You won't be totally wrong to infer that Africa is over-pampared by Mother Nature. Apart from the fact that it has been seen as the birthplace of ancient of civilization, it is also a major blazer in the trail of human evolution (fossil records would be evidential in proving this). That means, Africa is also home to Mother Nature.
Well, you may not have a fuller understanding of this if you have not had an African experience before.
Why then do some people tag Africa as a "dark continent"?
I'm sure you must have heard of the term "dark Africa". Well, permit me to re-align that mentality. "Africa" was actually derived from the combo of "Afri" and "ica". "Afri" actually came from the "Afri Tribe" (an ancient North-African tribe). Then "ica" stands for "the land of".
Meaning, Africa; as the name literally translates; is the "land of the Afri tribe".
So how did the term "dark continent" came to be?
Note: Some of these are actually the account of my mum (she is a Historian by the way, and "oral tradition" is still a valid source of history).
In the ancient times (this was actually before the colonial era); during the exploration of this mass of land by the Europeans; and because of their faint knowledge about the land, they named it "Terra Incognito" which loosely interprets "Unknown land". This was how some misinterpreted it to be "dark continent". And yes; the name stuck for a while.
But it it worthy to note that the term "dark Africa" does not in anyway define our Africanism. That is why; a call for re-alignment of this notion is pertinent. Africa is a great continent after all. We can all make Africa greater.
I love my Africa.
Thanks for reading
All images are from pixabay and are CC0 licensed
Reference: Textbook [History of West Africa. Volume 1; by J.F.A Ajayi]
Oral tradition credit: My mum :D
i have read about africa salt. a very unique name. I'm from Indonesia, and I just know about africa gelam. thank you, for his advocacy, I will look for more in depth about dark Africa :) .
Thanks a lot for the nice comment
thank you @samminator
Great article! Taking the origins of the term, unfortunately Africa is still "Terra Incognito" for most of the planet. The internet promises to change that - with articles like this one slowly shedding light and knowledge to the rest of the world.
Thanks a lot. Maybe with time, it would be changed
i am a proud 🦍🦍🦍🦍