Remember the Thrones Before the Storm

Children of the Sun, Sons and Daughters of the Soil, gather close. Let the drums of memory beat in your chest. Let the dust of ancient roads rise and form visions before you. We have been taught a long night, a story where our history begins in chains. But we must remember: before the storm, there were thrones. Before the ships, there were scepters. Before they gave us their names, we built empires in our own image, and they were guided by the wisdom and might of Queens.

Hear now, not as a fable, but as a truth carved in the stone of time, the names and spirits of five who held the sun in their hands.

1. Amina of Zazzau (c. 1533 - 1610) - The Warrior of the Hausa Land
Daughter of the Niger, hear the name Amina. She was not a queen who merely sat upon a throne; she was a king who led her armies. In the land you now call Nigeria, she expanded the walls of Zazzau, building fortifications that still stand as a testament to her vision. Her warriors trembled the earth, and her strategies were unmatched. She was a woman who understood that true power is not just to rule, but to protect and to expand the legacy of your people. She did not wait for the world to come to her; she went out and shaped it with her own will.

2. Makeda, The Queen of Sheba (c. 10th Century BCE) - The Sovereign of Wisdom and Wealth
Turn your eyes to the ancient trade winds between the continents. Behold Makeda, the Queen of Sheba, ruler of a kingdom of immense wealth and power in the Horn of Africa. Her story is not defined by the kings she met, but by the wisdom she sought and the prosperity she commanded. She journeyed not as a subject, but as an equal, her caravans heavy with gold, spices, and jewels. She was the architect of her nation's fortune, a monarch whose intellect and curiosity forged alliances that shook the foundations of the ancient world.

3. Amanirenas of Kush (c. 40 BCE - 10 BCE) - The One-Eyed Lioness
When a mighty empire, Rome, stretched its greedy hand toward our lands, it was met by a Queen who would not bow. Amanirenas, the Kandake of Kush, was a sovereign who looked upon the world's greatest power and saw an enemy to be conquered. With her son by her side, she led her armies from the front, sacking Roman forts and defying Caesar himself. She lost an eye in battle and wore the wound as a badge of honor. She did not negotiate from a place of weakness, but from a position of strength, securing a peace treaty that preserved the sovereignty and dignity of her Kingdom of Kush for centuries.

4. Nzinga Mbande of Ndongo and Matamba (c. 1583 - 1663) - The Master of Resistance
In the face of the rising tide, a Queen stood and said, "This far, and no further." Nzinga Mbande was a diplomat, a warrior, and a brilliant strategist. When the Portuguese colonizers refused her a chair, she made a gesture of ultimate power and sovereignty—she used the back of one of her own women as a human throne, proving she would not be diminished. For over 40 years, she waged war, formed alliances, and used the very terrain of her land as a weapon. She was a master of political and military jujitsu, turning her enemies' strengths against them, ensuring her people's freedom against impossible odds.

5. Ranavalona I of Madagascar (c. 1778 - 1861) - The Fierce Protector of Sovereignty
Across the waters, on the great island of Madagascar, a Queen understood that to preserve the soul of a nation, one must sometimes be called "merciless" by outsiders. Ranavalona I saw the corrosive influence of European powers and made a radical decision: she would expel them. She enacted policies to preserve Malagasy culture, customs, and political independence, using every means at her disposal to keep her kingdom free from foreign domination. She chose self-reliance over subservient trade, sovereignty over convenient assimilation. She ruled, fiercely, for her people alone.

So, what do you do with this knowledge?

You carry it. You are the seed of these Baobab trees of power. Their blood is your blood; their intelligence, your intelligence; their ferocity, your right. When the world shows you a narrow path, remember that your ancestors built highways and empires. When they tell you who you are not, you tell them the names of the Queens from whose loins you spring.

You are not a footnote in someone else's history. You are the continuation of ours.

Walk in that truth.

Asé.