AFRICAN LIFE AND CUSTOMS

2016 Reprint of 1908 Edition Two parts in one volume Full facsimile of the original edition not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software This work is a collection of Blydens articles that examines the socioeconomic structure of African society A native of St Thomas West Indies Blyden 18321912 lived most of his life on the African continent He was an accomplished educator linguist writer and world traveler who strongly defended the unique character of Africa and its people In this work Blyden examined the culture of pure Africans those untouched by European and Asiatic influences He identified the family as the basic unit in African society and polygamy as the foundation of African families He described African social systems as cooperative everyone worked for each other No one went without work food or clothing Blyden challenged white racial theorists who held Africans were inferior and whose arguments supported their preconceived ideas He assumed Africans to be distinct rather than inferior and he analyzed African culture within the context of African social experiences As a writer Blyden is regarded widely as the father of PanAfricanism His major work Christianity Islam and the Negro Race 1887 promoted the idea that practicing Islam was more unifying and fulfilling for Africans than Christianity He argues that the latter was introduced chiefly by European colonizers He believed it had a demoralizing effect although he continued to be a Christian He thought Islam was more authentically African as it had been brought to subSaharan areas by people from North Africa