4. The Traditional African FamilyFamily makes us who we areAfrica is so vast that it cannot be adequately included in any book. As we know, Africa has beautiful traditional dances, music, arts and religions, it also has extremely large traditional families, which show challenging variations across Africa. Africans have their own ways of regulating their families and their society. For example, marriage organization, patrilineality/matrilineality and polygyny practices are the three main distinctive variants of the traditional African family. Arranging the wedding is when the bride and groom do not know each other and their family members plan their wedding based on their family background. Patrilineality/matrilineality mainly applies everywhere, patrilineality/matrilineality occurs when the family inherits or determines descent through the male or female line. Polygamy is a distinctive feature of traditional African families, particularly in patriarchal societies; Polygyny is when the husband has several wives. As Africa faced colonialism and the pressures of contemporary life, their traditional family began to fall apart. In Africa, the family is the basis of social relations, for example they do nothing because they think it is the best that they have to think about sociality. First, Africans respect their elders, believe they know the best; even marriages and divorces are decided by many old people, they think that these decisions should be made by elders because these decisions have an impact on societies, and young people don't know much about societies. For example marriage, they believe that marriages are not just between couples, marriages are an alliance between thoughts of family and marital union and...... middle of paper...... n farms. Due to the lack of labor, the rate of polygamy has increased, and also with the understanding that having children in the same household "one more child is two more hands in the fields » (Azevedo 371). As Africa was colonialism and as pressures changed Africa, it too impacted on their culture and traditional beliefs. When Africa started its industrial revolution and was in the global economy. Because most Africans' wages fell far less than the amount needed to support their families, they began moving to cities for a better life. Because most men leave their families to go to work in the city, which causes separations between families. Changes are good in life, but when those changes begin to impact our culture and traditions, it changes who we are. “Teaching is not a lost art, but respect for it is a lost tradition. » -Jacques Barzun