
sons and two daughters Joseph Sophia
Hannah and Zachary have all said mummy
thank you so much for telling us about
the history of the continent where you
were born because my four children I'm
sure like all people of African descent
anywhere in the world
are the real lions thank you for your
attention
[Applause]
[Music]
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