Queen Njinga

Portrait of Queen Njinga

This image of Queen Njinga of Kongo can be found in the National Museum of African American History and Culture, 1400 Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC 20560. Queen Njinga ruled the Kingdom of Ndongo what is now Angola.  Queen Njinga converted to Catholicism, became literate in Portuguese and was schooled in the tactics of war. Initially an ally of the Portuguese, she fought them when they tried to expand slavery.

Resources

Heywood, Linda. Njinga of Angola.  Harvard University, 2017.

Snethen, Jessica. “Queen Nzinga (1583-1663).” BlackPast.org. University of Washington, Seattle, n.d. Web. 29 Aug. 2015

Nzinga Mbandi,” Women in African History. UNESCO, n.d. Web. 17 March 2018.

Photo credit: Michelle Schuster, 2016.