Blog # 11             

            After reading about religion in Africa and viewing the video, African religion is different and based on today’s religion and centuries ago. I find a connection with the video that explains how the religion was organized by the religions known as Christianity and Islam.  

            As I finished the video; “Traditional African Religions”, my connections were that the Europeans played a major part on the religion. The Africans had their own religion and the Europeans came to capture and they came with their own way of training their religion on the Africans. After this was done the traditional religion in Africa was told or taught there was no existence.  “To the outside world, especially Euro-Christians, Africans either had no religion or their was an “invisible” one.” (Azevedo p. 400)  After the fear and intimidation the Africans were afraid to express their religion.

There was futbol and that was an important sport to the country and they were good at it. There were some players that were still practicing the traditional African religion. There were some who thought living by the traditional religion that they would lose game or not perform to the best of their ability.

In conclusion, I feel that traditional religion in African and amongst African American still exists, one the sport has grown so much in Africa, Secondly, there are other teachings of the religion and people are using this as a way to connect to the mother land. There are spiritual healing going on in today’s society to help heal and motivate people on a daily bases.  As far as the difference in Christianity and Islam we may never get a closure to that situation.

Blog #10

After viewing the panel regarding HIV/ AIDS, this was an eye opener for many people. As I listen to Alica Keys and the way she presents a question asked by an 8 year. There is not enough medication given to the women that are given birth to innocent babies with HIV. “There are a 1,000 babies born a day with HIV and do not have to be, and only 50% have access to the medication”. (Alicia Keys) This number is extremely high and there is no assist with Africa to lower the number to make a change. I feel like the Government would get pretty tired of the high numbers of deaths in Africa of small babies. The AIDS disease is becoming very popular and what is becoming more popular is the high number of deaths. The deaths are increasing due to the lack of medication and or awareness of the medicating. This has a lot to do with the location geographically. Chapter 27 gives statics of the AIDS/HIV number in the different parts of Africa. As I read and compare the video I notice the hot climate and the dirty water and the bugs help control the high population of the disease. Again the lack of medication plays a major role in the pandemic

Blog #9

As I completed the viewing the video and reading chapter 24, I realized that this woman was serious about going to school and would use anything to get there. Comparing the story told by Kakenya Ntaiva.

There was a time and still is a time that women work from home and take care of two things home, family and duties on their job. “African woman have emerged as backbones of contemporary society. The contribution to the family and society are essential.” (Azevdo, p.454) In the culture the father was a strong influence on the whole family. She explained that she played the motherly role and helped her father.  Her father had to give her the permission to move forward like marriage, she would use her furthering her education to get her father to cooperate with her and her decisions.

In chapter 24 and in the video there was a mention of the female genitals mutilation, Kakenya also had had to deal with this type of behavior. As I listened to her explain her way of dealing this such thing, I find this to be unfair and away of taking away a woman’s real identity of being a woman. This was a bit disturbing when it was mention how it was legal and the large numbers given with that information. “The judge was ignorant of the reality that an estimated 80 million women worldwide have experienced genital mutilation.” (Azevedo, p.460)  

As I complete the reading s and finish watching the story of Kakenya, I was sad and happy. I am very happy to see again a woman has made a difference in many women’s lives. She was able to take a bad situation and turn it to a better experience foe other woman by learning from her encounters’ she came back and helped provide shelters and educate the woman on their rights

Blog #8
Music

After reading the chapters I noticed that and viewing the video, I have noticed that Africa has a variety of ethnic groups and with the many groups comes the music. There are several different types of music and they use different types of instruments. Each instrument can produce a different sound, which is what makes the music.

Each artist has a way of delivering the music. There was King sunny Ade he played an important part in the Afro Pop.  He can make a sound from the many different instruments that one would think was very unique. He had a band that had ten members one played the drums and others played the bass guitar that made a very tempo beat that was liked by many. He was able to make sounds with the instruments and make there was also an instrument that could communicate with the band; which was the first of such kind.

Blog #7

African art during the Disapora would be known as temporary and traditional. Based on my readings a lot of the art was displayed in museums and not treated equally in the European museums and may fall under another category besides temporary. Some the art in African cultural were used as performance and traditional performances.  The mask used in these performances and they were made of different things to explain a spirit or a story to tell. After the masks were used in performances and the full spirit was used, to eliminate the true meaning by displaying on the walls of a gallery.

There were other issues used by other Americans that they did not understand the true meaning of the African art and the history behind the art. They were put last on the viewing and the credentials were last when it came to their work in the galleries also.

Blog #6

Blog #6

     The video left me thinking and Patrice Lumumba was the best thing standing for the people of Congo. If the enemy concentrated on the power and control he had the more they became threatened and very fearful; intimidated basically.  AS I learned prior to this video there was again the word” greed”, Africa had valuable goods like Diamonds, Cooper, Gold , Iron, and Zinc, just to name  a few.

     Lumumba felt that Congo would be better off if independent of Belgium, and allow the Congolese people run it themselves. He was also a seller of beer that he himself started making and selling, that would later turn out to be not good for the people. The selling of the bad beer would help Lumumba to become popular and known to the tribes in Congo. The beer was known by hear say too be bad and this was the rumors that was floating around for people to wonder who Patrice Lumumba. Lumumba was the prime minister and that gave him the authority to control the separation of the tribes. The separation would later cause problems amongst the tribes, some thought they were better, or believed to be better than other tribes.

     Lumumba was later assassinated, after escaped and travel to different towns to give knowledge of what he believed as a leader, he lost a couple town that no longer trusted him. The CIA and the FBI played a major role in his death because of his power and how he had so many followers to support him.  He was a man that would try to promote what he believed the most and how it could help his people.