Located at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert and six miles north of the Niger River in the present-day nation of Mali, Timbuktu has been a centuries-old, significant city in West Africa. In the 14th Century it became the commercial, religious and cultural center of the West African empires of Mali and Songhai. With its population of traders, merchants and scholars, Timbuktu was known throughout western Africa … Continue reading TIMBUKTU (CA. 1100- )
The Mali Empire was the second of three West African empires to emerge in the vast savanna grasslands located between the Sahara Desert to the north and the coastal rain forest in the south. Beginning as a series of small successor trading states, Ancient Ghana, the empire grew to encompass the territory between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Chad, a distance of 2,600 miles (nearly … Continue reading Revisit: MALI EMPIRE (CA. 1200-1545 )
The Songhai Empire, the last of West Africa’s pre-colonial empires, emerged in Gao and expanded across the region. Under Sunni Ali Ber and Askia Muhammad Toure, it grew through conquest and trade. However, a civil war led to Moroccan conquest in 1591. Although the Moroccans withdrew in 1661, the empire could not be reestablished and fell to French colonial forces in 1901. Continue reading revisit: SONGHAI EMPIRE (CA. 1375-1591)
First African Baptist Church, located in the historic district of Savannah, Georgia, is recognized as one of the nation’s oldest African American Baptist Churches. Although the church was not officially established until 1788, the original congregation of mostly enslaved individuals had been formed in 1773 by former slave George Leile, who was ordained in 1775. Leile was assisted by two local enslaved individuals he baptized, … Continue reading FIRST AFRICAN BAPTIST CHURCH, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA (1773- )
Black Art Story 