As someone of mixed black descent I get really tired of the white supremacist lie that black people are dumb, have never created anything and have no history. What are some interesting African societies that most people don’t know much about?
If you're looking for a general overview of African History, I'd recommend "The Fortunes of Africa: A 5000-Year History of Wealth, Greed, and Endeavor" by Martin Meredith. It's a broad overview of the history all over the continent from the dawn of civilization to the post colonial era. It makes up for its lack of depth in individual topics with its breadth and the extensive bibliography that's useful if you're looking for more detail on a particular topic of the book.