Queen Nzinga

With thanks to The Open University for allowing us to repost this piece. Originally posted on their website here.

Queen Nzinga managed to call a halt to Portuguese slave raids in her kingdom through clever tactics. Read about her legacy in this article

Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti – ‘Vagina’s Head Seeking Vengeance’

One of the most important women in African politics in the first half of the twentieth century was Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, who was from the Yoruba people who had traditional structures which allowed women to be involved in decision-making and administration.

Funmilayo was born in 1900 to parents who were Christian, English-speaking trading agents for British merchants.  Her parents believed, unusually for the time, that girls should be educated as well as boys so Funmilayo went to school where she showed academic promise.  With the help of family and friends, at the age of nineteen she was sent to England to continue her education.  She boarded with a British family and stayed for three years, returning to Nigeria in 1923 when she became a teacher in her home region of Abeokuta.