( The people all had questionable looks on their faces because the next girl who stepped up tell them her story was too young. However, when she began to speak, the people realized that she had wisdom beyond her years.)
My age will never hinder me from respectfully expressing my ideas. I believe in standing up for everything that is right and pure. I honor courage, truth, respect, and despite my age I will humbly fight against oppression and wickedness. This is the way I was born. I was born with a hunger to always pursue truth, peace, justice, and unity. Naturally, my parents say I behave like the young princess Nzingha who I was named after.
CALL: This is a story about Nzingha the Warrior Princess and Queen of Angola. A story, a story
RESPONSE: Let it go, let it come
Once upon a time in the African country now called Angola, there lived a young king named Kiluanji. He ruled over the powerful Ndongo tribe and territory in Angola. Kiluanji fell madly in love with a beautiful young beautiful woman named Kangela, but their love was unacceptable because Kangela was considered a jaga (an outsider) who was brought to Ndongo territory when the Ndongo's conquered her village. Kiluanji was deeply in love with Kangela but he couldn't go against the Ndongo tradition to marry her. So in order to please his people, he married a woman from a "suitable" family as his first wife, and married Kangela as his second wife.
A few years later Kiluanji's first wife bore him a son whom he named Mbandi. Mbandi grew into a young fat lazy boy who showed no interest in military or diplomatic affairs. Seven years later before Kangela gave birth, the prophets prophesied that she would give birth to a powerful ruler. The people were shocked when she gave birth to a baby girl whom she named Nzingha. You see the Ndongos never really thought of women as leaders but Nzingha proved them wrong. She grew up into a young beautiful highly intelligent girl skilled in diplomacy, hunting, archery, and military techniques. She became a smart young warrior who was known for always carrying her bow and arrow wherever she went. She had all the qualities of a young ruler that her halfbrother lacked, even though they both received the same royal training. Mbandi's lazy attitude created a strained relationship between him and his halfsister. They Ndongo's also despised Mbandi and his mother because they were always scheming against the king but they loved Nzingha because of her courage, humility, and respect for her father- the king.Years later Portuguese slave traders came to Angola, and king Kiluanji led a very strong-armed resistance against them. Nzingha admired her father's strength and promised him that she would always fight against the Portuguese slave traders. Mbandi on the other hand, never fought to protect the Ndongo territory. It was even rumored that he was secretely selling his people as slaves to the Portuguese.
Kiluanji was proud of Nzingha, and ashmed on Mbandi. He became even happier for his daughter when he gave her hand in marriage to Azez, a strong warrior prince who admired Nzingha's strength and also oppossed Portuguese slavery. Nzingha gave birth to a baby boy a year after her marriage to Azez but tragedy struck when her father and Azez were both killed in battle on the same day. Nzingha did not let this sad event weaken her courageous spirit. She kept her promise to her father and continued to fight against the Portuguese. Lazy Mbandi became the new king of the Ndongos after his father's death. His first order of bussiness was to declare that all who opposed him should be killed. He murdered Nzingha's son, and her mother-Kalanga. He could not kill Nzingha because he knew they Ndongos loved her, and killing her would provoke the people to rebel against him.
Nzingha fled her kingdom but she never put down her bow and arrow, and she never stopped fighting against slavery. She even decided to meet with the Portuguese governor who had now colonized part of Angola but she was refused a seat in the governors court. Nzingha did not despair, instead she sat on the back of one of her male servants and used him as a human bench. She did everything diplomatically possible to make the portugese pay attention to her demands. She even got baptized, and took the name Ana de Sousa because the Portuguese used her name and religion as an excuse not to meet with her.
Seven years after the sudden death of Mbandi, Nzingha returned to her kingdom. She was only 42 years old. On her return she was given her father's crown and she was made the first female ruler of Ndongo territory- indeed prophecy had come true. For the next 40 years Nzingha led the Ndongo army in battles against the Portuguese. They Portuguese feared Nzingha's military strength, and only the foolish dared to enter Ndongo territory. Nzingha remained ruler of Ndongo territory until her death. She died when she was 82 years old, and she was buried with her bow and arrow.
This is why I will continue to remain strong in my youth. Nzingha was a determined girl who grew up into a respected courageous ruler. Her bravery set an example for women all over Africa to stand up and fight against slavery. I will continue to uphold principles of courage, truth, humilty, and respect so that I too can live a life worthy of emmulation just like Nzingha.
(The people looked at each other in awe. There were mixed feelings from the audience, people cried, some cheered, and others were amazed at the courage of the young storyteller; It was a memorable night. Well, until next weekend continue to humble yourselves, respect others, and fight for all things that are true and pure. I bid you all courageous dreams about Nzingha - Warrior princess and Queen of Angola)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Nzingha, Queen of Ndongo (1582- 1663)
Website: Nzingha Queen of Angola
Weblink: http://nzinghaofangola.tripod.com/
African Queens- Nzingha
Website: The Afro-centric Experience
Weblink:http://www.swagga.com/queen.htm#nzingha
Nzingha, Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola. by Patricia Mckissack
Website: The Royal Diaries
Weblink:http://www.scholastic.ca/titles/royaldiaries/disc_nzingha.htm
Queen Nzingha of Angola
Website: Know your Black History
Weblink: http://www.knowyourblackhistory.com/queen-nzingha.html
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I told this story from the perspective of a very young girl who is proud of all the achievements of this Queen she is named after. I left out information about Nzingha's two sisters (Makumba and Kifunji) who were also very influential in her struggle against Portuguese slavery because I wanted to focus on just Nzingha. There is a lot of interesting in-depth information about Nzingha online, and there is also a very interesting children's book called Nzingha by Patricia Mckissack at Barnes and Noble that you can pick up read if you are really not interested in researching history. As you may have already noticed I still used the African call and response storytelling technique in this story.
IMAGE INFORMATION: Image of Nzingha warrior Queen of Angola taken from the website 17th century women. Artist Unknown.
Weblink: http://www.ucalgary.ca/%7Emamaes/17l.html