AFROAM 101: Introduction to African American Studies

If you don't know much about Africa in Antiquity, you can start your search by referring to this by-no-means-complete list of various orginal African states and peoples:

• Aksum or Axum: pre-Christian and early Christian state based in what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea
• Bamana: an empire based in what is today Mali
• Benin or Edo, a West African kingdom in what is today Nigeria, producer of the world-famous Benin Bronzes (and not to be confused with the modern Republic of Benin)
• Ghana: An empire based in what is now Mali and Mauritania, and namesake of the modern Republic of Ghana
• Great Zimbabwe: builders of the Great Zimbabwe fortification in what is now Zimbabwe
• Kanem or Bornu Empire, based around modern-day Chad
• Kemet: original name of Egypt. Translates to "Black Land" based on the color of the soil around the Nile River
• Kingdom of Kongo: based on the lower Kongo/Congo River
• Kitara, also known as Banyakitara or the Chwezi Union in East Africa
• Khoisan: the hunter-gatherer peoples of southeastern Africa, famous for speaking "click" languages
• Luba: a kingdom in what is today the Democratic Republic of Congo
• Lunda: another kingdom in what is today the Democratic Republic of Congo
• Nubia: a region in what is now northern Sudan and southern Egypt, various African Kingdoms have existed here, from the Kingdom of Kush and Meroë
• Songhai: a fifteenth-sixteenth century empire based in West Africa

General History of Africa: UNESCO book series available as open access with full text online

Africa's Great Civilizations: Streaming videos from PBS

Exploring Africa: Learning modules from MSU

UPenn: Open books under "Africa" heading