
What We Are Reading Today: Worlds of Unfreedom by Roquinaldo Ferreira
In 'Worlds of Unfreedom,' Roquinaldo Ferreira recasts West Central Africa as a key battleground in the struggle to abolish the transatlantic slave trade between the 1830s and the 1860s.
Ferreira foregrounds the experiences and agency of enslaved Africans, challenging Eurocentric narratives that marginalize African participation in abolition efforts.
Drawing on archival research, he shows how enslaved people resisted the oppressive systems that sought to commodify their lives. He integrates microhistorical analysis with broader world history.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Arab News
3 days ago
- Arab News
Chad hopes ‘green charcoal' can save vanishing forests
N'DJAMENA: As they zigzagged from one machine to another in the searing African sun, the workers were covered in black soot. But the charcoal they were making is known as 'green,' and backers hope it can save impoverished Chad from rampant deforestation. Chad, a vast, landlocked country of 19 million people perched at the crossroads of north and central Africa, is steadily turning to desert. It has lost more than 90 percent of its forest cover since the 1970s, hit by climate change and overexploitation of trees for household uses such as cooking, officials say. 'Green charcoal' aims to protect what forest is left. Made from discarded plant waste such as millet and sesame stalks or palm fronds, it is meant to save trees from being chopped down for cooking. The product 'releases less emissions than traditional charcoal, it doesn't blacken your pots, it has high energy content and lasts up to three times longer than ordinary charcoal,' said Ousmane Alhadj Oumarou, technical director of the Raikina Association for Socioeconomic Development (Adser). 'Using one kilogramme of green charcoal saves six kilogrammes of wood.' The group has installed a production facility in Pont Belile, just north of the capital, N'Djamena. There, workers grind up burnt plant waste, then mix it with gum arabic, which helps it ignite, and clay, which makes it burn more slowly. The resulting black nuggets look like ordinary charcoal. Like the traditional kind, it emits CO2 when it burns — but less, said Souleymane Adam Adey, an ecologist at the University of N'Djamena. And 'it contributes to fighting deforestation, by ensuring the trees that aren't cut down continue to capture and store carbon,' he said. The conflict in neighboring Sudan, which is facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, is adding to pressure on Chad, which has become home to more than 800,000 Sudanese refugees since 2023 — double the 400,000 it already hosted. 'Desertification has progressed in the regions that have been hosting Sudanese refugees for the past two years,' said Adser's director, 45-year-old businessman Ismael Hamid. Adser invested 200 million CFA francs (about $350,000) to launch the project, then won backing from the World Bank, which buys the charcoal for 750 CFA francs per kilogramme. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, distributes the charcoal in refugee camps in eastern Chad. But Hamid said he hoped to expand production and slash prices to 350 to 500 CFA francs per kilo to make 'green charcoal' available and affordable nationwide. The plant currently produces seven to nine tons per day. 'If we want to meet the country's needs, we have to increase our output by at least a factor of 10,' said Hamid, calling for subsidies to support the budding sector. Environment Minister Hassan Bakhit Djamous told AFP the government was working on a policy to promote such projects. 'We need to bet on green charcoal as an energy source for the future of our country,' he said. jbo-emp/lnf/jhb/cw


Arab News
3 days ago
- Arab News
Netherlands returns 119 looted artifacts known as Benin Bronzes to Nigeria
ABUJA, Nigeria: The Netherlands on Thursday returned 119 artifacts looted from Nigeria, including human and animal figures, plaques, royal regalia and a bell. The artifacts, known as the Benin Bronzes and mostly housed in a museum in the city of Leiden, were looted in the late 19th century by British soldiers. In recent years, museums across Europe and North America have moved to address ownership disputes over artifacts looted during the colonial era. They were returned at the request of Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments. During the handover ceremony in Edo State, Oba Ewuare II, the monarch and custodian of Benin culture, described the return of the artifacts as a 'divine intervention.' The Benin Bronzes were returned at the request of Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments. The restitution is a testament to the power of prayer and determination, the monarch said. The Dutch government is committed to returning artifacts that do not belong to the country, said Marieke Van Bommel, director of the Wereld Museum. Olugbile Holloway, the commission's director, said the return of 119 artifacts marks the largest single repatriation to date and that his organization is working hard to recover more items looted during colonial times. Nigeria formally requested the return of hundreds of objects from museums around the world in 2022. Some 72 objects were returned from a London museum that year while 31 were returned from a museum in Rhode Island. The Benin Bronzes were stolen in 1897 when British forces under the command of Sir Henry Rawson sacked the Benin kingdom and forced Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, the monarch at the time, into a six-month exile. Benin is located in modern-day southern Nigeria.


Al Arabiya
6 days ago
- Al Arabiya
The world's most trafficked mammal is the pangolin. US officials say it's an endangered species
US officials proposed Monday to protect the pangolin – a small, nocturnal mammal covered in scales – under the Endangered Species Act. The pangolin is the most trafficked mammal in the world, in large part for its scales used in traditional Chinese medicine and meat, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The US Fish and Wildlife Service is looking to add protections for four species of pangolin native to Asia – including the Chinese, Indian, Sunda, and Philippine pangolin – and three species native to Africa, including the white-bellied, black-bellied, and giant pangolin. Seven species are in danger of extinction, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. An eighth species from Africa, the Temminck's ground pangolin, is already protected by the law. Scientists also say two more species of the mammal may exist. The protections were signed into law in 1973 with bipartisan support and are key for preserving global biodiversity and keeping iconic types of plants and animals, such as the bald eagle, from dying out. The Endangered Species Act protects over 2,000 US and foreign species. Conservation and environmental groups say habitat loss from climate change is just one reason the act is especially critical today. The endangerment listing, once finalized, would help strengthen trade and import restrictions of pangolin parts in the US, except in the case of scientific or other conservation purposes, according to the Center. It is illegal to trade them; the pangolin received certain commercial trade protections under the 2017 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. But tons of poached scales representing thousands of pangolin have been found by authorities around the world in recent years. 'I'm delighted the United States is doing its part to save these adorably odd creatures,' Sarah Uhlemann, international program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. 'Pangolins are on the razor's edge of extinction, and we need to completely shut down any US market for their scales. There's no good reason for anybody to ingest any part of a pangolin.' The pangolin eats insects and rolls into a ball when threatened by predators. The Fish and Wildlife Service said pangolin populations have declined due to targeting by poachers and criminal activity, noting proceeds from the illicit sale of pangolins and other imperiled species often fund serious crimes, including drug and arms trafficking. While the act requires endangered species listing regardless of their origin, the designation could also assist in prosecuting smugglers violating the protections. Advocates, including from the International Fund for Animal Welfare and other national and international groups, have for years petitioned to list the pangolin. In 2020, these organizations and the Fish and Wildlife Service signed an agreement to enforce listing deadlines. Polar bears, as well as penguins – similarly not found in the US – have also been in discussions for listing over the years. Monday's move comes despite President Donald Trump's efforts to weaken the act, aligning with ongoing conservative criticism that it stifles economic growth. Trump's executive order declaring an energy emergency in the US says the act can't stand in the way of energy development, signaling that protections could be rolled back. The Trump administration already plans to cut habitat protections for endangered and threatened species in an effort to redefine the long-standing meaning of what constitutes harm.