#African Queens Njinga

[blackinperiodfilms]

African Queens: Njinga | Official Trailer 

This new documentary series exploring the lives of prominent and iconic African Queens. The first season will cover the life of Njinga, the complex, captivating, and fearless 17th century warrior queen of Ndongo and Matamba, in modern day Angola. The nation’s first female ruler, Njinga earned a reputation for her blend of political and diplomatic skill with military prowess and became an icon of resistance.

[redrosecut]

I’m kinda hooked on Netflix’ docutainment shows. Although I treat them more like cheaply produced fictional period dramas that are loosely based on some historical events.

I already watched Rise of Empires: Ottoman, The Last Czars, Queen Cleopatra and Blood, Sex & Royalty. I also started African Queens: Njinga and Roman Empire. Do you have any other recommendations on this kind of genre?

[maddiealyse56]

Historical Queens of Africa in Movies

Queen Nandi (Mother of Shaka), (Shaka Ilembe, 2023))

Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba, (Njinga: Queen Of Angola, 2013)

Queen Amina of Zazzau, (Amina (Netflix), 2021)

[pulchrasilva]

If you haven't yet PLEASE watch African Queen's it's on Netflix I know everyone's cancelling their Netflix subscriptions right now but it's so so worth watching it's half way between a documentary and a dramatisation of the life of Njinga, a female king of Ndongo (modern day Angola) and her fight against the Portuguese colonisers and the sacrifices and trade offs she made in order to protect her people, family and culture

[judyelsayegh]

My Egyptian take on Netflix's Cleopatra's Documentary Series:

Background Information:

Jada Smith is doing a 4 part documentary series on Netflix

The documentary is about African Queens

The 1st part/season of this series was about Queen Njinga (3.6/10 Imbd - 88% rotten tomatoes)

The second part/season of this series will be about Cleopatra

The series depictes Cleopatra (as well as other members of the court it seems) as being of black descent

Egyptians aren't happy/disagree with this portrayal (One Egyptian lawyer is taking legal action against Netflix)

I highly recommend you watch the trailer of the documentary, Jada's response, and Piers Morgan's interview with Bassem Yussef to catch you up on the conversation.

My opinion:

I'm against this documentary; factually, it's inaccurate, and in more human/feelings/social context, it really hurts me as an Egyptian. In this post, I'll actually be tackling the later; I feel there are a lot of people who tackled the factual side already.

I get that this situation happening close (time wise) to the Little Mermaid being Black conversation has made people more inclined to attack Egyptians for their disagreement (Prime Example: Daily Show Host, Dulcé Sloan's take). But the situation is alot more nuanced than that.

The importance and valid reason for why Ariel from The Little Mermaid being played by a Black actress was that:

The Little Mermaid is a fictional story and mermaids aren't real, so there's no scientific/historic inaccuracies being committed in changing the character's race.

Representation; young Black girls deserve to see themselves represented on the screen as much as their white counterparts.

Now applying the same two reasons to the Cleopatra situation won't work because this is a documentary series. Its purpose is educational; therefore, it should be as accurate as possible.

As for representation; I think it's lazy. This docu-series' whole premise is to tell African Queens' stories, and instead of choosing to tell the untold stories of actual 4 African Queens, they chose to tell the overdone story in Hollywood of the famous name of the Greek Queen who rule Egypt.

Aside from it being lazy "RePrEsEnTaTiOn", it's a little hypocritical. It's saying that anything of value or fame that happened in Africa was directly linked to Black people; completely erasing the MENA region countries.

Why don't we as Egyptian have the right to tell our own stories? Why don't we get representation, too? Why are our stories being told wrong by uneducated and selfish people in search of quick money to equally uneducated mob trained to automatically attack without actually processing the criticism being said. You claim you want equality and diversity until it isn't about you!

[acmoorereadsandwrites]

If you have Netflix, I highly recommend African Queens: Njinga. Queen/Female King Njinga (I see both titles used for her and both were used in the documentary, if I recall correctly) of Ndongo and Matamba (what is present day Angola) was a fascinating political figure and the experts really raise a lot of questions that we should be asking ourselves.

If you are not sold on that alone, one of the experts is the current woman king of the Bakwa Luntu people, Queen Diambi Kabatusila, and her perspective and insights are invaluable.

[royal-confessions]

“I'm so grateful that I get to discover amazing Queens past and present. I watched the series African Queens on Netflix and I got to know Queen Njinga of Ndongo. She was a deft diplomat, skillful negotiator and formidable tactician. They even got to interview Queen Diambi of the Bakwa Luntu tribe for the series. She is an environmental activist and the founder of the Elikia Hope Foundation. I'm excited for season 2 of African Queens” - Submitted by Anonymous

[daughtersofthemyscira]

"African Queens: Njinga is the first installment in a new Netflix docuseries from Jada Pinkett Smith's studios highlighting true stories of some of Africa's most fascinating rulers."

And people still question if there were/are women warrior Queens. Stunningly beautiful. Give it a watch.

[doddsmountain]

Tagged by @sydmarch

rules: tag 9 people you want to get to know better

last song: Saturday Night - Whigfield

last show: Castle

currently watching: African Queen Njinga

currently reading: disco elysium fan fiction lol

current obsession: disco elysium

Tagging: @brainrotdotorg @vicsuragi @panopticonsys @birdy-bird27 @proteus-no @weenie-extraordinaire @kruzidula @pettydisco @normalfrances

[evilwriter37]

Get ready for a lot of questions because these had some very specific ones I surprisingly don’t know about you, and I always love getting to know more about you. 1, 8, 9, 12, 16, 19, 21, and 39.

What are three shows in your watchlist that you've been meaning to get to?

African Queens (specifically the second season on Cleopatra, but I do want to learn more about Queen Njinga as well.)

Gravity Falls

The Dragon Prince season 4

8. Do you collect anything? If so, what?

Rocks and crystals! Though, right now my whole collection is packed away in a tote because I don't have room for it on my desk.

9. What sounds or scents calm you down?

Cats purring, pine, lavender, typing

12. What's something about your best friend that you love?

Uhhhhh, this is hard because I have so many people I would consider my best friend. I'll go with my past queerplatonic partner Olly. I love that they are loud and proud about who they are, and that they're silly af.

16. Describe your favorite hoodie. How long have you had it? What makes it unique?

It's a white hoodie I got in high school that says: "I ❤️ my bass clarinet." It's ten years old, all worn out, and has paint stains on it from painting a set piece for drama, and from my own painting. I plan on cutting it, getting some stuffing, and turning it into a pillow.

19. What's your favorite Halloween costume from when you were a kid?

Cleopatra. (She was very much a special interest when I was younger.)

21. What's your favorite period in art history, your favorite famous work, and/or your favorite style of art?

Oh damn, that's hard to say. I like Renaissance paintings a lot. Also, whatever Frida Kahlo had going on.

39. What was the best part of your day today?

I'll go with yesterday, since currently it's 3:22 am. Hm... Probably sitting down and writing with you, @lifbitch. That was a good time!

[pulchrasilva]

i support womens wrongs but also girl did u have to

[fandomshatepeopleofcolor]

Have you seen the African Queens series on Netflix? it's narrated and produced by Jada Pinkett Smith. First season is about Njinga which I haven't seen but I just started on the second one which is about Cleopatra with Adele James playing the role

I haven't seen it and I'm p sure this is my first time hearing about it! Thanks for the rec!

mod ali

[biglisbonnews]

Netflix releases a new docuseries on African Queens Queen Njinga of Ndongo and Matamba—now present-day Angola—has just made her debut on Netflix’s new series African Queens released today, which will highlight the stories of prominent African female rulers.Read more... https://qz.com/netflix-releases-a-new-docuseries-on-african-queens-1850116840

[meret118]

HORSES NEIGHED AND FIRES CRACKLED as Queen Tamar of Georgia walked among her troops on the eve of battle in July 1203. Her enemies outnumbered her soldiers nearly two to one. Still, the queen did not waver as she spoke words of courage to the assembled army. In a show of humility, she stood before them barefoot while wearing lavish garments full of religious symbolism to inspire a righteous bravery in all who saw her. As she finished her rousing speech, hardy, battle-worn soldiers stood, raised their spears, and shouted, “To our king!” The next day, the Georgian army decimated their foe.

In the late 12th and early 13th centuries, Tamar the Great ushered in Georgia’s golden age. She expanded borders, oversaw massive architectural projects, and helped define the kingdom’s unique identity at the crossroads of East and West. She sat on war councils and, as one chronicler wrote, “took counsel with them, not like a helpless person, or a woman, and did not neglect the dictates of reason.”

As father/daughter historians Jonathan and Emily Jordan demonstrate in their book, War Queens: Extraordinary Women Who Ruled the Battlefield, Tamar was far from history’s only warrior queen. The pair recently launched a new podcast with Diversion Audio (also called War Queens) where they dig into all the twists and bloody turns of Tamar’s story alongside other battle-hardened queens.

Atlas Obscura sat down with Emily Jordan to talk about why Italian philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli had it out for her favorite fortress-seizing countess, an African queen who went toe-to-toe with Portuguese enslavers, and why so often these women’s stories go overlooked.

. . .

Who is your favorite person you highlight in the book or on the podcast? And why?

I think in terms of courage, I’d have to say Caterina Sforza. She’s really just an incredible Renaissance woman. She learned all about medicine, botany. She got to interact with Botticelli and Da Vinci. She went to people during times of plague with medicines that she created and studied. My favorite story about her is when her husband’s political interests were compromised when the pope died. Her husband was a paranoid, vicious man, but his family member was the pope. And when the pope passed away, that got Caterina thinking, “We may not be confirmed as the ruler of this city, of Imola.”

So she rides down to Rome, while pregnant, in her early twenties, and she takes hold of this great fortress, Castel Sant’Angelo. The cardinals have to cross in front of the castle on this big bridge to get over to Vatican City. So she points the cannons right at them and says. “Rome, hold up. Stop. I’m in charge.” She stops all of Rome and stops the cardinals from electing a new pope until they confirm her and her husband’s titles. The fact that she did this in her early twenties while pregnant is insane to me.

Did any of these war queens have experience in battle?

Queen Njinga Mbandi of Ndongo-Matamba [two African kingdoms located in present-day Angola] is by far the most physically capable of all the women we write about. Very few of our women really had a lot of hand-to-hand combat experience; Caterina Sforza had a little bit. But Njinga [sometimes spelled “Nzinga”] would charge into battle with her people. She lived during the 17th century and was the leader of her tribe. She had an older brother who was in power before her, but she was a better hand-to-hand combat fighter, leader, and diplomat, so she kind of takes charge. She was this amazing chameleon and takes on different types of cultures in order to unite her people.

She was trained to do this martial art. It’s linked to the Brazilian art of capoeira where you almost do dances as exercises, jumping side to side out of the way of arrows and bullets. Certain scholars even claim that a part of the art, called ginga [pronounced and sometimes spelled “jinga”], is named after her. Their main weapon was a form of battle axe, and she was really well-trained with that axe as well.

[wacira]

Njinga-Queen of Ndongo and Matamba #africantales #tales #Folks #african...