| About West Africa |
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Just seven short hours from the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City or six hours from most European countries, modern West Africa comprises fifteen countries, vast stretches of savanna and desert, jungled mountains, thousands of miles of coastline, and of course, many hundreds of distinct ethnic groups.
The influx of Islam and Christianity, and then colonialization by France, England and Portugal further complicate the picture of a region that defies easy generalizations. Still, a respect for history strongly informs the contemporary lives of West Africans, often providing them with a sense of shared legacy that helps to calm the potentially dangerous national, ethnic and religious divisions.  Music reinforces West African links to the past, and it has also helped the region reach out to the present day world. No other part of Africa has produced so many international stars-Youssou N'Dour,Baaba Maal and Africando from Senegal, Alpha Blondy from The Ivory Coast, Salif Keita and Ali Farka Toure from Mali, Manu Dibango from Cameroon, and King Sunny Adé and Fela Kuti from Nigeria. One can scarcely imagine the global rise of Afropop without these artists' contributions. The particular prowess of West African stars on the international scene may have something to do with the region's long-running cultural conversation with the New World. Many argue West Africa nurtured the ancestral seeds of blues, jazz, rock-and-roll and reggae, sounds now known and imitated around the world. In pre-colonial times, West Africa's political power lay in landlocked empires that controlled overland trade routes to the Mediterranean, notably through the great markets at Djenne and Timbuktu in present day Mali. Coastal cities began as outposts where goods and slaves were sold to seafaring Europeans, who later returned as colonizers, helping to build these cities into the bustling commercial and cultural hubs they are today. For centuries, the slave trade infused New World societies with a powerful dose of African culture. The Yoruba, for example, one of the most developed civilizations of pre-colonial Africa, wound up concentrated in Cuba, Haiti and Brazil, where they still practice and develop their religion and music. Since independence, West African countries have all grappled with the problem of revitalizing indigenous ways while engaging the fast-changing world outside. |
