TED Talks:
The first TED talk, titled ‘Ingenuity and elegance in ancient African alphabets’ by Saki Mafundikwa, explores the various languages that have developed throughout Africa. For instance, he explains how the ancient writing of Nsibidi was created by the Ejagham people in Southern Africa and is comprised of 3 levels: the common signs of human relationships and communication, dark signs representing danger and darkness and secret signs known only by priests and initiates. In comparison to English, Saki Mafundikwa explains that many African alphabets, like Adinkra, are made of symbols that provide meanings for proverbs, historical events, attitudes and objects, animals and plants. Likewise, these symbols can tell stories: a famous example being that which tells the origin of the world- the centre of focus being God. This language dates back to 400 years ago, and many African alphabets (such as the one created by the Vai people) were prominent before the 1800s to prove that literacy was common in Africa before the Europeans came into effect with foreign languages such as French, English and Spanish.
The most ancient alphabet in the world is believed to have originated in Egypt and dates back to over 1600 BC. This was invented on an Egyptian Cunieform tablet and is known today as Egyptian Hieroglyphics. Although this African alphabet is extinct, the Abakwa graphic writing that originated in the Congo is still used today in countries like Cuba, Haiti, Brazil and Trinidad. The Bantu alphabet is used by Zulus in South Africa and is represented through abstract patterns on cloth. The Adinkra symbol which came from Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire features the Ghanaian glyph ‘Sanjoka’ meaning “return and get it” or “learn from the past”. This glyph was famously used by the Jamaican leader Marcus Mosaih Garvey in the Rastafarian movement. Most importantly, Saki Mafundikwa was saying the message that African students in graphic design should use African alphabets for inspiration rather than outside help.
2) Word may predict your future mental health
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