Complete History of Africa

Wild Flood African Folktale : The Story of Floods African Folktale: The Story of Floods In the olden days, the Flood lived among the people. The Flood was a stubborn calf, and his mother was the great River Cow . They were told to live at the edge of the village, far from the people’s huts, because of the calf’s restless nature. Whenever the calf grew excited, he would charge about wildly. He splashed through farms, trampled the huts, and swept away everything in his path. The River Cow, his mother, would bellow loudly, warning him to stop. But the calf never listened; when his blood was hot, he would cause great destruction. The people complained to the king. He told the River Cow to take her calf farther away, to live deep in the valley where no houses stood. But the calf still broke free whenever heavy rains fell, racing across the land, drowning crops and scattering the people. At last, the king banished the...

The precious pearls of life lie beneath the waves waiting for those brave enough to dive deep to claim its treasure. Her pearls are at the bottom of the sea Uroba and the Pearl Beyond the Veil — A Blended Folk-Horror Tale Uroba and the Pearl Beyond the Veil Listen well, for this is not one land’s story. It has traveled on cold winds from the steppe , on the backs of desert caravans , through silk markets of the East , and along the salt shores of the Gulf . It is told in many tongues, but the sea never changes. Uroba was born by the ocean where waves can turn warm as a mother’s hands—or cold as the grave. From her grandmother she learned an old Ghanaian warning: "The pearl lies at the bottom of the sea, but the corpse floats on the surface." From a traveling merchant she heard an Indian saying: "The jewel you seek may rest in the coils of a serpent." A stooped fisherman from the nor...

Starvation Cults in Africa: A Dark History Peaks with Shakahola Tragedy Starvation Cults in Africa: A Dark History Peaks with Shakahola Tragedy Mass graves uncovered in Kenya ’s Shakahola Forest , August 2025. A Hidden Crisis Unveiled NAIROBI, Kenya – As of August 11, 2025, the world is grappling with the aftermath of one of Africa’s deadliest cult-related tragedies in recent memory. The Shakahola Forest massacre , where over 400 followers of the Good News International Church starved to death under the guidance of Pastor Paul Mackenzie, has brought renewed attention to a dark chapter in African history: starvation cults. While widely reported by BBC, this story has received scant coverage in U.S. media, making it a critical topic for The African Gourmet to explore. A History of Sacrifice The roots of starvation cults ...

The Shadow in the Yam : A Nigerian Folktale of Hidden Fears The Shadow in the Yam: A Nigerian Folktale of Hidden Fears A vibrant yam festival in Owerri, Nigeria , where stories and fears intertwine. Welcome to Our Tale At The African Gourmet , we believe stories are the heartbeat of Africa, carrying lessons from our ancestors to guide us today. In this Igbo folktale from Owerri, Nigeria , a young girl’s encounter with a yam reveals a fear no one else can see. Like the spices in our stews, this tale adds flavor to our understanding of the ordinary things that shape us. Join us under the baobab tree for "The Shadow in the Yam," a story of hidden fears and the courage to face them. The Shadow in the Yam In my village, nestled where the savanna kisses the sky, we tell stories not just t...

Cutting Off Hands Became a Form of Payment  In one of history’s most twisted systems of control, soldiers in the Congo Free State were ordered to bring back severed human hands as proof that each bullet they used had killed someone. This grotesque practice wasn’t about efficiency; it was about profit. Bullets were expensive, and King Leopold II didn’t want them wasted. But he had no such concern for human lives.  The soldiers, under pressure to meet rubber quotas and avoid punishment themselves, adopted this warped logic. Soldiers often cut off hands from living people, children included, or collected them from corpses for bureaucratic verification.  The force carrying out these atrocities was called the Force Publique , a colonial army formed by Leopold himself. It was a mix of mostly Belgian or other European white officers and African conscripts. The system Leopold built didn’t just exploit a land as it trained people to believe that human suffering was a necessary cos...

A powerful African tale of how revenge, masked as strength, destroys a family from within. Generational trauma, exposed and exiled. Read this unforgettable story. The Need for Revenge How a Father’s Bitterness Poisoned His Legacy In the village of Okee, where drums echoed through mango trees and the scent of roasted yam hung in the air, lived a man named Ilua. His smile could calm arguments; his carved walking sticks were prized from one end of the market to the other. He told stories, laughed often, and gave freely. But beneath the warmth was something colder—something that remembered every insult, every imagined slight. Ilua didn’t forget. And he didn’t forgive. His wife, Asil, a gifted potter with quiet eyes, had once mistaken his grudge-bearing nature for strength. She married him for his charm but slowly learned to tread carefully, saying little when his bitterness surfaced. When she asked for honey from the market, Ilua returned with n...

Health Drink in Mauritania: A Perspective on Tradition In Mauritania, a vast desert nation in West Africa, cultural traditions have long shaped unique standards of beauty, particularly for women. The preference for fuller-figured women, celebrated as symbols of beauty, fertility, and prosperity, has deep roots in certain communities.  However, as modern influences like social media and health awareness grow, Mauritania is navigating a delicate balance between honoring tradition and addressing health concerns tied to practices like leblouh (force-feeding).  In the eleventh-largest country in Africa, beauty standards among some ethnic groups, particularly the White Moor Arabs (approximately 30% of the population), have historically favored women with fuller figures.  Larger body sizes are associated with wealth, fertility, and marital desirability, symbolizing a prosperous household. In contrast, thinness is at times linked to poverty or poor health, potentially affecting a...