On the Reinvention of Black Women Leadership
The African continent has always found its fame in the rarity of its heritage and archives, the distinctiveness of its culture, but above all in the brave men it has offered the world throughout its existence. And among these Figures, whose specificity is as rare as their characteristics, the Black Woman stands at the summit of this pyramid as a light, an inescapable force in the greatness of the continent. The goal of this article is to show how Black female leadership has transcended generations to the present day. The article also aims to teach Black women how to repurpose their strength to build upon past models.
The Black Woman in Ancestral Society
In traditional African societies, women were an essential force for sustainable development. This feminine strength manifested through decision-making roles that ranged from Queens to mothers of the household, including priestesses and economists. These inclusive societies recognized the importance of everyone, knowing that the woman is the primary engines of this societal inclusion. Consequently, ancestral Africa forged itself as a society that was not discriminatory but inclusive, to maintain social harmony for the common good, guided by men who built not only with their ideas but with their hearts and love for their community.
Women During Colonization
However, this inclusive and matrilineal system was too dangerous to remain sovereign in the eyes of colonization. The loss of this system led not only to the loss of African roots but also to the devaluation of women, not only by the colonizer but by African men as well. Through colonization, the Black woman was no longer seen as a light or a force; she went from Queen to servant, and from the top of the social ladder to the least considered. We must remember that colonization not only uprooted the African person but also destabilized the course of their entire environment.
During the colonial period, we saw two types of African female warriors: on one side, those who fought to prevent the penetration and expansion of colonial power; on the other, those who fought to liberate the Black community from the colonization that kept it in bondage.
Women Against the Penetration and Expansion of Colonial Power
As we already know, ancestral Africa established itself as a society in which feminine light was imperative for development. The arrival of colonialist and imperialist ideals targeted both this concept and this female leadership. To protect African societies, women fought to the end for the sovereignty of their people, each in her own field of strength. We can cite:
Yaa Asantewaa, who fought until she was exiled, and continued to struggle even during her exile.
Kimpa Vita, who led a remarkable fight against the expansion of the false, idealistic ideas of Portuguese missionaries in the Congo. Her struggle proved once again that the primary colonial goal was to first uproot the African so they would lose their bearings; she also showed us that the hardest battles are not fought with weapons, but against the mind.
Queen Nzinga, who led a deeply meaningful struggle with her people for their sovereignty.
Queen Nanny, who, despite her condition of enslavement, never let it define her essence; instead, she used the teachings passed down from her Dahomey culture to liberate enslaved Black people in Jamaica.
Black Women for African Independence and the Sovereignty of the Black Community
Despite the long duration of colonization, it was never long enough to erase the sense of sovereignty, leadership, or freedom from African veins. Despite the long sufferings Africa endured, it rose again and again, guided by the light of its ancestors and united for a single struggle: "INDEPENDENCE." Here again, on this long road, Black women marked history through their strength of reflection and action. Whether it was:
Andrée Blouin, who left a historical footprint on the independence of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea-Conakry.
Titina Silas, who fought to the death alongside Amílcar Cabral for the sovereignty of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde.
Josina Machel, whose struggles with FRELIMO brought independence to Mozambique.
The Black Woman After Colonization
Black struggles did not stop with African independence. Despite the independence achieved, African struggles have not ceased; on the contrary, they have become more accentuated. It was no longer about fighting with weapons for independence, but about fighting against the discriminatory perceptions of inferiority and superiority implanted by colonization. Like other struggles, women took this cause to heart and ensured it was passed down from generation to generation. Women such as:
Assata Shakur, through her multiple actions with the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army.
Sojourner Truth, fighting for the consideration and valuation of the Black woman.
Winnie Madikizela, in her struggles against Apartheid. They proved once again that feminine strength is not a thing of the past but a current reality.
The Black Woman in Modernization
With colonization, various concepts emerged and materialized to gain greater scale—concepts like racism, sexism, and many others. Denigrating women was a practice foreign to Africa; unfortunately, the same cannot be said today. Even more disappointing, this practice is not only noticeable in Black men who find pleasure in these patriarchal actions but also in women who do not hesitate to spit on others just because they do not meet patriarchal, misogynistic criteria.
Female discrimination, a concept brought to Africa through its opening to the outside world—colonization—materialized in Africa across several societal sectors and in several ways, so much so that today some African natives believe that female discrimination has always been daily life in Africa. These practices were installed in:
Custom: Why we find in some African customs practices that are totally patriarchal and sexist.
Education: The educational sector being historically reserved only for men.
Economy: Economically, these practices translated into marrying off women to finance family economic needs.
Morality: Morally, it has become commonplace to denigrate women in African societies; they are seen only to meet the needs of others. When she speaks, she is told she is trampling on traditional values. It is seemingly inevitable in modern societies—not just African—to see women considered as objects one can afford depending on one's bank account; and these ideas are not only masculine but feminine as well.
Thus, the loop of devaluation of the woman by society and by herself was created. Although movements like feminism have appeared, it is essential to point out that they do not always solve the problem of sexism. With modernity, the door has been opened to a voluntary objectification of women, considering the woman as an inferior being. For the Black woman, this has been an opening toward her deepest uprooting; we deny our identity to be accepted into a system that was designed while disregarding us, and in the end, we find ourselves begging for a chair when the whole room belongs to us.
As Black women, we must understand that in our genealogy, we were not made to blend into societal norms or systems to please, but to carry our cultural heritage by building and elevating the strength that has been transmitted to us since the dawn of time.
Just yesterday, January 24th, we celebrated World Education Day. On this day, I thought back to this quote from Assata Shakur: "No one is going to give you the education you need to be free." Re-listening to Nelson Mandela, who also said that education is a weapon, I would like to end by saying that, as Black women, our light can only shine brighter when we permeate our leadership with the light of those before us who understood the necessity of the community's freedom. Our leadership can only be truly operational when, as Black women, we decide to struggle not just to denounce or to be a feminine reference within the patriarchal system, but to tear down the system that oppresses us.
L.W.
This article was written following the Josina Machel Ideological Training organized by the RMLA.
