African Roots: Shadows of German Colonialism
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Culture in Chief: Oba Ewuare and Leopold Sedar Senghor
Cai explores how Senegal's first president, poet Leopold Senghor, believed a mix of African and French culture could carry Senegal into independence. Meanwhile, Laila tells Cai how Nigerian Oba…
Namibian women keeping traditions alive and history near
The atrocities of German colonialism remained largely, and purposefully, obscure as Namibians endured successive German and British colonial administration. Under the South African apartheid rule…
From Douala to Ngonnso: How women fought resisted German colonialism in Cameroon
In 1893, Dahomey men and women revolted against abuse by German colonial officers in Cameroon in a famous uprising that Germany was unprepared for. We look at how female resistance against…
Who was Li'ti Kidanka, the Queen of the Bees?
As German colonialists swept into East Africa, they came up against a force none had reckoned with: Li'ti Kidanka. Shrouded in folklore, we tell the story of a Tanzanian heroine who fought German…
How Nduna Mkomanile fought German colonialism
Nduna Mkomanile tried to unite East African communities against German colonialism during the Maji Maji war in the early 20th century. She's now regarded as one of Tanzania's most notable female…
Reclaiming Heritage: Dinknesh and Sarah Baartman
One of the world's oldest humanoid fossils, colloquially known as Dinknesh, or "Lucy," has intrigued paleontologists for decades. But her name is also a point of pride for Ethiopians. Meanwhile Laila…
Injected with fear: the legacy of colonial era vaccination programs
Tropical medicine boomed as European powers claimed territories in Africa. Germany sent the famed Robert Koch and many others to the colonies to find cures to tropical illnesses - but also to test…
Unsettling continuities – from colonial racism to Nazism
Respected German anthropologists made a career from dividing people by race, a new branch of science that conveniently put Europeans at the top. While eugenics and scientific racism was widely…
Why African nations still fight over colonial era borders
Why does Namibia have a bizarre panhandle? Why do some Ghanaians talk of being from "Western Togoland"? Much of this has to do with African borders drawn up in Europe during late 19th century.…
How German colonization of Namibia resulted in genocide
After the decisive Battle of Waterberg between German and Herero fighters, colonial officers in the colony of South West Africa, today's Namibia, directed a violent, uncompromising persecution of…
How German colonists changed power dynamics in Togo forever
Germany's control over Togoland drastically altered traditional power structures, favoring compliant chiefs and running roughshod over cultural norms. We explore how punitive expeditions and colonial…
Why did Germany target colonies in East Africa
In East Africa and the Great Lakes region, German colonial conquest spurred courageous resistance from many local East African groups against well-armed and violent colonial forces.
The colonial legacy of Africa's place names
In the context of colonial-era injustice, the renaming of landmarks almost seems like a footnote. But in this podcast we discover how renaming mountains, towns, and even people was another form of…
Quane Martin Dibobe: From exhibit to anti-colonial activist
Summer 1896: A Cameroonian man appeared in Treptower Park, Berlin as part of a human exhibition to increase enthusiasm for German colonialism. Little did anyone know this man — Martin Dibobe — would…
How colonialism boosted Germany's merchant fleets
Running a colonial empire required a reliable merchant fleet. Hamburg-based businessman Adolph Woermann and his shipping line soon exerted considerable influence over Germany's colonial policy. We…
How colonial Germany extended its empire in Africa
By 1885, Adolf Lüderitz had acquired vast territories in today's Namibia. But his contracts with local people were so dodgy that even German colonial officials doubted them.
The long road to Liberation: Nelson Mandela and Eduardo Mondlane
For our last episode of African Roots, we profile two giants: Mozambique's Eduardo Mondlane and South Africa's Nelson Mandela. We look at how the two men shaped their respective nations' trajectories…
Women to the Front: Margaret Ekpo and The Amazons
Cai finds out how the legendary warriors, the Dahomey Amazons, have recently gained recognition - to dazzling Hollywood effects. But not all women fought on the battlefield: Laila explores how in…
Of myths and legends: Sunjata Keita and Bayajida
Oral histories are key to shaping nationalities, legends and identities. Cai and Laila explore the role of West African griots in keeping alive the phenomenal stories of Sunjata Keita from Mali and…
Legacy unravelled: Usman Dan Fodio and William Tubman
The relentless march of time changes histories and, sometimes, tarnishes reputation. Cai and Laila meet two nation builders, Usman Dan Fodio, and Liberia's William Tubman, whose legacies are…
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African Roots: Shadows of German Colonialism has published 39 episodes since June 2022, covering topics in Documentary, History.
African Roots: Shadows of German Colonialism is currently dormant with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 18m.
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