This is a re-post from my #DayofDH2014 page (April 8, 2014).
Some portion of my Tuesday is usually devoted to grading and lecture prep for the rest of the week. Tomorrow the Modern Africa History course will cover decolonization in Portuguese Africa, so I want to blog about some of the great online digital sources and tools I use in this lecture.
The African Activist Archive (hosted by our #DayofDH2014 sponsor, MATRIX) has an awesome collection of posters on Angola and Guinea Bissau.
Montreal, Canada. No date, apparently late 1975 or early 1976
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Fall 1973
The posters do not just operate as colorful background to the lecture. They serve as a tool for students to identify and discuss several important themes I hope to cover:
1) The role of international activists, here a U.S. campaign to boycott Gulf. Portugal received significant income from Gulf’s exploitation of Angolan oil that helped pay for its military activities in Angola against the struggle for independence.
Brookline, Massachusetts, United States. Most likely late 1972 or 1973
2) The role of women in the struggle for independence. Both the poster above and the items below portray female freedom fighters, allowing us to examine women at war. But students also discuss the decision to feature mothers and their children in these activist materials.
Richmond, Canada. 1973
Chicago, Illinois, United States. No date, 1972?
3) The context of the Cold War. Both the button and poster below provide entry into the discussion of U.S. support for UNITA in one of the Cold War proxy wars.
1993
Publisher: Mozambique Angola Committee
United States
1976 or later
Finally, I use the Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture’s Africana Age page for photographs of important leaders to accompany our discussion.
What other great digital sources do you use in lecture?
jill.e.kelly 