Founding Editor-in-Chief: Nwando AchebeEditors: Saheed Aderinto, Trevor Getz, Vincent Hiribarren, and Harry OdamttenBook Review Editors: Mark Deets and Ndubueze Mbah JWAH 6.2 NOW AVAILABLE ON JSTOR AND PROJECT MUSE! The Journal of West African History (JWAH) is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed research journal that publishes the highest quality articles on West African history. Located at the cutting edge of new scholarship on the social, cultural, economic, and political history of West Africa, JWAH fills a representational gap by providing a forum for serious scholarship and debate on women and gender, sexuality, slavery, oral history, popular and public culture, and religion. The editorial board encourages authors to explore a wide range of topical, theoretical, methodological, and empirical perspectives in new and exciting ways. The journal is committed to rigorous thinking and analysis; is international in scope; and offers a critical intervention about knowledge production. Scholarly reviews of current books in the field appear in every issue. And the publication is in both English and French; an abstract in both languages will be provided. JWAH is published by Michigan State University Press. Editor’s Note Vincent Hiribarren, "African History Will Make Us Breathe" Articles Klas Rönnbäck, “The Built Environment of the Precolonial West African Coast: Materials, Functions, and Housing Standards” Ismail Warscheid, “The West African Jihād Movements and the Islamic Legal Literature of the Southwestern Sahara (1650–1850)” Holly Rose Ashford, “Modern Motherhood, Masculinity, and Family Planning in Ghana, 1960–75” Retrospective Jan Jansen and James R. Fairhead, “The Mande Creation Myth, by Germaine Dieterlen, as a Historical Source for the Mali Empire” Conversations Kwasi Konadu, “COVID-19 and Caution for Historians: Views from a Place in West Africa” Karen Flint, “‘Africa Isn’t a Testing Lab’: Considering COVID Vaccine Trials in a History of Biomedical Experimentation and Abuse” Alhaji U. Njai, “COVID-19 Pandemic at the Intersection of Ebola, Global Leadership, and the Opportunity to Decolonize the Political Economy of Sierra Leone” Helen Tilley, “COVID-19 across Africa: Colonial Hangovers, Racial Hierarchies, and Medical Histories” Book Reviews Harry N. K. Odamtten, Edward W. Blyden’s Intellectual Transformations: Afropublicanism, Pan-Africanism, Islam, and the Indigenous West African Church, reviewed by Tracy Keith Flemming Jonathan E. Robins, Cotton and Race across the Atlantic: Britain, Africa, and America, 1900–1920, reviewed by Andrew James Kettler Emily S. Burrill, States of Marriage: Gender, Justice, and Rights in Colonial Mali, reviewed by Harmony O’Rourke Katherine Ann Wiley, Work, Social Status, and Gender in Post-Slavery Mauritania, reviewed by Erin Pettigrew Cassandra Mark-Thiesen, Mediators, Contract Men, and Colonial Capital: Mechanized Gold Mining Colony, 1879–1909, reviewed by Andrea Ringer Submissions The editorial board invites scholars to submit original article-length manuscripts (not exceeding 10,000 words including endnotes, 35 pages in length) accompanied by an abstract that summarizes the argument and significance of the work (not exceeding 150 words). Please see submission guidelines for detailed expectations. Review essays (not exceeding 1,000 words) should engage the interpretation, meaning, or importance of an author’s argument for a wider scholarly audience. See what we have available for review on our Book Reviews page. Please contact our Book Review editors Mark Deets mark.deets@aucegypt.edu and Ndubueze Mbahndubueze@buffalo.edu for more information. Manuscripts submitted to the Journal of West African History should be submitted online athttps://ojs.msupress.msu.edu/index.php/JWAH/about/submissions. In order to submit an article, you will have to create an account. The site will guide you through this process.