8th Book: “The Story of Swahili” by John Mugane

Written By Sophia Senyo

For our eighth book, we are reading “The Story of Swahili” by John Mugane.

“Swahili, or more properly Kiswahili, was once an obscure littoral dialect of an East African Bantu language. Today more than one hundred million people use Swahili, making it one of the few truly international languages—Swahili is to eastern and central Africa what English is to the world. How this came about and why, of all African languages, it happened only to Swahili is the story that John M. Mugane sets out to explore.”

[Abstract from Harvard University’s webpage]

List of videos we watched, shared and/or discussed this month:

WEEK ONE SUMMARY: Part 1 through Part 4

PROMPTS:

  1. What are your thoughts on Africa having a common language for the continent?

  2. What are your thoughts that most African countries official language is not a native African language still today?

  3. What do you find most interesting about the history of Swahili and how this language came to be?

DISCUSSION SUMMARY:

  • Discussion for prompt one:

    • One member noted that they think it makes sense. There is a certain strength behind that and what it could mean from an education standpoint. But they also noted that they think the individual countries need to actually be teaching their respective native languages.

    • Many members noted that they think it is a good thing with the purpose of unity behind it and to foster some cohesiveness when Africa comes to the global stage to represent common interests.

    • Some members added that this cohesiveness also demands respect. And with this cohesiveness in language, it would not stop there. Because then you can look for a job anywhere in the continent and do business with more ease across the continent and even more possibilities such as knowing that the legal system across the continent is all the same language.

    • Other members noted or questioned what would implementation look like. And at the least, this is a discussion that African leaders should consider and official meetings should be had to consider this. Others countered that those who are creating schools or who have private schools should go ahead and get started doing this.

    • Some noted that the opposition is likely just opposing because they are afraid of what they don’t know so people need to be educated on this that it does not mean individual countries would lose their sovereignty.

  • Discussion for prompt two:

    • One member noted that it shows that those leaders and their parliament or government still doesnt grasp the importance of mother languages and having pride in their culture so it shows they still see "other" as better.

    • Some noted that there is still a fear of western countries or pandering to their colonizers and also corruption is all part of this. But regardless of all this, there is a clear need that this needs to happen that is each african country’s official language either being a united language like Swahili or at the very least one of their own native languages.

    • Many noted that they think this is a big challenge because the people who have multiple languages will not easily agree on one language.

    • Other members noted that they think this just like a united african language is the same thing so it is clear that education would be needed around this on the purpose and would have to be put to a vote by the people on the ballot or through their representatives. But essentially a national language does not automatically mean do not speak your mother tongue but it allows for consistency in the courts and with commerce and with education so people know what to expect. But the conversation continued that this could create more division amongst the people and even more reason to just choose one unanimous language across the entire continent so it takes away any inferiority or superiority amongst the people in the respective countries.

    • Another idea that came up was that yes it should be Swahili because so many people speak it already and the individual countries can still have the European language for the purposes of allowing their students to be competitive on the global stage and then each african country should require that each region teach the local tribal language.

  • Discussion for prompt three:

    • Many members noted that they did not realize that swahili's roots come from bantu like english comes from latin.

    • Another member noted that they dont really consider swahili to be a people it is rather a regional language developed by merchants and eventually colonizers. It isnt really an ethnic group. The ethnic group and language is bantu. Swahili does not have its own territory and it is not really or solely specific to an ethnic group.

    • Many members noted that this book revealed that Swahili does not actually seem to be a language that it is tied to a people or a territory like all african native languages that we are aware of. And this is even more of a reason that it should be the united language of the continent because it truly is a language of commerce or a language created for utility.

  • Additional discussion notes:

    • One member noted that they are looking forward to learning about how Swahili reached the diaspora of african american and was used to develop kwanzaa.

    • Another member noted that they like how he uses history of commerce and the migration of communities to explain how languages evolve like the Bantu and the Cushitic pastoralists in chapter 3 and the Dukas.

    • Other members noted that it would be helpful if they had developed a really good flow chart showing the evolution from bantu to swahili and the likely influences along the way from the Asians, Arabs, Europeans, etc.

WEEK TWO SUMMARY: Part 5 through Part 8

PROMPTS:

  1. What do you think about the Portuguese colonization efforts and why they were not as successful as other colonizers when it came to this territory (see chapter 5)?

  2. What did you think of chapter 6: The Women of Swahili and their role in the evolution of the Swahili language?

  3. Of the quotes at the end of chapter 6 (the Women of Swahili), which one spoke to you most?

  4. What do you think about chapter 7 (The Swahili Literary Tradition) and the use of proverbs?

DISCUSSION SUMMARY:

  • Discussion for prompt one:

    • Many members noted that they think they were not able to achieve the level of domination as seen in other countries because that area was in a way already colonized and foreign influenced. And the indigenous spirituality practices had already been primarily replaced by Islam so the Catholics were not bringing a new concept since Christianity and Islam have the same God so it was not novel and the resistance was strong because the people were not naive or unaware of these tactics and approaches.

    • Other members noted that the foreigners who were already there already had strong influences in the area so the Portuguese were not coming to a place that was naïve and they were not meeting resistance from a people who were not aware of their tactics and weaponry. So this land and the foreigners were already in the process of establishing things their way and were already equipped experience wise and weaponry wise to challenge the Portuguese.

  • Discussion for prompt two:

    • Some members noted that out of all the history books that they have read so far in their life that this was the first historical text that they have read where there was clear acknowledgement and recognition that the women were the keepers of history culture and tradition because they knew the oral history and have a whole chapter dedicated to it.

  • Discussion for prompt three:

    • Some members’ favorite was “running is not arriving” = "Kwenda mbio si kufika".

    • Other members noted they like “think before you speak” and that is a common one in many cultures and mother languages. And also “no foster parent takes the place of a mother.”

  • Discussion for prompt four:

    • Many members noted that this showed them how connected all indigenous cultures are because you see the same with the indigenous americans, and you see the use of proverbs across the African continent and islands, etc. And, the author even references a song that Chinua Achebe included in Things fall Apart, which also goes to show what a strong influence Achebe has had on literature. He has been mentioned in many of the books we have read.

    • Another member expounded on the Achebe comment that he seems to be the Godfather of African literature from the time of colonization and post colonization because so many authors refer to him.

  • Additional discussion notes:

    • One member added that it seems like the book is indicating that there was no written form of bantu and that swahili's written form comes from the arabic letters. It makes them think about Ɛʋɛ and how the germans were part of the creation of the alphabet. But also noted that there must have been some written form of our indigenous languages like just thinking about the egyptians and hieroglyphics and amharic precedes arabic.

    • Many members noted that this book provides more insight to the true history of africans and the brutality that was faced during colonization and the slave trade because none of this has ever truly been taught in schools anywhere in the world because it is always watered down or very short. Students and Individuals have to go get the truth outside of school. Hopefully this is changing or has changed.

WEEK THREE SUMMARY: Part 9 through Part 12

PROMPTS:

  1. Chapter 11: Swahili in African American Life: What are your thoughts about what Swahili has meant to the diaspora, including the birth of Kwanzaa and positive black identity?

  2. Chapter 12: Swahili is for the living: Based on this chapter and the overall book, what do you think of the Swahili language: its past, present and future?

DISCUSSION SUMMARY:

  • Discussion for prompt one:

    • Some members found it to be deeply moving that even with all the misinformation about black people, and the forcing upon of a negative identity on the black people, and being oceans apart from the motherland, even with all of this ….. that the African Diaspora (post slavery) could reach out to Swahili to be a tool or resource of the building back up of the true black identity, one that any African American can be proud of and remember that slavery and colonization was not our origins but really and truly that Africans and Indigenous people have a rich history, identity and culture and language is core to that.

    • Many members noted that it was not only that the Swahili language was inspiring or a connection for the African diaspora but also the struggle and resistance against the colonizers was another connection that the African diaspora could relate too.

      • And also the Swahili words and the ease of the language and its tonations served also as a way to express themselves in a mother tongue that reflects the diaspora. Many found this comment to be interesting that perhaps Swahili could be argued to be the mother language of the Africa diaspora where it is hard for many to trace their roots to one tribe or country or who have been so disconnected because of the impact of slavery that Swahili could be the mother tongue of the children of slavery whose roots and heritage have been blended or lost. One member followed up from this that the beautiful thing about Swahili is you do not need to be from any tribe in order for Swahili to be your mother tongue.

    • Another member noted that this just goes to show that the connection to their roots is so strong that slavery couldn’t eliminate it completely. And also even with slavery, there were the intellectuals and the keepers of knowledge that still remained amongst the slaves that did their best to keep this knowledge alive.

    • One member noted that they thought that it was interesting that Swahili has the word Dada which means oldest female sibling and Ɛʋɛgbe dialect in the Volta region has the word Dada which means mother and the Ɛʋɛgbe dialect in Togo uses Dada to mean older sister and mother is Nɔ. Another postulated perhaps: (A) did Swahili influence Ɛʋɛgbe or (B) is this an instance of Ɛʋɛgbe influencing Swahili or (C) do the two languages come from a common ancestral language? The group decided perhaps this is a question for a language detective 😊

  • Discussion for prompt two:

    • Some members noted that they think the language is living and dying because it continues to evolve but also continues to perhaps be diluted and heavily influenced by other foreign languages and cultures.

      • On the other side, some members noted that they really like this chapter because it really brings it all together that Swahili is such a unique language and that it seems it has now been stabilized and is truly its own language like any other indigenous language, or European language and can evolve in its own right.

    • Many members noted that this is a language of the people and for the people and will last like all other international languages. They elaborated that the people created Swahili for a specific joint society reason or common community reason and so it will continue.

    • One member noted that from their perspective, Swahili is truly a language that is solely about connection and bringing people together. It is a language that originated from and for the african people but it is not really reserved to one people or place, it developed out of the need for more ease of communicating with foreigners and its purpose continues to evolve as we saw during the black power movement to reconnect the diaspora with their roots and with the call for swahili to be the national language of the continent to unite all africans in a healthy economic way.

FINAL REFLECTIONS AND NOTES:

  • Quality history book that we highly recommend all history teachers should use for middle school, high school and university too.

  • This book is not only the history of the language, but the author does a good job at simultaneously teaching the language along the way; making this book great for those learning Swahili.

  • Many members noted that this book provides more insight to the true history of africans and the brutality that was faced during colonization and the slave trade because none of this has ever truly been taught in schools anywhere in the world because it is always watered down or very short. Students and Individuals have to go get the truth outside of school. Hopefully this is changing or has changed.

  • Many in the group were unfamiliar with the impact Swahili had on the Black Power Movement and were unfamiliar with Kwanzaa, while they had heard about it, they did not really know Kwanzaa. Some had never even heard of Kwanzaa. And they appreciate this book and the documentary we watched and how it explains the origins of Kwanzaa and the principles of Kwanzaa and that it is a way of life.

    • Here is the documentary we watched that is narrated by Maya Angelou:

    • The Black Candle | FULL MOVIE | Maya Angelou, Jim Brown, Chuck D | Kwanzaa Documentary (the birth of Kwanzaa; origins of Kwanzaa): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmdx92vXlpM

  • The group ended reading this book by saying “Harambe” = Come together, come/collaborate/work together in unity, pull together.

Sophia Senyo
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