The United African Nations. An interesting concept, but what does it mean? Are the new African peoples all Moslem or Animist or African Catholic? Do they all speak Kiswahili and carry spears? :)

Not likely, not any more likely than the member nations of the European Commonwealth are to suddenly decide to speak only French and phase out the use of German, Dutch, Swedish, Swiss, Danish, etc, etc! An African is no more likely than an American to accept the imposition of a state religion. A spear is a symbol, not any more relevant to the African peoples than a pair of wooden shoes are to a Dutchman. That doesn't mean that some Dutchmen don't wear clogs, or that some modern Africans don't carry spears, but it does warn against getting too far into the stereotype and forgetting that the tall black man in the gold jewelry and brilliant red robe of the Masai may be holding a very primitive looking spear, but he might also be toting the latest in weatherproof minicomps and handling an OpNet based stock trading consultancy from the comfort of his nomadic 'office!'

To make any intelligent statements about the United African Nations, we are going to have to make certain assumptions based on today. Today the population of the 50 odd countries in Africa seems to hover around 750 million, with countries ranging in size from 28% the size of the entire United States (the Sudan) to about twice the size of tiny Delaware (The Gambia, which is as much a river as it is a country!). [Numbers a few years out of date, taken from the CIA World Factbook at http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/.]

(Very) roughly, about 350 million Africans are Moslems, about 240 million are Christians (mostly Catholic) and about 125 million of them are Animists or 'other' followers of native faiths (that tend to get lumped together in surveys). Another 10 million or so are blatantly obvious syncretists, as opposed to a large percentage of the other groups that are more subtle. (Sidenote: Catholic/Animists syncretisms are commonplace. Witness Santeria, Voodoo, Condomble, Macumbe, etc. But I have read that a syncretization of native faiths and Islam is practiced in some areas and that sounds quite unusual, and potentially fascinating!) Generally, African peoples do not accept Christianity (or other invading religions) wholesale, they simply integrate them into their own traditional faith, retaining their own beliefs and style of worship and simply adding the trappings of Christianity to them. This leads to the fusions above, with ‘God’ simply taking the top position in their traditional pantheon and to the traditionally energetic and ecstatic nature of worship in their services.

From the mention of national/continental/tribal pride being so strongly emphasized in the Trinityverse future, it would seem likely that the various non-native faiths would decline, leaving perhaps 10-20% of Africa as members of an African Catholic faith, 25-30% as Moslems and 40-60% as members of various tribal faiths, including Animism. Remaining percentages would include people who simply choose to mark, 'Atheist, Agnostic or other' on the survey or who follow less typical faiths having (or gaining) a foothold on the continent, such as the Hindu faith or Buddhism.

As many as 275 million Africans live in any of the 17 countries that list English as a 'national language' today, another 185 million live in the 8 countries that use Arabic officially and 165 million live in 17 countries that use French officially. While many African nations have a native African language as an official language, none are more prolific than Kiswahili (Swahili), which is predominant in only 2 of nations numbering about 60 million citizens! Amharic is also spoken officially in a single nation of about 60 million people. As you can see the native tongues are all-but abandoned officially for reasons of practicality. Bear in mind that as many as half of the population of a country in Africa may not speak their 'official' language however!

Trinitywise, it seems that the countries of today would (with minor changes, such as the absorption of the Western Sahara by Morocco) become the 'states' of the UAN of tomorrow, despite the fact that these boundaries, more often than not, were drawn by European invaders.

While it would be more sensible in a 'perfect' world for the new Africa to throw away these old borders and focus on a new tribally-divided Africa, this would cause endless conflict, as each tribes historical ‘territory’ overlaps with the territories of up to a dozen others, and it seems doubtful that a Xhosa family is going to want to move from Morocco to the new ‘Xhosa’ nation in what used to be South Africa even if such a thing were formed. Besides, which state is going to be the first to vote itself out of existence? Like the European Commonwealth states, and unlike the modern US states, these 'states' (or provinces / districts / whatever) would retain their own (often conflicting) unique tribal entities, languages, etc.

I picture each UAN 'state' having two official languages. One would be Arabic, English or French (all of which the UAN main governing body would like to phase out in favor of native African languages, starting with English and already including Portuguese, which I would see as having been phased out already), the other would be the most predominant native tongue of the region. All vocoders in Africa would most likely start with one or all of these three tongues and / or one of the native 'official' languages. Despite best intentions and intensive effort, several attempts at pan-African synthetic tongues have failed dismally, being no more successful than Interlingua or Esperanto, forcing the UAN to remain stuck with a polyglot of Kiswahili, Amharic, Wolof, Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo, Fulani, Kikonga and Lingala, among almost a dozen other 'official' languages. Naturally, this would seem 'unfair' to members of any of a dozen (or many more, Africa has between 750 and 1000 languages, depending on whom you ask!) other tribes or linguistic groups within a single 'state,' but it would be impractical and unworkable to divide each tribe into a separate governing body with its own territory (guaranteed to overlap the traditional territory of a dozen other tribes) and language. Furthermore, even today an 'average' African could claim membership in two or more tribes, in the more cosmopolitan future, child would occasionally be born with grandparents from 4 different tribes! The only other versions of 'states' I could see would be divisions based on historical African kingdoms but this already exists in a fashion with the countries of Mali, Ghana, Benin, the Congo, etc. I do feel that an important part of historical and traditional pride would be the restoration of some of the traditional kingdom cities as both tourist attractions and points of national pride. More importantly, these city-states would also be active and populated with proud citizens, not just cheap recreationists or actors, making these combination monuments and tourist sites more like 'showcase cities' than theme parks. While the residents would be willing to dress in native styles and the restaurants would take on the appearance of outdoor markets, with most of the modern trappings hidden behind walls and curtains, allowing a visitor to feel as if he or she is actually within the ancient kingdoms of Dahomy or Akum, these cities would be functional and modern as any other, in some cases even more so since they would have been constructed with the latest in modern technology in mind.

Generally speaking, it would seem likely that the UAN focus on a return to 'pure' native faiths and tongues and traditions would have to be subtle indeed to discourage anti-white or anti-European racism, intertribal conflicts, etc. No matter how subtle such initiatives are, there will perhaps always be a bias against many Europeans products and ideals (and persons), with the strongest biases being against the Portuguese and English, with the Spanish and Dutch being only somewhat less popular. Strangely the French are not despised, making Africa something of an exception to the rest of the world, and the Arabs are similarly ‘welcome.’ There would also be a sizable chunk of the populace who would shun the idea of being 'told' that native religions or tongues or traditions are better in some way than the ones that they are already practicing, causing perhaps a knee-jerk movement to 'preserve' these transplanted ideas! Again, subtlety is the rule. Encouraging a return to unsullied African values and traditions is NOT the same as discouraging or persecuting or even forbidden non-native ideals or persons. Amusingly, I could see the Anima culture revolution having more to do with the resurgence of native Animism than any sort of UAN government initiative!

Interestingly, the Senegal, Gabon, the Cote D'Ivoire, Togo, Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, the Congo and the Democratic Congo are all examples of French speaking nations that expatriates from France may have settled to after the collapse of the European Commonwealth, creating a rather ironic sight, 'Frenchtowns,' white ghettos in clean black cities.

Some important differences to keep in mind when attempting an African Character, which I could go into at enormous length if I don’t restrict myself severely!

Names are very important. They MAKE an item what it is. Example: African art generally isn’t representational, if commissioned to sculpt a Mask to call up Major Mbute, the mask will follow the guidelines for a great warrior or leader, evoking the images of whatever fearsome animal is most associated with him and perhaps having a hint as to his identity such as a portrayal of his many medals. It will not LOOK like Major Mbute one bit. That isn’t the point. The point is to represent him, not duplicate him. The name (Nommo) or word is what makes the work real, not the surface detail. Many African tribes do not name a child (and so, make it ‘real’) until 8 days after birth (a sensible notion in a land where infant mortality can approach 50%) claiming that the childs spirit ‘hasn’t decided yet’ whether it wishes to live again in this time or this body or leave the body and wait for another. Once the name/designation is assigned, the ‘magic’ is complete and the person is officially born. As most African languages are tonal and there are up to 6 pronunciations for each vowel, the slightest change in tone or inflection can completely change someones name, which is regarded as anything from a simple act of white ignorance to a deadly offense, depending on the speaker and the circumstance. African literature and poetry are evokations and exhortations, the use of words are a form of magic to summon what is desired or convince a people of a thing, generally African poetry does not exist for ‘arts sake.’ An artisan may decide after a time that an item no longer properly represent the spirit or force it once did and will simply discard it, no matter how intricately made, leading some western observers to think that he has no understanding of art. But the point wasn’t to make a wall hanging, the point was to craft a mask that would summon uncle Mndele, and if ‘the spirit has gone out of it,’ then it will not work no matter how well it is crafted and it has become junk. Without the word, the physical item is dross and is discarded (or sold to a white collector) promptly.

The dead continue to exist so long as they have descendants. Shed of flesh they are called Bazimu instead of Bazima, and they are seen to be more ‘in touch’ with basic reality than the living man, and while they envy his ability to eat and have sex and otherwise enjoy the sensory thrills of life, they also are much more magically powerful than a living man. Thus propitiating the ancestors and spirits with gifts of food and drink and allowing them to possess the worshippers in times of ecstatic dance and other frenetic behavior is required if the worshippers wants them to function on his behalf on the other side where they have their fingers on the threads that underlie reality and make it all what it is (the connection between these beliefs and the ‘subquantum flow’ of Bhurano or the ‘noetic totality’ of Herzog should be clear). The more people honor a man, living or dead, the more Magara, the more ‘points’ he gets. A dead man can use this energy more effectively (which corresponds nicely with the Wraith concept of Memoriam), and the eldest and most revered of the dead can become ‘gods’ in time. This line of thinking is the most exciting and relevant in the Trinityverse, as, unlike the more ‘civilized’ religions, it actually WORKS with the current noetic and quantum theory. It isn’t some 6000 page dissertation on where to sit and what to wear and what is right or wrong that it takes a layman many years to even know, let alone try to understand, it is a living breathing way of looking at the universe and how it all works. In a way, despite being completely contradictory to what we in the western world have been taught, it is pretty much what a religion was MEANT to be, a lens through which a person can see and understand and interpret the world, not the sort of ‘cause I said so’ stuff that we grew up with. Unlike most of our religions, which seem not only incompatible with, but actually antagonistic to, scientific thought, African thought is scarily compatible. If Africa ever does unify and gets over all the cultural handicapping imposed by European religious and cultural thought, they are going to kick our butts. . .

Things exist in classes, with the highest class being the Muntu, which includes man (living or dead) and the assorted gods and spirits, all differentiated by the ability to command the lesser force, name names and be self-aware. The next class, Kintu, includes plants, animals, tools, etc, Hantu includes space and time and Kuntu includes various modalities and intangibles like love, laughter and hope. Generally trees are considered the seats upon which the gods sit above us and a vertical pillar is often the conduit in any ceremony where any higher power is evoked, as it facilitates the passage from the spirit world to the material one. Legba, a common diety is the god of travellers and of crossroads. His symbol is the cross, the horizontal bar representing the flat plain, the material world and everything in it and the vertical bar representing the spirit world and the forces that are lying underneath everything in the material world and which are only given form by the words and designations they bear. Thus, items of wood are considered to be more attuned to the spirit world.