ACADEMIC
Doctoral student of African history, University of California, Davis
Secretary, Emerging Scholars Network of the African Studies Association
Cyber History: Homespun Historians, Ethnonationalism, and Recasting Yorùbá Oral Traditions in the Age of Social Media >link
Like other oral sources of history, oral traditions constantly respond to political incentives. In the social media world, demographics relegated to the peripheries of modern state-making projects are using oral traditions as a genre of political activism to negotiate belonging. Following this trajectory, Yorùbá homespun historians on social media are refining Yorùbá oral traditions with ethnonationalism contaminants to galvanize netizens in opposition to the ethnicity’s marginalization in Nigeria and to demand a sovereign Yorùbá nation. This article interrogates the methods and approaches that Yorùbá homespun historians employ in recasting oral traditions. Consequently, it considers potential ramifications on oral traditions as a tool for historical inquiry.
Odù Ifá in Transition: Contemplating Boundary Mechanisms in Discursive and Critical Appreciation of the Ifá Corpus >link
Some Ifá priests and scholars have argued that noninitiates should not engage the Odù Ifá corpus. They suggest that such an undertaking could be spiritually dangerous and lead to the corruption of Ifá’s messages that its practitioners have established. This article demonstrates why the Odù Ifá corpus should be open to engagement by noninitiates who are familiar with Òrìṣà logics and the intricacies of the Yorùbá language in purely academic and nonspiritual spaces. Its method is premised on reviewing a particular category of literature on Yorùbá religion, and examining the corpus as an intellectual tradition within the web of cultural globalization.
The struggle of the peoples of Africa to liberate themselves from foreign domination and aggression is a history that should be told more often through the history of social movements. This undertaking is necessary partly because studying the history of social movements on the continent allows one to understand African personality and aspirations better. It is also a significant undertaking, mainly as it opens a channel for readers to learn ordinary people’s contributions to the history of colonial Africa, which is largely dominated by European and European-influenced African government sources. Ethiopianism and pan-Africanism are two essential and interrelated movements useful in seeing and interpreting African history from below.
Ethiopianism is a manifestation of pan-Africanism. The former, as used throughout this article, is considered a quasi-religious freedom movement. It manifested in practice and thought through principles long-established in the latter. But it is only through defining the extent to which pan-Africanism as an intricate movement could manifest that any attempt to develop Ethiopianism as a component of pan-Africanism must begin.
Africa shall stretch her hands unto God: Ethiopianism as a Pan-African Religious Freedom Movement (1880–1940) >link
Since the United Nations released the 2017 edition of its annual World Population Prospects report that predicted a surge in the population of Africa as early as 2050, African leaders and development economists have debated how the continent should prepare. This article analyzes Africa’s looming demographic explosion and its likely consequences to help provide the foundational knowledge required for African leaders to make informed policy decisions.
For better or worse, population growth in Africa over the next three decades will change the course of human history. The continent is currently home to 1.3 billion people, equal to roughly 17 percent of the world’s total population.[1] By 2050, Africa’s population will increase to an unprecedented 2.4 billion and eventually to a staggering 4.2 billion by 2100.[2] The continent will nearly become the most populated on earth—trailing only Asia’s 4.8 billion
How a Population of 4.2 Billion Could Impact Africa by 2100: The Possible Economic, Demographic, and Geopolitical Outcomes >link
