Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, depending on when you are reading this post. I am working through the History of Africa series. This series continues to inspire and amaze me as I go through it for this website. I just wish that the episodes were slightly longer and there would have been some additional episodes because I feel like I am missing out on even more fantastic information. The episode today is called Diamonds, Gold, and Greed. The run time for this episode is 44:58.
Zeinab Badawi travels to South Africa and Zimbabwe. She learns about how Southern Africans came to grasp the destruction and suffering that was inflicted on them by white settlers. Then she learns about how the original settlers of the Cape tried to resist the settlers and the cruel reprisals for their endurance. Then she explores the history of the Zulu, particularly Shaka the King of the Zulus. She meets with a descendant of Shaka and they talk about their illustrious ancestor. Zeinab kicks off the episode by exploring the San culture and she interviews a guide from the San conservation center. After this short interview, she explores how the Dutch East Indian Company came in and changed the way for the San people. The Dutch would establish a settlement because of its location on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. At first, the people would have welcomed the people and would have traded with the people. However, things changed when more people came in and started to farm the land. The farmers started to encroach on the ancestral lands of the San and the Khoikhoi people. The Europeans would have looked down on the people. Both groups of people would have fought against the Dutch settlers. There were wars of extermination against the San and Khoikhoi people. As part of this discussion, Zeinab tours a prison where people were kept and tortured for their resistance. Eventually, the Dutch would be conquered by the British. The British had military superiority and so the Dutch would tolerate the British presence because at least law and order would have been kept. However, when the Dutch eventually left the Cape when British settlers came in. There were rivalries and the Dutch would move out of the Cape and into the interior. They would eventually become known as the Boers. Then there is a discussion on the rise of the Zulu kingdom. Zeinab tours a Zulu village and would interview an expert in the Zulu Kingdom. She learns about the people who made up the people and then she tours a museum about the Zulu history. Then there are some facts about Shaka Zulu and how his story comes down through history. One side says that Shaka was an evil and vile man. Other voices said that he carefully brought the people together and created the Zulu empire. This section just touches on the Zulu Kingdom, so I feel like this could have been split off into a separate episode to go into more detail about the kingdom. Zeinab interviews a Zulu Prince, who was a relative of Shaka. He talks about his ancestor with pride. He talks about how Shaka invented the short spear, introduced celibacy among the soldier, and devised new fighting techniques. Zeinab visits where Shaka established the capital of the Zulu Kingdom. It was here that Shaka was murdered by his half-brothers. Even today, Shaka’s death is mourned. After this interview, Zeinab goes to Zimbabwe to learn about the kingdom that was established there. To learn more about this kingdom, continue to follow along with this episode. Again, I have to remind myself that this is a primer but I would have appreciated some more background on the Khoikhoi and the San people. Then there should have been a discussion about the impact of Dutch settlers on their way of life. I also would have dedicated an episode to the Zulu, but that is just me. This was also divided into chapters which will make things easy for a teacher to break up to use in a lecture. This is a primer, but it is still recommended for a history class because it is very well done.
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The purpose of this blog is to share information on what can be used in a classroom, private school, or home school setting as well as serve as a portfolio of my personal and professional work. The reviews are my opinions and should be treated as such. I just want to provide a tool for teachers to select documentaries for their classrooms. |