Queen Nzinga | Njinga of Ndongo: Central Africa's FEARLESS Warrior Queen

Queen Njinga Ana de Sousa Mbande (also spelled Nzinga, Nzingha, Ginga, and probably some other ways) was a 17th century ruler of the Kingdoms of Ndongo and Matamba, in what is now Angola. Fighting on the battlefield alongside her troops, and adapting to a variety of lifestyles from Mbundu to Imbangala to Christian, she displayed constant resilience in the face of Portuguese colonialism in West Central Africa, and earned herself a reputation as an Amazonian queen and the most formidable opponent the Portuguese had ever faced in Africa. This is her story.I apologize to any Kimbundu speakers who watch this video for my inevitable butchering of your language. If you'd like to help correct my pronunciation in any future videos I make on Njinga or Ndongo, please hit me up!No generative AI was used in any part of the creation of this video.This video is part of Untold Black History II, a collaboration of YouTubers talking about uplifting Black history from around the world. Check out the full playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLivC9TMdGnL-rRKRSKSqqVlMYZKrebcip&jct=EiV3t4lJSkssBqcIETHmswUntold Black History II intro and outro made by @KenKwameWrites Untold Black History II logo made by me B)To explain the design for the 3 people reading this, the bird is an Adinkra symbol from the region of modern-day Ghana representing the concept of "Sankofa," which you can find better explanations of online but in brief it represents the idea of going back for something in a metaphorical sense, i.e. recollection; I picked it to represent looking back to history. The symbol behind it is an Nsibidi symbol from the region of what is now southeastern Nigeria, and represents wealth, or in this case a wealth of knowledge. The colors of the symbol in the background are based on the common Pan-African tricolor flag, red, black, and green, while the Sankofa symbol is yellow to represent an alternative set of Pan-Africanist colors that includes yellow instead of black, based on the Ethiopian flag. All four of these colors are commonly used in Pan-Africanist flags and designs.Happy Black History Month y'all :DFootnotes:1. Heywood 2017, 57-60; Thornton and Lee 2011, 1832. Heywood 2017, 44-453. ibid. 614. Thornton and Lee 2011, 1775. Heywood 2017, 120-122; Thornton and Lee 2011, 1816. Heywood 2017, 50-527. ibid. 51-52, 758. ibid. 55, 659. Thornton and Lee 2011, 18110. Heywood 2017, 54-5511. ibid. 64-6512. ibid. 66-7113. ibid. 66-88; 102, 11514. ibid. 114-12515. ibid. 126-127; 140-14416. ibid. 133-15617. ibid. 157-168, 170-17118. ibid. 172-17819. ibid. 188-18920. ibid. 190-205Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/somasacademyTwitter: https://twitter.com/somas_academyBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/somas....academy.bsky.socialA https://www.artstation.com/kalahsoma0:00 Intro0:33 Untold Black History Intro0:44 Early Life of Njinga2:15 The Portuguese in West Central Africa3:17 Diplomatic Mission4:42 Rise to Power6:08 Portuguese Advance6:30 Guerilla Campaign7:15 Imbangala Leader8:08 Anti-Portuguese Alliance8:54 Religious Pressure10:20 Diplomacy11:37 Peace Negotiations12:44 Final Years13:04 Conclusion