Fifty years later, it is astonishing to read some of the colonial and early post-colonial writings about the Belgian Congo which is described as ‘our Congo’ or its inhabitants as Nos Noirs, our blacks.
Entries Tagged as 'History'
Nos Noirs – “The Origins of AIDS” - Jacques Pepin
January 13th, 2012 · No Comments · Africa, Colonialism, Congo, History
Tags:Africa·colonialism·racism
Highly Motivated Missionaries – “The Origins of AIDS” - Jacques Pepin
January 13th, 2012 · No Comments · Africa, Christianity, Colonialism, Congo, History, Religion
The other important protagonist in the early history of the Congo Français was Prosper Augouard. Born in 1852, ordained in the congregation of the Holy Spirit, he arrived in Gabon in 1877. Missionaries of the time had to be highly motivated for their life expectancy in Africa was just three years. Augouard was more robust [...]
Brazzaville – “The Origins of AIDS” - Jacques Pepin
January 12th, 2012 · No Comments · Africa, Colonialism, Congo, History
Brazza signed a treaty with a chief on the north side of the river, and planted the French flag. The chief could not read French and did not realise that he had conceded a large piece of land to France rather than merely getting some kind of protection and trading rights. Meanwhile, on the south [...]
Tags:Africa·colonialism·History
Hatred and History – “Disgrace” – J.M. Coetzee
December 13th, 2011 · No Comments · Africa, African, Crime, Fiction, History, Literature, Revenge
Halfway home, Lucy, to his surprise, speaks. ‘It was so personal,’ she says. ‘It was done with such personal hatred. That was what stunned me more than anything. The rest was … expected. But why did they hate me so? I had never set eyes on them.’ He waits for more, but there is no [...]
The Janissaries – “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” – Mohsin Hamid
December 12th, 2011 · No Comments · Culture, History, Pakistan, Religion, War
“Have you heard of the janissaries?” “No,” I said. “They were Christian boys,” he explained, “captured by the Ottomans and trained to be soldiers in a Muslim army, at that time the greatest army in the world. They were ferocious and utterly loyal: they had fought to erase their own civilisations, so they had nothing [...]
Class, Change and Colonialism – “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” – Mohsin Hamid
December 12th, 2011 · No Comments · Colonialism, History, Pakistan, Politics
Salaries have not risen in line with inflation, the rupee has declined steadily against the dollar, and those of us who once had substantial family estates have seen them divided and subdivided by each – larger- subsequent generation. So my grandfather could not afford what his father could, and my father could not afford what [...]
Radiation Sickness – “Hiroshima” – John Heresy
December 2nd, 2011 · No Comments · Hiroshima, History, Japan, Nuclear Weapons, Science, War, WW2
Whatever its source, the disease had some baffling quirks. Not all the patients exhibited all the main symptoms. People who suffered flash burns were protected, to a considerable extent, from radiation sickness. Those who had lain quietly for days or even hours after the bombing were much less liable to get sick than those who [...]
Tags:Hiroshima·Japan·Nuclear Weapons·WW2
The Original Child Bomb – “Hiroshima” – John Heresy
December 1st, 2011 · No Comments · Hiroshima, History, Japan, Nuclear Weapons, Science, War, WW2
About a week after the bomb dropped, a vague, incomprehensible rumour reached Hiroshima—that the city had been destroyed by the energy released when atoms were somehow split in two. The weapon was referred to in this word-of-mouth report as genshi bakudan—the root characters of which can be translated as “original child bomb.” No one understood [...]
Tags:Hiroshima·Japan·Nuclear Weapons·WW2
Black Rain – “Hiroshima” – John Heresy
December 1st, 2011 · No Comments · Hiroshima, History, Japan, Nuclear Weapons, War, WW2
It began to rain. Mrs. Nakamura kept her children under the umbrella. The drops grew abnormally large and someone shouted, “The Americans are dropping gasoline. They’re going to set fire to us!” (This alarm stemmed from one of the theories being passed through the park as to why so much of Hiroshima had burned: it [...]
Tags:Hiroshima·Japan·Nuclear Weapons·WW2
