Site-Seeing with Jan Perry

As millions of U.S. citizens celebrate Kwanzaa, I thought a look at African history might help us understand the heritage behind the holiday.

http://www.toptags.com/aama . The AFRO-American Almanac offers a ''historical perspective of a nation, its people, and its cultural evolution. From the beginning of the slave trade through the Civil Rights movement, to the present.'' Also, dozens of wonderful folk tales. My favorite is ''The Skull.''

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/30. From the Hartford world history archives, this text site offers hundreds of serious studies and articles about the country of Africa and its peoples. One particularly interesting piece included in the ''Documents for the culture history of Africa as a whole'' section is titled: ''To Be Afrikan,'' written by Dr. Marimba Ani in 1999. It helps explain how people of African descent have been torn away from their own culture and why they may feel disenfranchized in a predominantly white America.

http://www.ccsu.edu/Afstudy/archive.html. AfricaUpdate is the quarterly newsletter of the Central Connecticut State University African studies program. The newsletter editors are assisted by African regional editors and student members of the African Studies Club. The complete archive of issues is available; there are links to articles, poems, artwork and histories about Africa, Africans and the African culture.

http://www.brightmoments.com. If you think you have a grasp on the 19th century's most influential African Americans, you might want to test yourself by taking the Internet African American History Challenge.

http://www.bbc.co.uk. The BBC has a wonderful section about Africa written by Africa's top historians. To get to this well-designed index page, find the search box at the very top right of the home page then key in the title, The Story of Africa, and click on the word ''Go.'' That will bring up a page with several links; click on the BBCi one listed in the ''best links'' box. Worth the effort.

http://www.africa-research.org. The Africa Research Central Web site offers search capabilities for archives, libraries and museums with important African collections. If you're looking for something specific this site may be a valuable tool.

http://campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/Africa/Africa.html. A long Web address for a country with a long history. Follow this chronology from 4 million BC for a highlights history of Africa south of the Sahara.

http://pbskids.org/africa. This PBS site introduces kids to the African culture by way of Femi, an online guide from Nigeria. There are stories, games, crafts and photos.

Jan Perry is a freelance writer. Send questions or suggestions to her at SiteSeer2K@aol.com.