(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[#Thematic Experience of Kamau Brathwaite]
<p>This interactive Twine experience uses the thematic content of a collection of notable literary works by Kamau Brathwaite’s in the 1960/70s to contextualize the Caribbean region’s complex history. The project aims to explore significant sociopolitical contexts that influenced Brathwaite’s literature about the region and its people.<br/>
This project uses both close and distant reading to provide literary analysis of several literary works and will include, but is not limited to the following methods of analysis:
<ul type = "circle">
<li>Close reading and textual analysis of Brathwaite’s trilogy [[“The Arrivants: A New World Trilogy” -> About Arrivants]] and other relevant information about the poetry collection, and the author; and </li>
<li>Exhibits featuring images, and timelines about the poetry collection, the author, and the Caribbean region.</li>
</ul>
<p/>
[[ Let's Begin -> Who Was Kamau Brathwaite?]]
<div class="side-nav" style = "font-size:14px;"><center><br/>
[[The Project]] <br/>
[[ Who Was Kamau Brathwaite?]] <br/>
[[ About Arrivants]] <br/>
[[The Quest for Identity]] <br/>
[[Africa]] <br/>
[[Credits]]</center>
</div>(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[#Who Was Kamau Brathwaite?]
<div class = "kamau">
<img src = "https://rosalienebacchus.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/barbadian-poet-edward-kamau-brathwaite.jpg"/>
</div>
<p>Kamau Brathwaite, born Lawson Edward Brathwaite in May 1930, was a critically acclaimed poet, scholar, and cultural theorist from Barbados. His literary contributions won him several accolades such as the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the Casa de las Americas Prize for Literary Criticism, the Griffin Poetry Prize, the Charity Randall Prize for Performance and Written Poetry, and the the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry (Wikipedia Contributors, “Kamau Brathwaite”).<br/>
Brathwaite composed poetry that deftly weaved postcolonial, historical, and personal elements, to trace historical links and events that have contributed to the development of the Caribbean people. His work is often distinguished by its extensive use of “nation language” along with other linguistic and typographic innovations (Innes). His many books of poetry include Odale's Choice (1967), Rights of Passage (1967), Masks (1968), Islands (1969) and Folk Culture of the Slaves in Jamaica (1970).<br/>
Explore the themes of:<br/>
*[[The Arrivants: A New World Trilogy -> About Arrivants]]
<p/>
<div class="side-nav" style = "font-size:14px;"><center><br/>
[[The Project]] <br/>
[[ Who Was Kamau Brathwaite?]] <br/>
[[ About Arrivants]] <br/>
[[The Quest for Identity]] <br/>
[[Africa]] <br/>
[[Credits]]</center>
</div>(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[#About Arrivants: A New World Trilogy]
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<input checked type="radio" name="s" style="background-image: url('https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1483814530l/2784306.jpg');" title="Rights of Passage Cover Image">
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<input type="radio" name="s" style="background-image: url('https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347464638l/926047.jpg');" title="The Arrivants Cover Image">
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(align:"<==>")+(box:"X")[This poetic trilogy comprising “Rights of Passage”, “Islands” and “Masks” published in 1970 and written by acclaimed poet [[Kamau Brathwaite-> Who Was Kamau Brathwaite?]] explores the historical evolution of Caribbean society as well as the modern predicaments of West Indians. It interweaves the natural state and beauty of the Caribbean Region, the values and cultural experiences that prevail, while simultaneously delving into its violent history. Through the interplay of jazz/folk rhythms, historical flashbacks, and more, it makes an impactful poetic statement that remains relevant in today’s context (“The Arrivants: A New World Trilogy by Edward Kamau Brathwaite”). Readers can take note of several themes throughout the various poems, including but not limited to:
* [[The Quest for Identity]]
* [[Africa]]]
<div class="side-nav" style = "font-size:14px;"><center><br/>
[[The Project]] <br/>
[[ Who Was Kamau Brathwaite?]] <br/>
[[ About Arrivants]] <br/>
[[The Quest for Identity]] <br/>
[[Africa]] <br/>
[[Credits]]</center>
</div>(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[#The Quest for Identity]
<p>Brathwaite’s attempt to recount the experiences of the forceful extraction of the African people to the New World brings to the forefront an important thematic strand - the quest for identity. <br/>
The very first section in the poetry collection, entitled “Rights of Passage”, calls to mind the French term “rites de passage” which marks the passage from one stage of life to another (Kehinde 187). Brathwaite intentionally uses this expression to depict the burgeoning transformation of his own identity to one that deeply connects to his African origins. He further invites his West Indian brothers and sisters in “Wings of a Dove” to evolve a new wholesome image of themselves through a return to Africa (Kehinde, 189). </p>
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<br/><div class = "subtitle_wingsOfDove" style = "text-align:center;font-size:14px;">
//''Reading of Wings of a Dove from Rights of Passage by Kamau Brathwaite''//</div>
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<p>While this return to the motherland is not merely physical, Brathwaite himself had the fortunate experience of fully immersing himself in the African culture, and traditions during an eight-year stay in Ghana from 1955 where he worked as the Government Education Officer (TJR). His time on the Gold Coast left a lasting impact on his own individual quest as he recalls: <br/>
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<p>//“Slowly, slowly, ever so slowly; obscurely, slowly but surely, during the eight years that I lived there, I was coming to an awareness and understanding of community, of cultural wholeness, of the place of the individual within the tribe, in society. Slowly, slowly, ever so slowly, I came to a sense of identification of myself with these people, my living diviners. I came to connect my history with theirs, the bridge of my mind now linking Atlantic and ancestor, homeland and heartland”// <br/>
(Brathwaite, 1970: 38).
</div><p/><br>
<div class="clearfix">
<div class="img-container">
<figure>
<img src="https://pan-african-music.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/0fa2fb15-ghana-1957.jpg" alt="Independence Day - Ghana" style="width:100%">
<figcaption style = "font-size: 14px;">''Independence Day (1957), Ghana''</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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<figure>
<img src="https://pan-african-music.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Ghana-1957-Gold-Coast-5-Independence-e1488905140370-759x539.jpg" alt="Ghana Independence - Post Stamp" style="width:100%">
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''Independence Day Post Stamp (1957), Ghana''//</figcaption>
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<p>On this quest, Brathwaite also implores that we denounce certain European values, like religion, as a sure step towards our affirmation of our African ancestry. It is in the third section “Islands”, in the poem entitled “Stone Sermon” where ironically a preacher working his flock encourages them to come home and to reject the foreign imposition of the Christian church and its symbols such as the cross (M. Morris). This denouement proves almost like a culmination of the earlier tale of “Tizzic” who despite coming near to attaining the Christian seventh heaven fails to achieve its power of enrichment and intense happiness (Kehinde, 189). <p/>
<br/>
<p>It is unsurprising that Brathwaite highlighted this literary theme in his trilogy. For one, the search for an African meaning in the Caribbean can be traced as early as 1919, when Jamaican-born Marcus Garvey started the Black Star Line to facilitate his “Back to Africa” movement. Despite his death in 1940, it is indisputable that his legacy would have been heavily reflected upon by Jamaican citizens and residents, like Brathwaite at the time, during his exhumation and burial in Kingston in November 1964 where only a few short months before in the summer, Brathwaite would have completed his first draft of Rights of Passage (Vettorato 504).
<br><p/>
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<img src="https://afroculture.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/black-star-line-action-marcus-garvey.jpg" alt = "Black Star Line" style = "align: center">
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">''//The Black Star Line//''</figcaption>
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<p>Not only that, but the region was fraught with transformative energy wherein old colonial identities were being shed in place of new independent ones. The writing of the trilogy coincided with a season of decolonisation and rebirth in the Caribbean with the political independence of several nations such as Jamaica (1962), Trinidad and Tobago (1962), Guyana (1966), and Barbados (1966). <p/><br/><br/>
<figure>
<iframe src='https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=1JvBI5-RBrRhcjAy-_i1FN3VyidH0GGUVeL3Gn3GsUAQ&font=Default&lang=en&initial_zoom=2&height=650' width='100%' height='650' webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen frameborder='0'></iframe>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''Timeline of Events in the Caribbean Region during the compilation of "The Arrivants"''//</figcaption>
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<br/><p>Coupled with his own personal experience of rejecting Western colonial alienation, these events provided Brathwaite with the right mix of inspiration for voicing the quest for identity that persons of African descent in the Caribbean are wont to experience.<p/>
]
}
Continue to the themes of:
* [[Africa]]
<div class="side-nav" style = "font-size:14px;"><center><br/>
[[The Project]] <br/>
[[ Who Was Kamau Brathwaite?]] <br/>
[[ About Arrivants]] <br/>
[[The Quest for Identity]] <br/>
[[Africa]] <br/>
[[Credits]]</center>
</div>(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[#Africa]
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<div class = "img-container">
<figure>
<img src = "C:\Users\Kyra\AppData\Local\Temp\brathwaiteProjImg\journeys.png" alt = "Excerpts from the poem "The Journeys"" id = "theJourneys" height = "400px"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size: 14px">''//Excerpt from the poem "The Journeys"//''</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>Underscoring this examination of ancestral heritage and rediscovery of self, comes about intense imagery of Africa. This particular theme first makes an appearance in Rights of Passage. Here we are introduced to Africa in the familiar context of the trans-altantic slave trade, where African men and women were forcefully extracted from their homes and sold into slavery. This widespread dispersion of millions of black people all over the world is reflected in Brathwaite’s disjointed narration of “The Journeys” (Kehinde 190).<br>
This reimagining of the past shares a stark resemblance with the Israelites’ Exodus which Brathwaite intentionally alluded to in the epigraph to Rights of Passage (Kehinde 187).</p>
<figure>
<img src ="C:\Users\Kyra\AppData\Local\Temp\brathwaiteProjImg\epigraphROP.jpg" alt = "Psalm 137:5 - Excerpt from the epigraph to Rights of Passage" width = "100%" id = "epigraph" border="0" style="display:block;"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size: 14px">//''Psalms 137:5 - Excerpt from the Epigraph to "Rights of Passage"''//
</figure>
<p>Like the Israelites, who ought not to forget Jerusalem, Brathwaite requests that we always remember the homeland of our ancestors. His purpose reveals itself thus not as romanticization of the continent and the events that took place, but rather as an effort to accept and thereafter transcend the harsh realities of his people.<p/>
<br/><br/>
<p>In doing so, West Indians can then better appreciate and connect with the beauty of Africa dismantling the belief of its inferiority. It is in “Masks” that Brathwaite fully invokes the awe and majesty of the continent with extensive references to [[African empires/towns-> The African Empires]], [[personalities-> The African Personalities]], and so much more.</p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://uploads.knightlab.com/storymapjs/525100c56acca6b77e984ed0d2073d99/the-african-continent-as-written-by-kamau-brathwaite/index.html" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="800"></iframe>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">''//The African empires/towns referenced in "The Arrivants"//''</figcaption></figure>
<p>Furthermore, Brathwaite undoubtedly would have drawn on his own personal three-legged journey across the Atlantic from the West Indies to England where he lived as a student, then to Ghana, where he resided for nearly eight years, and back (Kehinde 189). Albeit under completely different circumstances, Brathwaite would have recognized his own feelings of displacement from roots in the traumatic ordeal of his ancestors when penning these various poems.</p><br>
<div class = "img-container2">
<figure>
<img src = "https://portfolionu.tripod.com/images/pullquotes/lit342/lit342negritude.gif" alt = "Aime Cesaire and Negritude"/>
<figcaption style ="font-size:14px;">//''Aimé Césaire's Views on Négritude''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>In candidly exploring the majesty of the continent and contributing to dispelling the view of its inferiority, Brathwaite would have also carried on the earlier work of his fellow man Aimé Césaire who would have coined the term Négritude in the 1930s as a counter to the notion that the black man was an inferior being which would have prefigured the more pertinent black power movement of the mid 1960s to 1970s.</p><br>
<p>The Black Power Movement in the Caribbean was particularly powerful in Jamaica where the notion of racial pride among African people was an accepted idea among many of the Rastafarian faith, which was also gaining popularity at this time. Among their many tenets was a deep pride in being of African descent and the belief that a return to Africa was necessary for African people (Weeks 49). </p>
<div class="clearfix">
<div class="img-container">
<figure>
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Selassie_restored.jpg/170px-Selassie_restored.jpg" alt="Haile Selassie" style="width:100%">
<figcaption style = "font-size: 14px;">''Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia (1930 - 1974) - An Important Personality of Rastafarianism''</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<div class="img-container">
<figure>
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Flag_of_Ethiopia_%281897%E2%80%931974%29.svg/220px-Flag_of_Ethiopia_%281897%E2%80%931974%29.svg.png" style="width:100%">
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''Flag of Ethiopia - An Important Symbol Rastafarianism''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
</div>
<p>In the midst of the discriminatory views of the minority white upper class sector who shunned away from the glorification of African heritage, Black Nationalist like Walter Rodney rose to prominence, using his platform at the University of the West Indies (Mona Campus) to spread his ideas about pride in African people and heritage, as well as the history and accomplishments of African people that had been overlooked in an educational system that emphasized the colonizer’s history (Weeks 53).</p>
<div class="clearfix">
<div class="img-container">
<figure>
<img src="https://www.nycaribnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/rodney-1-e1566137530777.jpg" alt="Walter Rodney" style="width:100%">
<figcaption style = "font-size: 14px;">''Walter Rodney, Jamaican Black Nationalist''</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<div class="img-container">
<figure>
<img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EHFva2KXkAA9aUF?format=jpg" style="width:100%" alt = "Rodney Riots">
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''Newspaper feature of the Rodney Riots''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>With all these strides being made towards a reconnection with the ancestral homeland throughout the region, it is unsupririging that Brathwaite would have chosen to express his own black consciousness and awe of the motherland in the trilogy. </p>
Continue on the themes of:
* [[The Quest for Identity]]
<div class="side-nav" style = "font-size:14px;"><center><br/>
[[The Project]] <br/>
[[ Who Was Kamau Brathwaite?]] <br/>
[[ About Arrivants]] <br/>
[[The Quest for Identity]] <br/>
[[Africa]] <br/>
[[Credits]]</center>
</div>(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[#The African Personalities Named in The Arrivants]
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<p>Throughout //"Arrivants: A New World Trilogy"//, Brathwaite makes several references to renowned African personalities such as the following:</p>
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[''Asase Yaa'']
<div class="img-container">
<figure>
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Asase_Ye_Duru.svg/265px-Asase_Ye_Duru.svg.png" alt = "Symbol for Asase Yaa"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''The Adinkra Symbol for Asase Yaa''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>She is the Akan Earth Goddess (Brathwaite 272). She is also called Aberewa which is Akan for “Old Woman” and is second to the god Nyame. She is capable of bringing forth life and as such is personalized as a mother from whom humans rely on for their continued nourishment and sustenance. Among the Fante, this spirit is known as Asase Efua (Blay).</p>
<div class="img-container2">
<figure>
<img src= "C:\Users\Kyra\AppData\Local\Temp\brathwaiteProjImg\excerptAsaseYaa.png" alt = "Excerpt from Prelude" height = "300px"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''Excerpt from "Prelude" (Masks)''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>During an infant's naming ceremony, the child is placed on a mat after being given their name to express appreciation to her for supporting the baby’s life and to their ancestors for their everlasting protection and guidance (Blay). During funeral rites, on the other hand, libation is poured to this spirit to ask permission to dig the grave and to beg for the acceptance of the body of the deceased to be buried (Blay). Reference to this goddess was made in the poem entitled //"Prelude"// in the second poetic section //"Masks"//.</p>
<p>To Learn more about Asase Yaa, click <a href ="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Asase-Yaa" target = "_blank">here</a>.</p>
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[''Chaka'']
<div class="img-container">
<figure>
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/KingShaka.jpg/220px-KingShaka.jpg" alt = "King Chaka"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''King Chaka (or Shaka)''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>He was a famous Zulu chief, warrior, and founder of the Zulu Empire of South Africa. His fighting force is acclaimed for devastating the entire region. In the Mthethwa Empire, he served as a warrior for six years from the age of 23. He was sent to lead the Zulu in 1816, which was a small empire at the time numbering fewer than 1500 (Morris).</p>
<div class="img-container2">
<figure>
<img src= "C:\Users\Kyra\AppData\Local\Temp\brathwaiteProjImg\excerptChaka.png" alt = "Excerpt from Prelude"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''Excerpt from "Prelude" (Masks)''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>Chaka’s first act as ruler was the reorganization of the army. He rearmed his men with weapons which encouraged close-range fighting and then instituted a regimental system based on age group and distinguished by their shields, headdresses, and ornaments (Morris). Reference to this great king was made in the poem entitled //"Prelude"// in the second poetic section //"Masks"//.
To learn more about Chaka click <a href = "https://www.britannica.com/biography/Shaka-Zulu-chief" target = "_blank">here</a>.</p>
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[''Damballa'']
<div class="img-container">
<figure>
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/VeveDamballah.svg/220px-VeveDamballah.svg.png" alt = "Symbol for Damballa"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''The Veve for Damballa''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>Originating from the city of Wedo (Whydah or Ouidah) in Benin, this god is referred to as the “Sky Father”. Traditionally, he is portrayed as a white serpent, and is considered to be kind, patient, and wise. He is also separated from the trials of everyday life. He is of extreme age, does not speak but rather whistle or hiss softly (Wikipedia Contributors). Reference to this god was made in the poem entitled //"Vevé"// in the third poetic section //"Islands"//.
To learn more about Damballa click <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damballa#:~:text=He%20is%20traditionally%20portrayed%20as,thing%20created%20by%20Gran%20Met." target = "_blank">here.</a></p>
<figure>
<img src= "C:\Users\Kyra\AppData\Local\Temp\brathwaiteProjImg\excerptOlodOgunShangoDamb.png" alt = "Excerpt from Vevé" width = "100%"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''Excerpt from "Vevé" (Islands)''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[''Kodia'']
<div class="img-container">
<figure>
<img src= "C:\Users\Kyra\AppData\Local\Temp\brathwaiteProjImg\excerptKodia.png" alt = "Excerpt from Atumpan"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''Excerpt from "Atumpan" (Masks)''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>He was the chief of Kumawu, a small town in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. He sacrificed his life for the Asantes’ victory in the War of Independence against the Denkyiras, ensuring the Asante Kingdom's freedom. Despite being armed, he was forbidden to shoot throughout the war. Prior to his death, he requested that once he volunteered, no one from his state be used as a sacrifice in any way (Wikipedia Contributors, “Tweneboa Kodua”). Reference to this god was made in the poem entitled //"Atumpan"// in the second poetic section //"Maks"//.
To learn more about Kodia click <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweneboa_Kodua" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[''Odomankoma'']
<div class="img-container2">
<figure>
<img src="https://www.godchecker.com/images/ODOMANKOMA--african-mythology.jpg" alt = "Symbol for Odomankoma"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''A Depiction of Odomankoma''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>This god symbolizes the visible world. He is a member of a triad with Nyame and Nyankopon. Through the use of his mind and his hands, he created the world by carving it out from an inert substance devoid of any life-giving power. He represents creative intelligence, and is revered as the deity of the earth, with its mountains, plains, oceans, rivers, and trees (“Odomankoma Creates the Universe”). Reference to this god was made in the poem entitled //"Atumpan"// in the second poetic section //"Masks"//.
To learn more about Odomankoma click <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100245769" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<figure>
<center><img src= "C:\Users\Kyra\AppData\Local\Temp\brathwaiteProjImg\excerptOdomankoma.png" alt = "Excerpt from Vevé"/></center>
<center><figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''Excerpt from "Atumpan" (Masks)''//</figcaption></center>
</figure>
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[''Ogun'']
<div class="img-container">
<figure>
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/VeveOgoun.svg/220px-VeveOgoun.svg.png" alt = "Symbol for Ogun"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''The Veve for Ogun''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>He is the Yoruba god of war and iron. Ogun, despite his ferocity, is a kind deity who will assist those who pray to him. Yoruba blacksmiths have long sacrificed dogs to Ogun, and a three-day celebration in his honor is held every year. He was gifted the secret of iron by Orunmila, son of the supreme god Olorun (“Ogun | Encyclopedia.Com”).</p>
<div class="img-container2">
<figure>
<img src= "C:\Users\Kyra\AppData\Local\Temp\brathwaiteProjImg\excerptOlodOgunShangoDamb.png" alt = "Excerpt from Vevé"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''Excerpt from "Vevé" (Islands)''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>According to Yoruba lore, he climbed down to the earth on a spiderweb. When the gods finished creating the world, they learned that mankind needed to clear more ground in the forest where they lived. Unfortunately, the only tools available were soft metal, which is ineffective for felling trees. Through his gift of iron, Ogun cleared the forest with an iron ax. Later, he would demonstrate how to mold iron into weapons to the other gods and humans (“Ogun | Encyclopedia.Com”). Reference to this god was made in the poem entitled //"Vevé"// in the third poetic section //"Islands"//.
To learn more about Ogun click <a href = "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogun" target = "_blank">here</a>.</p>
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[''Olodumare'']
<div class="img-container2">
<figure>
<img src= "C:\Users\Kyra\AppData\Local\Temp\brathwaiteProjImg\excerptOlodOgunShangoDamb.png" alt = "Excerpt from Vevé"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''Excerpt from "Vevé" (Islands)''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p> In the Yoruba faith, he is a manifestation of the Supreme Creator God. For those Yoruba people who practice Christianity or Islam, he is their Abrahamic God. He is alternatively called Ọlọ́run. He is believed to be omnipotent, the source of all things, and the source of virtue and morality, bestowing the knowledge of all things upon people at birth. When other deities are unwilling or unable to help, he is called upon (Wikipedia Contributors, “Olodumare”). Reference to this god was made in the poem entitled //"Vevé"// in the third poetic section //"Islands"//.
To learn more about Olodumare click <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olodumare#:~:text=Olodumare%20(Yoruba%3A%20Ol%C3%B3d%C3%B9mar%C3%A8)%20also,%22%20%22or%20the%20All%20Sufficient%22" target = "_blank">here</a>.</p>
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[''Onyame'']
<div class="img-container">
<figure>
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Gye_Nyame_%28Adinkra_Symbol%29.svg/130px-Gye_Nyame_%28Adinkra_Symbol%29.svg.png" alt = "Symbol of Onyame"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''Adrika Symbol of Onyam (or Nyame)''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>He is the God of the Akan people of Ghana. Alternatively called Nyame or Onyankopon, he is a part of the triad expressed as Nyame, Nyankopon, and Odomankoma. He represents the life-giving power (kra). Despite creating all things and continuously restructuring the universe, he is unconcerned with humans and their daily activities (Mythica).</p>
<div class="img-container2">
<figure>
<img src="C:\Users\Kyra\AppData\Local\Temp\brathwaiteProjImg\excerptOnyame.png" alt="Excerpt from Technician"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''Excerpt from "Technician" (Masks)''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>According to Akan belief, Nyame is said to have created Osoro (Heaven) and Asaase (Earth). For his reverence and worship, Amen-Meda, also known as God Amen's Day or Nyame's Day, has been set aside (Mythica). Reference to this god was made in the poem entitled //"Technician"// in the second poetic section //"Masks"//.
To learn more about Onyame click <a href="https://atlasmythica.com/nyame-odomankoma-onyankopon-african-god/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[''Osai Tutu'']
<div class="img-container">
<figure>
<img src="https://cdn.ghanaweb.com/imagelib/pics/845/84578627.295.jpg" alt = "Osai Tutu II"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''Descendant of Osai (or Osei) Tutu I''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>He was one of the founders of the Ashanti Empire who ruled the empire from late 1701-c.1717. He led an Asante alliance against the Denkyira and completely defeated them. He then persuaded the rulers of the other Asante city-states to declare allegiance to Kumasi, his capital, using a combination of force and diplomacy. Anokye, a clergyman whose spiritual sway over the people contributed to the establishment of the empire, advised him throughout his career (Wikipedia Contributors, “Osei Kofi Tutu I”).</p>
<div class="img-container2">
<figure>
<img src= "C:\Users\Kyra\AppData\Local\Temp\brathwaiteProjImg\excerptOseiTutu.png"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''Excerpt from "Tutu" (Masks)''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>Osei Tutu's birth is commemorated at a shrine in Anyinam, the capital of Atiwa in Ghana's Eastern Region. (Wikipedia Contributors, “Osei Kofi Tutu I”). He was referenced in the poem entitled //"Tutu"// in the second poetic section //"Masks"//.
To learn more about Osai (or Osei) Tutu click <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osei_Kofi_Tutu_I#:~:text=Osei%20Kofi%20Tutu%20I%20(%20c,ethnic%20group%20of%20West%20Africa." target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[''Ra'']
<div class="img-container">
<figure>
<img src = "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Re-Horakhty.svg/220px-Re-Horakhty.svg.png" alt="Depiction of Ra"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''A Depiction of Ra''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>He is the sun god, the deity of order, the god of kings, and the god of the sky of the ancient Egyptians. He is most closely associated with the midday sun and is depicted as a falcon. He is said to govern over everything of creation, including the heavens, the Earth, and the underworld. Humans are said to have been born from Ra's tears and sweat, which is why Egyptians are known as the "Cattle of Ra". In one myth, it is said that people conspired against Ra, and he punished them by sending his eye as the goddess Sekhmet (Wikipedia Contributors, “Ra”).
To learn more about Ra click <a href = "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra#:~:text=Ra%20was%20believed%20to%20rule,order%2C%20kings%20and%20the%20sky.&text=In%20one%20of%20his%20many,cobra%20resting%20on%20his%20head." target = "_blank">here</a>.</p>
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[''Shango'']
<div class="img-container">
<figure>
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Representa%C3%A7%C3%A3o_de_Xang%C3%B4_MN_01.jpg/220px-Representa%C3%A7%C3%A3o_de_Xang%C3%B4_MN_01.jpg" alt = "Depiction for Ogun"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''A Depiction of Shango (or Chango)''//</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p>He is the main deity of the religion of the Yoruba. He is also known as Esango in the religion of the Edo people of southeastern Nigeria, as well as Sogbo or Ebioso in the religion of the Fon people of Benin. He is described as strong, with a thunderous voice and a mouth that spews fire when he talks, according to oral tradition. Fire and lightning are two natural elements associated with Shango. A double-headed battle-ax is his most prominent ritual symbol (Scranton).Reference to this god was made in the poem entitled //"Vevé"// in the third poetic section //"Islands"//.
To learn more about Shango click <a href = "https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shango" target = "_blank">here</a>.</p>
<figure>
<img src= "C:\Users\Kyra\AppData\Local\Temp\brathwaiteProjImg\excerptOlodOgunShangoDamb.png" alt = "Excerpt from Vevé" width = "100%"/>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">//''Excerpt from "Vevé" (Islands)''//</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Return to [[Africa]] to continue learning about this particular theme in The Arrivants.</p>
<div class="side-nav" style = "font-size:14px;"><center><br/>
[[The Project]] <br/>
[[ Who Was Kamau Brathwaite?]] <br/>
[[ About Arrivants]] <br/>
[[The Quest for Identity]] <br/>
[[Africa]] <br/>
[[Credits]]</center>
</div>(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[
#The African Empires/Towns Named in The Arrivants]
<figure>
<iframe src="https://uploads.knightlab.com/storymapjs/525100c56acca6b77e984ed0d2073d99/the-african-continent-as-written-by-kamau-brathwaite/index.html" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="800"></iframe>
<figcaption style = "font-size:14px">''//The African empires/towns referenced in "The Arrivants"//''</figcaption></figure>
<p>Return to [[Africa]] to continue learning about this particular theme in The Arrivants.</p>
<div class="side-nav" style = "font-size:14px;"><center><br/>
[[The Project]] <br/>
[[ Who Was Kamau Brathwaite?]] <br/>
[[ About Arrivants]] <br/>
[[The Quest for Identity]] <br/>
[[Africa]] <br/>
[[Credits]]</center>
</div><div class="side-nav" style = "font-size:14px;"><center><br/>
[[The Project]] <br/>
[[ Who Was Kamau Brathwaite?]] <br/>
[[ About Arrivants]] <br/>
[[The Quest for Identity]] <br/>
[[Africa]] <br/>
[[Credits]]</center>
</div>
<style>
p{
text-align: justify;
}
</style>
(set: _Kofi_Tutu_I to "_Kofi_Tutu_I")
(set: _Kodua to "_Kodua")
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[#Bibliography]
<p>“The Arrivants: A New World Trilogy by Edward Kamau Brathwaite.” LibraryThing.Com, www.librarything.com/work/1411508. Accessed 23 June 2022.<br/>
Blay, Yaba Amgborale. “Asase Yaa | Religion.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/topic/Asase-Yaa. Accessed 19 June 2022.<br/>
Brathwaite, Kamau. “The Arrivants: A New World Trilogy.” The Arrivants: A New World Trilogy, 1st ed., London, Oxford University Press, 1973, p. 272.<br/>
GhanaWeb. “Volta Region.” GhanaWeb, https://bit.ly/3yaMZLo. Accessed 23 June 2022.<br/>
Kehinde, Ayo. “Edward Brathwaite’s The Arrivants and the Trope of Cultural Searching.” The Journal of Pan African Studies, vol. 1, no. 9, 2007, pp. 182–98, www.jpanafrican.org/docs/vol1no9/EdwardBrathwaitesTheArrivants.pdf.<br/>
Innes, Lyn. “Edward Kamau Brathwaite Obituary.” The Guardian, 10 Feb. 2020, www.theguardian.com/books/2020/feb/05/edward-kamau-brathwaite-obituary.<br/>
Morris, Donald R. “Shaka | Zulu Chief.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/biography/Shaka-Zulu-chief. Accessed 19 June 2022.<br/>
Morris, Mervyn. “HIS BROKEN GROUND: Edward Brathwaite’s Trilogy of Poems - New World Journal.” New World Journal, newworldjournal.org/independence/his-broken-ground-edward-brathwaites-trilogy-of-poems/5. Accessed 20 June 2022.<br/>
Mythica, Atlas. “Nyame: Supreme God of Akan African People.” Atlas Mythica, atlasmythica.com/nyame-odomankoma-onyankopon-african-god. Accessed 19 June 2022.<br/>
National Geographic Society. “The Mali Empire | National Geographic Society.” National Geographic, 20 May 2022, education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/mali-empire.<br/>
“Odomankoma Creates the Universe.” Oxford Reference, www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100245769. Accessed 19 June 2022.“Ogun | Encyclopedia.Com.” <br/>
Encyclopedia.Com, www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/ogun. Accessed 19 June 2022.<br/>
Scranton, Laird. “Shango | Yoruba Deity.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/topic/Shango. Accessed 19 June 2022.<br/>
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Benin | Historical Kingdom, West Africa.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/place/Benin-historical-kingdom-West-Africa. Accessed 23 June 2022. <br/>
---. “Ghana | Historical West African Empire.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/place/Ghana-historical-West-African-empire. Accessed 23 June 2022. <br/>
---. “Kanem-Bornu | Historical Empire, Africa.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/place/Kanem-Bornu. Accessed 23 June 2022. <br/>
---. “Kongo | Historical Kingdom, Africa.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/place/Kongo-historical-kingdom-Africa. Accessed 23 June 2022. <br/>
---. “Songhai Empire | History, Facts, and Fall.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/place/Songhai-empire. Accessed 23 June 2022. <br/>
---. “Timbuktu | History, Map, Population, and Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/place/Timbuktu-Mali. Accessed 23 June 2022. <br/>
TJR. “Commemorating Professor Emeritus Kamau Brathwaite.” NYU | Arts and Science, as.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/as/departments/complit/about/news/news-for-2019-2020/markingthepassageofkamaubrathwaite19302020.html. Accessed 19 June 2022.<br/>
Vettorato, Cyril. “Transubstantiating the Intimate: The Role of Autobiographical Elements in the Poetry of Kamau Brathwaite.” Études Anglaises, vol. Vol. 66, no. 4, 2013, pp. 497–510. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.3917/etan.664.0497.<br/>
Wikipedia Contributors. “Damballa.” Wikipedia, 27 Mar. 2022, https://bit.ly/3xHbvSJ.<br/>
---. “Kamau Brathwaite.” Wikipedia, 4 June 2022, https://bit.ly/3HMg3vS.<br/>
---. “Olodumare.” Wikipedia, 11 June 2022, https://bit.ly/3N6M3Ml.<br/>
---. “Osei Kofi Tutu I.” Wikipedia, 4 May 2022, https://bit.ly/3bb03Hy.<br/>
---. “Ra.” Wikipedia, 17 June 2022, https://bit.ly/3y5ImCb.<br/>
---. “Tweneboa Kodua.” Wikipedia, 8 Mar. 2021, https://bit.ly/3xI2itB.
Weeks, Deborah G. “Movement of the People: The Relationship between Black Consciousness Movements, Race, and Class in the Caribbean.” University of South Florida, University of South Florida, 2008. <br/>
</p>