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Based largely on images from caves, pyramids, and tombs,
Different but Equal, in volume 1 of the four-video series
Africa: The Story of a Continent, presents an overview of early African cultures, with an introduction to classical Egypt and a more detailed study of Meroë. One of presenter Basil Davidson's main theses, supported by period sources from both Africa and Europe, is that racism was not commonplace in classic or medieval interactions between Europe and Africa. In the series' outstanding second episode,
Mastering a Continent, Davidson focuses on three contemporary African societies and the different ways they have adapted to thrive in their environments. He features the iron working and farming advances of the Nok people in Nigeria and the elaborate system of religious belief of the Dogon in Mali. The discussion of northern Kenya's cattle-raising Pokat people is truly exceptional. Davidson does a spectacular job of demonstrating the elaborate complexity of what may by some be mistakenly considered a primitive society. Fascinating personal interviews with a Pokat woman about men and women's work and with a Pokat man about what a man needs before he can marry are the highlight of this well-done anthropological study.
--Tara Chace
Product Description
For centuries, Africa was ravished by the slave trade, which has distorted our view of its people. In Program One, Davidson shows that Africa gave rise to some of the world's greatest civilizations. In Program Two, Davidson focuses on three different communities to see how African peoples carve out an existence in an often hostile environment.
