How did African families avoid unplanned pregnancies before modern science? In this episode we discuss some practices in certain areas of the continent.Follow us:Twitter (apparently now X): https://twitter.com/Africas_UntoldSInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/africasuntoldstories/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFuTYzTqseXvH1RkmxV-1XAOutro music provided by DCQ BEATZ: https://player.beatstars.com/?storeId=97074&trackId=2559403

REFERENCES:• Bansode OM, Sarao MS, Cooper DB. Contraception. [Updated 2023 Jul 24]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK536949/

• Bertrand, Jane T., W. E. Bertrand and Miatudila Malonga. 1983. "The Use of Traditional and Modern Methods of Fertility Control in Kinshasa, Zaire." Population Studies, Vol. 37, No. 1 (Mar., 1983), pp. 129-136.

• Mulaudzi FM, Lebese RT, editors. 2022. Working with indigenous knowledge: Strategies for health professionals [Internet]. Cape Town: AOSIS. doi: 10.4102/aosis.2022.BK296.05. (Specifically drawing from Chapter 5: "Child spacing and prevention of pregnancy among African indigenous people" by Rachel T. Lebese, Tebogo M. Mothiba, Mercy T. Mulaudzi, Ntsieni S. Mashau, and Lufuno Makhado).

• Jinadu, Musa K. and Bade Ajuwon. 1997. "Traditional Fertility Regulation Methods Among the Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria: II. A Prospective Study of UseEffectiveness." African Journal of Reproductive Health / La Revue Africaine de la Santé Reproductive, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Mar., 1997), pp. 65-73.

• Moroole, Molelekwa A, Simeon A Materechera, Wilfred Otang-Mbeng and Adeyemi O Aremu. 2020. "African indigenous contraception: A review." African Journal of Reproductive Health / La Revue Africaine de la Santé Reproductive, Vol. 24, No. 4 (December 2020), pp. 173-184.

• Rossier, Clémentine and Jamaica Corker. 2017. "Contemporary Use of Traditional Contraception in sub-Saharan Africa." Population and Development Review, Vol. 43,

Fertility Transition in sub-Saharan Africa (2017), pp. 192-215

In this episode we focus mainly on the Arab Slave Trade in Africa. This was a hard episode to make. Hope it leaves an impact on all who listens. We would love to hear your thoughts on the episode.

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Outro music provided by DCQ BEATZ: https://player.beatstars.com/?storeId=97074&trackId=2559403

REFERENCES:

1. Lovejoy, P. E. (2000). Transformations in slavery: A history of slavery in Africa. Cambridge University Press.

2. Rowlandson, J. L., Bagnall, R. S., & Thompson, D. J. (Eds.). (2024). Slavery and dependence in ancient Egypt: Sources in translation. Cambridge University Press.

3. Bennett, N. R. (1960). Christian and Negro slavery in eighteenth-century North Africa. The Journal of African History, 1(1), 65-82.

4. Prince-Eichner, E. (n.d.). Embodying the Empire: Singing Slave Girls in Medieval Islamicate [Unpublished master's thesis]. Claremont Colleges.

5. Kehinde, M. (2018). Trans-Saharan Slave Trade. In F. D. Bean & S. K. Brown (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Migration (pp. 1-4). Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6179-7_29-1

6. Kloss, M. M. (2023). Slavery in Medieval Arabia. In D. A. Fargues & J. Schiel (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Global Slavery Throughout History (pp. 139-108). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15260-5_8

7. Marmon S. Intersections of Gender, Sex, and Slavery: Female Sexual Slavery. In: Perry C, Eltis D, Engerman SL, Richardson D, eds. The Cambridge World History of Slavery. The Cambridge World History of Slavery. Cambridge University Press; 2021:185-213.

8. Alexander, J. (2001). Islam, archaeology and slavery in Africa. World Archaeology, 33(1), 44–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438240120047627

9. Clarence-Smith, W. G. (2006). Islam and the abolition of slavery. Oxford University Press.​

10. Miran, J. (2022, April 20). Red Sea Slave Trade. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.868

11. Savage, E. (1992). Berbers and Blacks: Ibāḍī Slave Traffic in Eighth-Century North Africa. The Journal of African History, 33(3), 351-368.

12. Uzoigwe, G. N. (1973). THE SLAVE TRADE AND AFRICAN SOCIETIES. Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana, 14(2), 187–212. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41406525

Your favourite storytellers are back ! Upcoming topics this season:

Arab slave trade*, African climate history, Nri kingdom, Lesser known diaspora, pre-modern communications: drums, secret societies, etc.

Remember to reach out in the comments or any of the social media platforms to provide your suggestions or questions.

*Too late to take suggestions on the Arab slave trade episode

Follow us:

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Next up on the road of discomfort...Central & Southern Africa. Here we focus on a few examples and zoom in on the unique impacts of European arrival on African societies.

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFuTYzTqseXvH1RkmxV-1XA

Follow us:

Twitter (apparently now X): https://twitter.com/Africas_UntoldS

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/africasuntoldstories/

Outro music provided by DCQ BEATZ: https://player.beatstars.com/?storeId=97074&trackId=2559403

REFERENCES:

Lovejoy, P. E. (2011). Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Niekerk, V., & Gardiol, J.M. (2004). Slavery in pre-contact Africa. Fundamina: a Journal of Legal History, 2004, 210-223.

General History of Africa, Volume 5. Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century-UNESCO (1992)

Kalle Gustafsson. (2005). The Trade in Slaves in Ovamboland, ca.1850-1910. African Economic History, 33, 31–68. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4617604