Handbook for Developing Emotional and Social Intelligence: Best Practices, Case Studies, and Strategies

10.1. INTRODUCTION

In order to understand the emotional and social skills of the African people, one has to understand the context of the people, their cultures, and the continent. Slightly more than 150 years ago, the African continent was largely an unexplored, unknown, mystical, and mysterious place to the Western world. Explorers such as David Livingston courageously explored parts of the continent, sharing information with the rest of the world on the beauty and wonder of the land, the nature of the people, and in particular the horrors of the slave trade (Pakenham, 1991). After Livingston's death in 1873, between 1880 and 1902 the continent once ruled by Africans became a continent ruled by rivaling European countries. Germany, France, ...