For the Tumbuka people of Malawi, traditional medical practices are saturated with music. Steven M. Friedson explores a health care system populated by dancing prophets, singing patients, and drummed spirits.
Life Under the Baobab Tree: Africana Studies and Religion in a Transitional Age is a compendium of innovating essays meticulously written by early and later diaspora people of African descent. Their speech arises from the depth of their experiences under the Baobab tree and offers to the world voices of resilience, newness/resurrection, hope, and life. Resolutely journeying on the trails of their ancestors, they speak about setbacks and forward-looking movements of liberation, social transformation, and community formation. The volume is a carefully woven conversation of intellectual substance and structure across time, space, and spirituality that is quintessentially “Africana” in its centering of methodological, theoretical, epistemological, and hermeneutical complexity that assumes nonlinear and dialogical approaches to developing liberating epistemologies in the face of imperialism, colonialism, racism, and religious intolerance. A critical part of this conversation is a reconceptualization and reconfiguration of the concept of religion in its colonial and imperial forms. Life Under the Baobab Tree examines how Africana peoples understand their corporate experiences of the divine not as “religion” apart from its intimate connections to social realities of communal health, economics, culture, politics, environment, violence, war, and dynamic community belonging. To that end Afro-Pessimistic formulations of life placed in dialogic relation Afro-Optimism. Both realities constitute life under the Baobab tree and represent the sturdiness and variation that anchors the deep ruptures that have affected Africana life and the creative responses. The metaphor and substance of the tree resists reductionist, essentialist, and assured conclusions about the nature of diasporic lived experiences, both within the continent of Africa and in the African Diaspora.
Set in Africa during the Christmas season, this is the story of a village preparing for a celebration - the birth of a child. The story is told in verse inspired by the traditional carol The Twelve Days of Christmas, but in this version by the author Catherine House the gifts are: 1 stork in a baobab tree, 2 thatched huts, 3 woven baskets, 4 market traders, 5 bright khangas, 6 women pounding, 7 children playing, 8 wooden carvings, 9 grazing goats, 10 drummers drumming, 11 dancers dancing and 12 storytellers. This is a Christmas steeped in the atmosphere of African village life, including descriptions of the objects and activities mentioned in the text.
Journey to the heart of Africa with "Short Stories From Africa: 40 Folktales of the Motherland from The Diaspora," a captivating collection that brings the rich tapestry of African folklore right to your fingertips. This book is a celebration of African culture, spanning the entire continent from the vibrant West to the majestic South, the ancient North to the lively East. Crafted for Africans in the diaspora, this collection serves as a luminous thread connecting them to their ancestral heritage. Each folktale is a window into the diverse ways of life, beliefs, and traditions that pulse through the continent, offering readers a chance to immerse themselves in the wisdom and spirit of Africa. Why This Book Is Special: A Pan-African Treasure: Experience a diverse range of stories from every region of Africa, each tale a testament to the continent's rich storytelling tradition. Cultural Richness: These folktales offer a vibrant glimpse into the daily life, moral values, and cultural practices that define African communities. Lessons to Cherish: After each story, insightful lessons bring to light the deeper meanings and teachings inherent in African folklore. Bridging Worlds: For Africans living far from their native lands, this book is a reconnecting link to their roots, offering comfort, identity, and a sense of belonging. "Short Stories From Africa" is more than a book—it's a heritage journey. It invites readers of all backgrounds, especially those from the diaspora, to explore the enchanting world of African folklore and to carry the legacy of these tales into the future. Whether you're seeking a connection to your African roots or are eager to explore the folktales of this vibrant continent, this book promises to be a valuable addition to your library. Embark on this mesmerizing journey with 'Short Stories From Africa: 40 Folktales of the Motherland from The Diaspora'. Discover the stories that have shaped a culture and let them inspire you. Available now.
Set in South Carolina, USA, 18th Century. A story of slaves. Based on fact, embellished in empathy. Main character Nicholas. Born on a plantation in 1767. Taken from his mother aged seven, by his Masters’ worker Barn, who heads up the boys for the Moloch cult. Nicholas is initiated. Seeds are sown for Nicholas to become a deranged psychotic. He has a penchant for white females. Khat, delicate, timorous. Shunned by mother and siblings is raised by her grandmother En; a high priestess versed in voodoo. Is En a force for good or evil? Khat is taken, sold to a wealthy plantation owner. With his first wife he was kind, generous, loving. She died in childbirth. He remarried a harridan, a malicious, vindictive woman. Hence: he became a malevolent, obese, caricature, the antithesis of a South Carolina gentleman. Beth the head cook enfolds Khat. Does she influence Nicholas’s and Khat’s destiny? Is the novel about white oppression and black submission, or does good triumph? Plucked from their traditional culture in Africa. Pitched into a white culture of manners, finery, folly and frivolity. Their lives could be forever destroyed. Or could they draw on their own native spirit, the supernatural with a tincture of voodoo – to survive? The topic thought to be stale, even arid. But my story not only touch the heart of human nature. It pierces its very bowels. “Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage.” Richard Lovelace.
When Maiko has to leave his village in Africa to live with his aunt and uncle in Canada, he misses the giant baobab tree in the middle of his village but makes friends with a small spruce tree in his aunt and uncle's yard.
A fully updated edition of one of the most original accounts of evolution ever written, featuring new fractal diagrams, six new 'tales' and the latest scientific developments. THE ANCESTOR'S TALE is a dazzling, four-billion-year pilgrimage to the origins of life: Richard Dawkins and Yan Wong take us on an exhilarating reverse journey through evolution, from present-day humans back to the microbial beginnings of life. It is a journey happily interrupted by meetings of fellow modern animals (as well as plants, fungi and bacteria) similarly tracing their evolutionary path back through history. As each evolutionary pilgrim tells their tale, Dawkins and Wong shed light on topics such as speciation, sexual selection and extinction. Written with unparalleled wit, clarity and intelligence; taking in new scientific discoveries of the past decade; and including new 'tales', illustrations and fractal diagrams, THE ANCESTOR'S TALE shows us how remarkable we are, how astonishing our history, and how intimate our relationship with the rest of the living world.
This story is based on actual events and experiences of numerous women and directly drew from the results of qualitative research on the factors impeding women’s ability to work in Burkina Faso. It offers readers a glimpse into the daily lives of women in rural areas that want to work.
When the gods create a talking tree, they soon regret it because it won’t be quiet. So they turn it upside down and bury its head in the dirt. The classic African folktale, specially retold as part of the Usborne Reading Programme for children just starting to read alone. This ebook includes audio and reading-related puzzles. "Crack reading and make confident and enthusiastic readers with this fantastic reading programme." - Julia Eccleshare
Why do I keep coming back to Africa? It is not the safari; it’s the wilderness of the continent that attracts me like a magnet. Its unkempt nature, unforgiving wilderness, red earth, Maasai people, beautiful acacia trees and blooming jacaranda—they all define my love for Africa. “I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills.” Yes, Out of Africa is an epic movie that has shaped my thoughts and inspired me to travel to Africa over and over again. No matter how many times I travel to Africa, my quest for Africa never ends. Sitting alone in the bushland on a moonlit night, I hear the night birds chirping and an owl hooted somewhere. I feel the moon drops silently dripping down on me. I love it! A star-filled African night whispers in my ears—“Stay with me.” I close my eyes. I hear Denys Finch in Out of Africa saying, “I don’t want to live someone else’s idea of how to live.” Denys was so right! Yes, that is the Africa I fell in love with, and that is my story I would love to share with you.