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Germany faces its colonial legacy

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  Since the end of World War II, Germany has been grappling with the consequences of the Holocaust. Since about ten years, the country has also started facing its colonial history, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Germany started controlling territories in Africa in the 1800s, mostly after the "Scramble for Africa" initiated by Bismarck during the 1884 Berlin Conference, when the continent was divvied up among European countries. Germany annexed territories in present-day Cameroon, Togo, Ghana, and Namibia. After World War I, they lost most of their colonies, which were taken over by France and Great Britain. The Germans were brutal in their rule and committed genocide in Namibia in 1914. Until a few years ago, German city streets often carried the names of German colonizers, such as Petersallee in Berlin, dedicated to Dr. Carl Peters, who set off to start colonizing Eastern Africa in 1884. After the Berlin West Africa Conference, he was named Chairman of the German East-Afr

More from Zimbabwe! A Children's Book about Shona and Ndebele

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Via Amanda Tento, founder of my wonderful online networking group, the 337 group , I met Yeve Sibanda. Yeve is a Zimbabwean native who now calls the United States home. She is a wife, mother, attorney, public speaker, and author, and she founded Philisa Creatives, a media company, that celebrates and amplifies African heritage. Philisa means “to bring to life” in Ndebele; its mission is to create innovative products to enhance multicultural learning. Her debut book is " My First Book of Shona and Ndebele Words ." Just a week before, I had been discussing the need to promote African languages with Elle Charisse , creator of the Speaking Tongues podcast. On a popular language-learning app, until very recently, the only African language being taught was Swahili. I just read that Zulu and Xhosa, spoken in South Africa, will soon be taught, too.  There are some apps and websites, such as Mandla (for English speakers) and ParleAfrique for French speakers. However, they often have