Talking Drums

'We cannot imagine life now without a mobile phone' is a frequent comment when Africans are asked about mobile phones. They have become part and parcel of the communication landscape in many urban and rural areas of Africa and the growth of mobile telephony is amazing: from 1 in 50 people being users in 2000 to 1 in 3 in 2008. Such growth is impressive but it does not even begin to tell us about the many ways in which mobile phones are being appropriated by Africans and how they are transforming or are being transformed by society in Africa. This volume ventures into such appropriation and mutual shaping. Rich in theoretical innovation and empirical substantiation, it brings together reflections on developments around the mobile phone by scholars of six African countries (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Sudan and Tanzania) who explore the economic, social and cultural contexts in which the mobile phone is being adopted, adapted and harnessed by mobile Africa.

2022 Reprint of the 1949 Edition. Illustrated. Exact facsimile of the original edition and not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Carrington was a Baptist Missionary to the Democratic Republic of Congo. In this work the author argues that the "talking" of the African drum is in effect a language, and not simply a form of signaling. He goes on to explain the language of the African drum and the fact that many such languages exist in Africa, providing a form of communication otherwise unavailable to Africans. Table of Contents: Introduction Central African Languages and Our Own The Drums How Messages are Sent on the Talking Drum What's in a Name? Ourselves as Others See Us Births, Marriages and Deaths Sporting Events Potpourri Horns, Whistles and Guitars The Future of the Drum Languages of Africa

. An accompanying compact disk enables the reader to work closely with the sound of African speech and song discussed in the book.

When young Patricia Parker went down to London to answer an advertisement for a job in the capital, she never thought that she would instead accept a very different kind of assignment that would take her to Central America from a stranger she met at her hotel.Neither did she expect to meet and fall in love with the handsome, dashing ex-soldier from America.And who was the young girl who was so similar to her that they could be twins?What is the secret of the Obeahman who influenced her life but whom she never seemed to meet?Would she have accepted the assignment if she had known in advance what was to befall her in this beautiful part of the world?Did she ever find out the secrets that could change her life forever?The answers are all contained within this book.

A comprehensive history of African Americans, including culture, slavery, and civil rights.