Great African Reads discussion

I am getting this thread going early so we'll have time to access books before the reading starts. I'd meant to do that for the Jan-Mar book too, but alas my work travel is unpredictable and prevents me from keeping a schedule so we'll be picking books for January during January.

Our topic for the 2nd quarter of 2022 is the historical period of decolonization and independence movements and struggles. A huge topic and I'm sure we'll have a lot of ideas to bounce around! What should we read? Please share your nonfiction book ideas below.

"Second" the books that pique your interest-- if we get more than a handful of suggestions, then only the "seconded" ideas will make it to the poll. We'll vote on a book towards the end of January.

Please feel welcome to share articles, podcasts, or other interesting resources on the topic here, too.

Let me get the conversation started. Here are a few meaty nonfiction books on liberation or decolonial history that I've read and recommend:
- La guerre du Cameroun. L’invention de la Françafrique
- No Fist Is Big Enough to Hide the Sky: The Liberation of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, 1963-74
- Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya
- Namibia's Liberation Struggle: The Two-Edged Sword

The list of books I want to read on this topic is endless. Here are a few, but I'm really looking forward to your suggestions! So much of this history to learn.
- Histories of the Hanged: The Dirty War in Kenya and the End of Empire
- The Congo from Leopold to Kabila: A People's History
- Something on the war in Algeria like A Savage War of Peace: Algeria, 1954-1962. I'm really ignorant on this history and would love recommendations.
- The African Dream: The Diaries of the Revolutionary War in the Congo (Che Guevara's diary from his time in DR Congo)

Here's a nice Wikipedia article on Notable African Independence Movements to use as starting point: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African...

I'd like to nominate The Land is Ours by Tembeka Ngcukaitobi which looks at the role Black South African Lawyers played in developing a Bill of Rights in 1943 which would become part of South Africa's constitutional democracy.

Hi everyone! Bumping this back to the top! It's already time to start suggesting books for our April-June read.

Hmm, not much participation in the suggestions above, but perhaps people will join to...

Vote in the poll!

If you decide you'd like to add a book last minute, please do-- we can extend the poll and folks can change their votes. :)

Yes, there was not a lot of participation... I was going to suggest "No Fist is Big Enough...", but you have already read it. I think I will just going to go ahead and vote.

Well, I will change my mind and add a book last minute: Unity and Struggle: Speeches and Writings of Amilcar Cabral.
This review on Amazon made me think the book may be of interest to not only those interested in Guine and Cape Verde:
I came to read this book years after I should have. A South African this book is almost a bible among those who resisted apartheid. Reading it now, so many years after the end of apartheid, I find it has meaning to so many human rights struggles across the world. And even for those of us who live in the United States it is pertinent and timeless.
I don't know if it is worth messing up with the poll, though.

Congo: A Peoples History is very good book-I have read it several times. It is about the Democratic Republic of Congo(Zaire).

Let's mess with the poll. :) I added the two new suggestions and gave us an extra few days to vote.

So sorry Tinea, I had planned to do some research and come up with new titles, but I have been very busy (since the military coup here in Ouagadougou...).

Thanks for the suggestions on Amilcar Cabral: he certainly is an interesting historical leader!

haha yes, of course, you are living some history which makes it hard to keep up with reading it!

I really liked No Fist Is Big Enough to Hide the Sky: The Liberation of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, 1963-74 and though I already read it, I would be interested in the discussion and all y'all's thoughts. I don't think I even got it together to review because I was also having a wild ride in Burkina Faso at the time I read it, too!

Alright, now we've got lots of votes and lots of books are neck and neck. Please get your last votes in (or change your votes) so we have a winner Saturday!

The choice is in the hands of one tie- breaking vote! I don't want to be that person.

Hi everyone,

The poll came back as 4-way tie between :
Histories of the Hanged: The Dirty War in Kenya and the End of Empire
The Congo from Leopold to Kabila: A People's History
The Land is Ours
No Fist Is Big Enough to Hide the Sky: The Liberation of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, 1963-74

I'm putting these up for a runoff ending Wednesday. Thanks for all the participation and let's keep these books in mind for future reads. <3

Runoff poll!