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10 Interesting Facts From Dr. John Henrik Clarke About the Kingdom of Kongo

Artistic Portrait of Shamba Bolongongo

via anheuser-busch.com

The Golden Age

Greece had Pericles. England had Queen Elizabeth I. And the Kingdom of Kongo had Shamba Bolongongo. John Henrik Clarke, a Pan-Africanist scholar, professor, writer and historian, expressed that, just like European societies, the Kingdom of Kongo had a “Golden Age” of its own. Under the reign of Bolongongo, the Bushongo citizens of the Southern Congo were at peace. Shongos, or throwing knives, were banned; warfare was humane, and the arts of the land portrayed tranquility.

 

A map of the Kingdom of Congo

The Limit Does Not Exist

The Congo covers a vast surface area. In his article titled “The Kongo Nation and Kingdom,” Clarke noted that Portuguese African explorer Duarte Lopez declared that the Kingdom of Kongo was 1,685 miles long. This is the same length as the entire coastline of the Gulf of Mexico.

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