Valariesblog

  Yaa Asantewa was a courageous queen mother of the Ashanti empire which is in present day Ghana. The story of Yaa Asantewa is intricately tied to the golden stool. The Golden stool was an emblem of the cultural system and power of the Ashanti Kingdom, it is believed to harbor all the souls of the Ashanti people. As the queen mother, her major role was safeguarding the stool.     In the late 1800s, the Ashanti people began to rebel against the British expansion (Gold Coast Colony) into their territory. This led to frequent clashes between the British soldiers and Ashanti warriors, it continued until 1863, when the Ashanti warriors invaded some of the coastal villages that were supporting the British.     In response, the governor Frederick Mitchell Hudgson, in 1896, captured and exiled the King of the Kingdom (Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh 1), his mother, his father, his brother, some chiefs and Kofi Tene, who happened to be Yaa Asantewa 's Grandson to Sierra Leone...

  Rebecca Lolosoli was born in 1962 in Wamba village a patriarchal community in Kenya. she was very passionate about going to school to fulfill her dream of being a nurse. In 1971, she got admitted into a local institution to train to be a nurse but was forced to drop out due to financial restraint. At 15, she underwent the mandatory Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as a passage rite into womanhood and at 18, she was forcefully married to a business man. Now at the time in Wamba village, women were prohibited from owning property and partaking in any business whatsoever. They were regarded as property for the men thus they suffered abuse from both the locals and the British. Rebecca got a golden opportunity, her husband was away for some time so she seized the opportunity and utilized it to the fullest, she went against the tradition and began to trade in the market, she also went around enlightening women about their rights. This angered the men in the village, they accused her o...

  Queen Idia of Benin kingdom was a strong, resilient and unique woman, she was born in the 16th century in present day Edo state Nigeria. She was the mother of the great King Esigie who ruled from 1504 - 1550. She was married to Oba Ozolua. She wasn't only a political figure but also a spiritual one. During her husband's reign, the kingdom faced external threats and suffered internal conflicts, she helped her husband unify the kingdom and bring about stability through her spiritual and intellectual capabilities. It is said that she marched alongside her husband in battle to motivate the soldiers. Her husband, Oba Ozolua died. At the time of his death, none of his sons were of age to rule. In such an instance, the late king's brother was to take over the throne, but Queen Idia raised up an army, fought and killed him, thus establishing herself as a regent and the 17th Oba of Benin to hold the throne till her son, Esigie was of age. During her regency, she established trad...

Josina Machel was a key figure in the Mozambican struggle for independence. She was born into a well known Nationalistic family on the 10th of August, 1945 in Vilanculos Inhambe province of Mozambique. Her family were Assimilado's and they were anti-colonial activist, her father was a nurse in Gaza province. She was fortunate to attend a school for Assimilado's. Later she moved into the capital of Lourenco Marques( Present day Maputo), to go to a commercial school, which she completed after 4 years while living with her grandmother. She became politically active in student groups and became a member of an underground cell of the Mozambique Liberation Front commonly referred to as FRELIMO. FRELIMO was founded in Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania on the 25th of June, 1962. After the creation of FRELIMO, she became of member of a FRELIMO clandestine cell, she was in charge of mobilising the youths.       In March 1964, she and a group of women left Mozambique through an undergro...