Black History Unveiled

Today’s minisode of the Black History Unveiled podcast is about the fight to reintroduce female genital mutilation (FGM) in The Gambia. And how it’s a part of a global movement where, primarily, conservative men seek to maintain and/or regain control over women's bodies and sexuality. Get bonus content on Patreon

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Today's episode of the Black History Unveiled podcast provides some background to the scenes unfolding in Haiti as we speak. Too many media outlets ignore the context and are only interested in creating the most spectacular headline.  Get bonus content on Patreon

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Today's episode of the Black History Unveiled Podcast marks the third and final part of the Haitian Revolution series. In the previous episode, we witnessed the outbreak of the revolt and the successful expulsion of the invading British and Spanish forces by the enslaved people of Saint-Domingue. 

However, instead of peace, the so-called "War of the Knives" ensued, with leaders of the newly liberated population vying for control of the colony. After two years of conflict, the former slave Toussaint Louverture emerged as the victor. But what had he really won? Officially, Saint-Domingue still remained under French sovereignty.

Our story picks up when the French are gearing up to assert their authority. Louverture and the rest of the freed slaves are faced with an overpowering enemy and impossible odds, with the violence in Saint-Domingue reaching apocalyptic levels. The episode also provides keys to understanding why Haiti is in such a vulnerable position today.

You can find Black History Unveiled wherever you get your podcasts. 

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This is the second episode of our three-part series about the Haitian revolution: one of history's biggest upsets, a classic David and Goliath moment. 

In the first episode – which I recommend you listen to if you haven't already – we covered the creation of the French Caribbean colony of Saint-Domingue, which, from the late 17th century onwards, was the primary source of all coffee and sugar consumed in Europe. To make this possible, imported Africans were subjected to a particularly hideous form of slavery.

As this episode begins—late summer 1791—the slaves—the island's majority population—are preparing to give their lives for a chance at freedom.

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Today's episode touches on one of the most fascinating events in history. It's a story containing incomprehensible evil, incredible courage, and inspiring resistance. 

By understanding this story, you also understand more about why things look the way they do today. How, for example, can two neighboring Caribbean countries – sharing an island – have such enormously different conditions? How can there be prosperity, investment, and hope for the future on one side of the border, while on the other, there is mainly talk of societal collapse, poverty, and suffering?

Many of the answers can be found here.

The episode is about the colonization of a Caribbean island and the particularly brutal slavery that followed. But also about the revolt that culminated in creating what is usually called "the world's first black republic" – Haiti.

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Today's minisode is about an Ethiopian prince whisked away to England under mysterious circumstances. Since then, a battle has been waged over his remains, with Ethiopia yearning for his return, a request staunchly denied by the British monarchy. Get bonus content on Patreon

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Today's episode is about an East African kingdom that, in the 2nd century CE, was described as one of the world's foremost powers, along with Rome, Persia, and China. A kingdom that erected grand monuments and whose coinage spread throughout the world. It was not only among the first in history to convert to Christianity – a couple of hundred years later, it may have played a decisive role in the survival of Islam as a religion. 

Today's episode is about Aksum.

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Those of you who've been listening to the podcast know that I often caution against the pitfalls of drawing parallels between various forms of slavery, especially when such comparisons are rooted in misleading or deceptive reasoning. 

In this episode, I'm spotlighting a recent instance of this very issue. It's a striking example of a comparison that seeks to downplay the sheer scale and catastrophic impact of transatlantic slavery. It's whataboutism to an extraordinary degree.

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In the second and final part of the series on transatlantic slavery, we take a closer look at the golden age of the slave trade. We examine what allowed the trade to become so lucrative and extensive and how slavery differed from place to place, establishing that the U.S. wasn't representative of the rest of America. We also explore how the slave trade institutionalized racism against Black people. Get bonus content on Patreon

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In this week's minisode, we're taking a closer look at last year's Dutch apology for the Netherlands' role in slavery. We will examine what led to it, why the apology took so long, what it might mean for the future and the ripple effects (if any) it has had so far. Get bonus content on Patreon

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Today's episode is about the transatlantic slave trade, which is probably what many people think of first when they think of the history of Black Africa. Even so, it's a subject marked by misconceptions. People usually know that it happened, but not so much about why, how it started, or how far-reaching the consequences of it were. 

Therefore, the following two episodes are a deep dive into transatlantic slavery. Part two will be more about the golden age of the slave trade, what life was like for those enslaved, and the obscene amounts of money the slave traders made. 

In part one, we instead take a closer look at how the money that the Portuguese made from the West African gold trade pushed the Spanish to try to find their own sources of gold. But also on slavery as an institution and how the transatlantic slave trade first arose: how Portugal's exploration of Africa and the European so-called discovery of America worked together to create this tragic chapter in human history.

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Before the podcast leaves Mali, I will address two allegations of plagiarism leveled at Disney. The first and weaker of the two claims is that Disney stole large parts of Mali's national epic, "The Epic of Sundiata," in creating the plot of the mega-hit "The Lion King."

The second is about one of the film's signature songs, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." The original version was written in 1939 by a South African man named Solomon Linda, who was paid pennies for the recording and died destitute, while American renditions of his song brought in millions.

The episode also highlights the battle against Disney that Linda's daughters have been waging to access missing royalties and have Solomon Linda's name recognized as the original composer.

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Today's episode is about a place where some people believed valuable minerals grew in the ground and were picked as plants. An immense empire serving as a center of trade and religion, supplying Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East with much-coveted gold. 

But it was also a place that may have inspired Europeans to venture further out into the seas than ever before, with consequences no one could have imagined. This is the story of Mansa Musa and the Mali Empire.

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After ordering the assassination of Thomas Sankara, his close friend and right-hand man Blaise Compaoré seized power in Burkina Faso. He ruled the country for 27 years before widespread protests forced him into exile in 2014. Two democratic elections followed as Burkina Faso was drawn deeper into the jihadist violence that has spread across the Sahel belt over the past decade.

In 2022, the country suffered two military coups. The latest brought the young and enigmatic Ibrahim Traoré to power. Since then, he has advocated for self-sufficiency, distanced himself from the old colonial power France, and fostered closer ties with Russia. 

Can Traoré finally defeat the militias? And if so, will he return power to the people?

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The premiere episode of Black History Unveiled is about a country where corruption was rampant, where a small elite lived well at the expense of the majority, and where international aid was essential for survival. It is also a story about a person who wanted to change all that and who genuinely seemed to want the population's best. The methods have been questioned, but the result spoke for itself.

This is the story of Thomas Sankara and his struggle to make Burkina Faso stand on its own two feet. A fight that cost him his life

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Welcome to Black History Unveiled, the new podcast where we spotlight pivotal moments, influential figures, and groundbreaking movements from Black History across the globe.

In this episode, I tell you a little about myself and what drove me to start this podcast. I also talk about how Black history, up until relatively recently, was considered insignificant and trivial. Until the 1960s, a typical Western view was that Black Africa was devoid of history. That's why that narrative is so important to change. 

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Black History Unveiled: From the Continent to the Diaspora is a podcast by Swedish-Gambian journalist and author Amat Levin. It focuses on the part of world history that has received shockingly little attention. The podcast highlights gripping historical events, fascinating places, and exciting people that have been conspicuous by their absence in our history books.

Some episodes are about things that happened hundreds, even thousands of years ago. Others take place more recently and touch on scenes many of us may have witnessed. The stories are inspiring, illuminating, startling, and sometimes upsetting.

By listening, you'll learn why Black history has traditionally been suppressed, why it's essential to change that, and what learning about it can teach us about today.

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