At CC, students in Dr. Danielle Sanchez’s Global Africa course learn about and discuss preconceived notions and biases in African history, culminating in a LEGO build of the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, Ghana.
This course focuses on how Africa transitioned politically, socially, economically, and culturally from 1960 to present day. Sanchez, Assistant Professor of History, uses popular culture to teach about contemporary issues in Africa, including struggles for gender equality and LGBTQIA+ rights, environmental activism, student movements, and the Cold War.
“The reason why I felt like this was important was because when we think about African history and the consumption of pop culture ideas, people’s imaginings of Africa are pretty racist and problematic,” says Sanchez. “When you go and buy LEGO products, a lot of them are based on Western Europe. We spent time talking about biases against Africa and Africans. We broke down how we know what we know about African history and constantly challenged preconceived notions. LEGO is a great way to think about how people place value on specific histories while ignoring others.”
Sanchez is good friends and colleagues with Dr. Trevor Getz, Professor of African and World History at San Francisco State University, who specializes in West African history, Comic Studies, and history education. Getz and Tony Yeboah, a PhD student in History at Yale, developed the idea to create a LEGO build for the Manhyia Palace and eventually commissioned the creation of a My Own Creation (MOC) design. Getz mentioned the MOC to Sanchez and she immediately knew that she wanted to incorporate the Manhyia Palace build into her Global Africa course.
Getz and Yeboah came to CC during Block 7, 2023 for a series of events that focused on creativity and African history. Their visit culminated with a marathon building session as students and community members worked towards the goal of completing the Manhyia Palace MOC. Sanchez also had students work on free builds based on other examples of African architecture.
The Lego Manhyia Palace is still on display in the Gates Common Room, on the third floor of Palmer Hall.