My name is Arabel Udonsek, and I am student of History and Diplomatic Studies. But I want to start with the truth.
History was not my choice.
I did not wake up one morning and decide I wanted to study History and Diplomatic Studies. This course found me — or rather, my school found it for me. And if I am being completely honest, I was not happy about it. Not even a little bit. At some point I asked myself, why didn't I just reject the admission when it was given to me. I was that unhappy with it.
But here is the thing about history. It has a way of pulling you in whether you invited it or not.
The more I sat in those lectures, the more I read, the more I found myself asking questions that my school curriculum was not answering. Because what I was being taught was always the same story. The slave trade. The scramble for Africa. Colonialism. Independence. The end. We spoke a bit on the Empires of West Africa, but that was it. Just West Africa.
And I kept thinking — is that really all there is? Is that truly the full story of an entire continent?
It is not. Not even close.
The more I started researching on my own — beyond the textbooks, beyond the curriculum, beyond what was being handed to me in lecture halls — the more I discovered an Africa that nobody was talking about loudly enough. An Africa of empires and civilizations that existed and thrived long before the world decided to rewrite her story. An Africa that was magnificent before anyone arrived to disrupt her.
That is when something shifted for me. I stopped being a student who was placed in a course and became someone who actually wanted to be there. I am not going to pretend I have always loved history — but I can tell you honestly that I love what I am finding in it now. And I am not done finding things.
So I decided to do something about it.
I created this page because I want to talk about the Africa that does not make it into most curriculums. The empires. The cultures. The civilizations. The leaders. The stories that existed long before colonialism became the headline. Africa is my centerpiece — but I am a student of history broadly, and this page will reflect that. From ancient civilizations to modern diplomacy, from forgotten kingdoms to current world affairs — if it happened, if it matters, if it connects the past to where we are today, we are going to get into it.
I am still a student. I am still learning. But I have reached a point where I feel ready to research deeper, write honestly, and share what I find with people who are just as curious as I am.
This is the beginning of that journey.
Welcome. I am glad you are here.
Let's Talk History. 🌍