Many Africans are proud of Ethiopia for being the only African nation that was never colonised.
However, they rarely say anything about how when Ethiopia defeated European colonial invaders at the Battle of Adwa in 1896, the Ethiopian army was actually marching under the banner of the Christian Orthodox Church.
This was not even a result of modern European colonisation either, as Ethiopia converted to Christianity 1200 years before transatlantic slavery and 1500 years before Africa’s colonisation, around the same time the Roman Empire was only just beginning to tolerate the faith.
In fact, Coptic Christianity in Ethiopia and ancient Egypt developed entirely independently of European colonial influence.
The Nubian kingdoms of Sudan converted to Christianity in the 6th century AD, influenced by Egyptian Coptic and Ethiopian Christian missionaries. The resulting Nubian Christianity persisted for nearly 1000 years, only gradually giving way to Islam after the 13th-14th centuries.
It was actually Islam that prevented Ethiopia and Egypt from spreading Christianity across the Sahel and into West Africa.
It’s true that Western/Protestant Christianity spread through colonial missionary activity in Sub-Saharan Africa. In places like Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, the modern religious landscape was shaped by European missionaries and colonial institutions. But that doesn’t take away from 1500 years of indigenous African Christianity.
So, while Christianity is not originally African, it’s also not originally European, having originated in the Levant in West Asia. In fact, large parts of Africa were Christian before many parts of northern and eastern Europe were.
So, when we focus on just one screenshot of Christianity’s spread by European colonisers as the whole story, it erases a rich chapter of African history while attempting to defend it.
The bigger picture is that there was a continuous tradition of African Christianity that existed for centuries as an African phenomenon, completely independent of Europe.
Update: Marcell Meyer, a South African working on a farm in the US, entered a guilty plea after being arrested for distributing child sexual abuse material and will be sentenced in August 2026.
“I spent another day on a diaper because of contraceptives.
Today marks 2 years of me wearing diapers because of the 2-month prevention injection shot I took at the clinic.
Because of that, my husband doesn't want to have anything to do with me again 😭
and I did it because of him so he would not cheat.
I bleed so heavily everyday in such a way that I can no longer use pads,but pampers instead.
Dear ladies, rather have 2 babies every year than to use contraceptives. This things were never designed to help us,but to h@rm us. Let's all stop using contraceptives.”
As Doreen, I emphasize that married men should normalize going for vasectomy instead. It’s safer that way🙏🏾
A hobby that requires little thought, but much hand-eye coordination. Especially if the source of your anxiety and depression is your desk-job.
Winston Churchill, I read, took up bricklaying as an aid to distract from his state duties and depression.
@Dearme2_ A hobby that requires little thought, but much hand-eye coordination. Especially if the source of your anxiety and depression is your desk-job.
Winston Churchill, I read, took up bricklaying as an aid to distract from his state duties and depression.