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African Spotlight I
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The Peoples
Of West "Africa
West Africa is.the home of black people. Though black races
, are found across Africa from the Atlantic to the Red Sea, and
between latitudes 4 and 8 North, they are found in the largest
numbers in West Africa. Thus, this part of Africa was known to
ancient Greeks and Romans as hlarklanrt* it i? i?>? *? ?
_ W a? ? IIVIV IIIUl 11IW
so-called pure blacks live. . .
It is not known for sure when and from where the blacks came
to live in West Africa. The popular tradition is that they came
from the East (Asia), and settled here many years before Christ.
They must have come at different times and in many different
groups, hence the multiplicity of many people speaking
different languages. According to linqustic theory, we can
narrow African languages to five main group. This probably will
suggest five main ethnic groupings.
The Yorubas of Nijgeria for instance, trace their origin to
Arabia, the Hausas to Bagdad, and the Ibos to the Egyptian
Jews. It has been said that the word Ibo is a corruption of
'Hebrew'.
Generally speaking, the blacks of West Africa fall into two
groups, namely, the pure black and the mixed black races. With
the exception of the Fulani, the geographical distribution of the
two groups in about 1000 A.D. seems, to a large extent, similar
to what it is today.
The pure blacks live mostly in the forest region of West
Africa. Their racial purity has been preserved by the forest
which prevented the peroration of foreign invaders from the
north.
The principal pure blacks of West Africa, are the following:
The Woloffs, Serers and Tukolors who occupy most of the
territory between the Senegal and Gambia rivers. They are
mainly Moslems. ^
The Mande or Mandingoes inhabit most of the region
between the Atlantic and the Upper Niger. They are divided
into several ethnic groups speaking slightly different
languages. The main ethnic srouos are the Malinke in tho
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south, the Soninke in the north and the Bambara. They are
mostly Moslems.
To the south in the forest belt live the Kru of Liberia and Ivory
Coast, the Akan and Ga of modern Ghana, the Ewe of Togoland,
the Fon of Dahomey, the Yorubas of south-western Nigeria and
the Ibos of south-eastern Nigeria. These arc pagan or
Christians.
The mixed blacks living north of the forest region have conic
under the influence of foreign Hamitic (Berber) and Semitic
(Arab and Jewish) peoples from across the Sahara desert. The
principal Hamitic blacks are:
The Songhai who occupy the country along the eastern bend
of the Niger from Gao to Bussa. They arc a mixture of Tuareg
Berber and blacks. They are mostly Moslems.
The Voltaic or Gur-speaking peoples - Mossi, the
Dagomba, the Gurma, and other small groups. They inhabit the
country between the Songhai in the north and the forest in the
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^uiu aiuunu me neaa-waters ot the Upper Volta. They are
mostly pagan.
The Hausa inhabit the grasslands of Northern Nigeria from
'he Niger in the west to the western limits of Bornu in the east.
They are almost all Moslems.
The Kanuri are found around Lake Chad especially in Bornu
emirate.
The Fulani are the Semitic blacks of West Africa and the last
to arrive. It is commonly believed by many that the Fulani are a
mixture of Jewish and black bloods. They are widely spread
across the West African grasslands from Senegal to the
Cameroons, They are mostly Moslems.
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HE WINSTON-SALEM CHRONK
The Revi
,Nat Turner was born
OTtffhfr 2. 1800. thf y of a.,
slave woman named Nancy
and her owner Benjamin
Turner. On August 21, 31
years later, he led a slave
revolt that brought death to 57
^3k>e^iiMnpton, kVa.. whites. ^
including women and children.
For six weeks, Nat Turner
eluded his captors by hiding in
CAVM. HA U/a C AvAfitnollu
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captured, tried and convicted,
and on November 11 was hung
by the neck until dead.
The first program of this
two-part series is set in
Southampton County at the
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olt Of Nat Pleasant
Plains Church in
brewyvllle, where Nat Turner's
great-grandchildren aremembers.
After a presenta
tion by Gary Grant and
Evangeline Redding 'on the
tradition of the spiritual, the
discussion of Nat Turner. The
minister, a school principle, a
teacher, a laborer and a senior
citizen discuss what they think
about Nat Turner and _ his.
commitment. Two books,
William Styron's Confessions
of Nat Turner and Henry 1.
Tragle's The Nat Turner
Revolt of 1831, are a focal
r
ft
NOVEMBER 16, 1974
rurner V
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point of the discussion.
James McGee. a 38-vear^^
old highway wonfer in
"Southampton County, is
r feated in the second part of .
the Nat Turner program.
Obsessed since the age of nine
with learning all he could
traced all the paths and
studied the habits of Turner.
While he provides the story
line, the resident cast
. re-enacts scenes in Turner's
- life. The second part also
includes an interview with two
of Turner's great-grandchild- ren
Herbert and Ashby
Turner.
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