Quotes from Patricia C. McKissack

I aine never seen a fox before. So, why should I be scared of you and I don't even-now know you a real fox for a fact?

Sumanguru was shaken by Sundiata's self-confidence, although he was sure his magic would protect him. But Sundiata's blacksmith was also a well-known wizard.

Mali means "the hippopotamus," which is often used in association with Sundiata, as are the lion, the symbol of the Keita clan, and the buffalo of his mother's clan.

A convicted thief was sentenced to have his hand cut off. A liar lost his tongue. Repeated offenders were killed. Banishment was also a common sentence. In spite of these severe laws, songs praised Sundiata for his fairness in dealings with the privileged as well as the poor, the strong as well as the weak.

It was customary for the uncle of the groom to hide a bowl of sheep's blood in the marriage hut. If the bride was not a virgin, the groom could stain her white body-garment and show it to the wedding party. In this way he saved face and spared his wife's life.

Slavery was so brutal and devastating, Europeans looked for ways to justify themselves. For a while they used the argument that the Africans were pagans, savages, heathens in need of salvation.

Several lackluster rulers followed Mansa Wali, including Khalifa, another one of Sundiata's sons, who unfortunately went insane and shot arrows at his subjects.

During his reign, which began in 1307 and lasted twenty-five years, he doubled the land area of Mali. Known as the khan of Africa, Musa governed an empire as large as all of Europe, second in size only to the territory at the time ruled by Genghis Khan in Asia.

While visiting Mali's capital, Ibn Battuta was received by the king, who was at that time Mansa Musa's son. Ibn Battuta was offended by the king's lack of generosity. The traveler complained that the king was miserly and instead of giving him "robes of honor and money," he offered Ibn Battuta … three cakes of bread, a piece of beef fried in native oil, and a calabash of sour curds.

By the time Mansa Musa left the Middle East, he had put so much gold into circulation, its value fell sharply. A reporter in the service of the Egyptian sultan reported that the Cairo gold market had been so saturated that it still had not fully recovered twelve years after Mansa Musa's fabulous hajj.

For well over a thousand years, from about A.D. 500 to 1700, the civilizations of western Africa flourished. Most of us know nothing about them. During the same period, Europe suffered from constant warfare and only slowly recovered its lost glory. The history of the "Dark Ages" and the Renaissance is taught in every school. Most of Africa's history, except for that of Egypt, remains unknown to general readers.

A dry belt located along the fringes of the Sahara is called Sahel (Sahil) by the Mande people who live there. Sahel means "shore" in Arabic, and the region is like the shoreline of the desert sea.

Today green pastureland has dried up and turned to sandy plains, and the land provides little support to the herders, who can barely scratch out an existence in the semi-arid climate. Each day is a test of their survival.

All the different Soninke clans—the Sisse, Kante, Sylla, and others—trace their ancestry to Dinga's sons and daughters.

What is given from the heart reaches the heart.

Grace and I had a friendship for today… But our friendship is for always." Page 169

Ghana, which means "warrior-king," was one of the many titles of the Soninke rulers. Over time, outsiders began to refer to the king and the land as Ghana. Before that, the Soninke called their homeland Wagadu, which means "place of herds.

Song of the Turtle" is a poem that dates back to the Ghanaian period: We lived in freedom Before man appeared: Our world was undisturbed, One day followed the other joyfully. Dissent was never heard. Then man broke into our forest, With cunning and belligerence. He pursued us With greed and envy: Our freedom vanished.

Most of the time, there's no need for fancy clothes--having to work in the fields day in, day out. But the Big Times don't come but once a year. Nobody wants to look bad or feel bad then. Plenty of time to do that all year.

an excerpt from The Dausi: Four times Wagadu rose. A great city, gleaming in the light of day. Four times Wagadu fell and disappeared from human sight. Once through vanity. Once through dishonesty. Once through greed. Once through discord. Four times Wagadu changed her name. First she was Dierra, then Agada, then Ghana, then Silla.

The people of Mali] are seldom unjust, and have a greater horror of injustices than other people. Their sultan shows no mercy to anyone who is guilty of the least act of it. There is complete security in their country. Neither traveller nor inhabitant in it has anything to fear from robbers or men of violence. —Ibn Battuta, fourteenth-century traveler