The African Diaspora: A History Through Culture, by Patrick Manning, covers several past years of black people and their close interactions. The work is divided into six parts, with an introduction that discusses the concept of dispersion, 13 geographical locations, two diagrams, and 26 portraits, statuaries, and photos, the majority of which were created by black people. The work is arranged in certain occurrences and separated into several primary categories: networks, endurance, liberation, nationality, and impartiality. The belief of the African Diaspora is built upon it. Its framework is discussed in the introduction, “Diaspora: Struggles and Connections,” which conceptualizes and retraces the past of the concept of dispersion of the black people. The author addresses important issues including the modernization of oppression in the entire globe, the input brought by the black people, the invention of new cultures by the black people, the attainment of justice for all in the society, amends on mistakes done in the past, the end of discrimination, and the benefits to be reaped by the black from the achievement of justice.
The Sub-Saharan African diaspora, ancient migration, and the Atlantic diaspora are how Manning categorizes the diasporas. Although the African diaspora existed before the fourteenth era, the author views some acts of slavery as a watershed moment when studying the past in the migration of the black people. The second chapter looks into the evolution of black communities besides their relationships with other communities on and beyond the land. The author demonstrates how the emergence and growth of oppression on the territory of the black people remained critical aspects in the interface between diverse cultures and determining the role of black people in the globe. Beginning with African enslavement, this section of the book examines the oppression commonly practiced on the black people until certain individuals rose to condemn it, which ultimately threw the institution into disarray. The section chronicles the persistence of pressure in Africa and the Islamic slave trade, which was also predominant. Section 5, which is about citizenship, examines the battle that was put up to bring about citizenship and the rights of the common people up to the 1960s. The last section, which is about equality, examines the efforts of the black people as they struggle to achieve equality in all spheres of life, ranging from politics to education. There is no comprehensive bibliography in the book, only an index. Nevertheless, the author includes a small list of suggested reads at the end of each chapter, and the subject recommends a small list.
Manning’s book is the only one that covers the past of the migration of black people. Even though it is a book of limited volume, it is an essential history of the oppression; and offers a lot of knowledge of the level of slavery at that time. The book highlights the human experiences during that period all the sufferings they underwent. Some of the happenings were so cruel that they did not fit human standards. As much as it was later completely abolished, some of the memories still live with most victims. He also goes over the adaption and struggles dynamics within the black continent and America. Manning referred to a few English-language past sources on South American countries like Brazil, and he covers the most important experiences in the slavery period. The Palmares quilombo that starts the third chapter is very interesting and wonderfully written. Manning’s unique perspective focuses on humans’ sufferings due to oppression rather than economic reasons. It’s also worth noting that Manning pays close consideration to the experiences of black women, especially African females, throughout the book. The photographs accompanying the book are excellent, despite the brief explanations that beg for more detail.
Despite these various advantages, there are a few flaws to be aware of. The concept of the African diaspora is not covered in depth in the introduction. It just focuses on the idea of culture and its different subtitles. Manning appears to confine African diaspora studies to a few books by academics. The book’s emphasis concerning the diverse experiences of individuals of African ancestry necessitates a far more in-depth examination of the history and formation of concepts like the migration of the black people and their identity. A recent study is frequently overlooked in the suggested references after each chapter. Manning identifies a few books focused on the sufferings that the African people go through and their descendants in Spanish America, for example, except for Cuba. The bibliographies concerning racism and civil rights demands in nations like Brazil and debates on the rights of persons of African heritage in western countries like France and the United Kingdom are both minimal.
Despite these flaws, Manning succeeds in taking African values to the forefront of discussions on the African migration whereas circumventing the Afrocentrism that so often plagues such effort. In his work, covering the gruesome happenings has also enlightened many people. It has helped fight against societal vices such as racism and tribalism, which has remained a problem to date. The author should also be commended for giving a country like Brazil a prominent role in the book, as the nation that absorbed the largest proportion of those affected by the slave trade during the Atlantic slave trade. Manning did not separate the African diaspora into the experiences of different regions and countries/ states. This helped in analyzing the brutality that occurred. A solution could therefore be found that liberated Africans and Americans that were oppressed. Although slavery continues to exist to date, the Africans in the diaspora finally found their place in the world when slavery was officially ended. For these reasons, professors, graduate, and undergraduate students studying the African diaspora will find the book very resourceful.
Bibliography
Araujo, Ana L. “Manning, Patrick. – The African Diaspora: A History Through Culture.” Cahiers d’études africaines 52, no. 208 (2012), 1026-1027. doi:10.4000/etudesafricaines.14438.
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