el Cid - Africa
oh my goodness! I set out to write an appreciation of El Cid in one paragraph. it became so complicated and convoluted that I got lost in it. I gave up. before I can appreciate El Cid, I have to appreciate Africa, or how Africa shows up in our (UnitedStatesian) history. basically it doesn't. Africa isn't there. which makes it difficult to have Egypt, which is one of our (humans') foundational civilizations. much of what we "know" about Egypt we don't. what we "know" is at least questionable. were the ancient Egyptians really white? or black? or brown? they were almost certainly one of those three, but we (UnitedStatesians) have messed that history up so well, it's hard to untangle. there is a real cost to white supremacy. but back to El Cid. what has Africa to do with El Cid? well, El Cid would be something else entirely, someone else entirely, or just not exist, without the Moors. and the Moors are inexplicable without Africa and without Arabs. we kinda skimp on Arab history too, but nothing like we do on African history. so let me tell you African history as I learned it in UnitedStatesian public schools. in the beginning, Africa did not exist. all we needed was the Middle East, because that's where we (humans) possibly invented civilization. and then we didn't need the Middle East either; all we needed was Greece, where we (humans) invented democracy and dictatorship. and then we had to add Italy so we could have Rome and invent a republic and develop a nation of laws and discover law'n'order. but you can't talk about Rome for very long without Carthage, so you have to have the middle of the northern coast of Africa for a little while, long enough for Rome to decide it needs a war with Carthage, defeat Carthage, destroy Carthage, and then Africa can go away again. whew. but then along comes Mohammed, who invents Islam, and who may have invented Arabs, who grew from a little tribe trying to kill itself into one of the major contenders in world history! they came bustling out of the Saudi peninsula which hadn't existed until we needed it for a home for Islam and the Arabs. they took over the Middle East, which despite our best efforts to write it out of history still existed. they fought their way into Turkey and into the Balkans. oops! We need Africa again, but only the northern coast. the Arabs and Islam poured across the northern coast of Africa, making converts as they went, and when they ran into the western coast, the Arabs encountered the Moors. (they were already living there, we just couldn't admit it because then we'd've had to have an Africa before we needed it again.) how fast did Islam spread? Mohammed died in 632 AD, and in 711 AD, the Moors, thoroughly Islamic Moors, invaded Spain and Portugal. so in less than a hundred years, Islam swept across the northern coast of Africa, and its converts (the Moors) began invading Spain and Portugal!. okay, we won't need Africa for a while again, so it can go back to not existing. we will need Africa again later when we have to explain slavery and the barrier to trade with India, but for now it can disappear again. isn't Africa a convenient continent? it appears when we need it, has just the cities or countries we need, then disappears again when we don't need it any more. no people live on it. no peoples ever form civilizations or nations or conduct trade. yeah. if we can really believe histories like that, no wonder we can believe climate change is a hoax.
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