Queen Nzinga Leader of the Mbande and Matamba Empire

Queen Nzinga is best known as the leader of the Mbande and Matamba Empire who resisted colonial rule. Queen Nzinga was one of the most powerful economic and military political freedom fighters in African history. She mobilized her troops to stop the human trafficking known as slavery and preserve the wealth of the Mbande and Matamba empires. These actions make her a strong defender of the motherland and the leader’s leader.

She was born at a time when most women were not considered military leaders. Nzinga was different from the very the time that she was born. Oral history tells us that she was born with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. This was seen by the Mbande and Matamba people to mean that Nzinga was going to have a great destiny. The rules that applied to other girls did not apply to Nzinga.

The Leader’s Leader

In today’s world women are considered leaders when they lead women’s issues. Queen Nzinga on the other hand was the woman who excelled not just among women but around men. Queen Nzinga is known not just as a great female leader but as a great leader. She excelled not just among the Mbande and Matamba or other Africans but out strategized Europeans as well.

Master of Stagecraft & Symbolism

 Queen Nzinga was a political, military, diplomatic and spiritual leader of the Mbande and Matamba people. She understood the importance of stage craft and symbolism. It is said that when she met with the Portuguese colonial governor there was only one chair which he was sitting on. Queen Nzinga understood her place as a leader and ruler and the optics of her sitting on the mats looking up to a European as they spoke.

Not prepared to take the subservient role the Portuguese had prepared for her the politically savvy Nzinga commanded one of her servants to act as a chair. This way Queen Nzinga negotiated with the colonialists’ eyeball to eyeball. This action showed Nzinga as a superior to the Portuguese governor.

Position of Strength

These optics allowed Queen Nzinga to engage with the Portuguese from a position of strength eyeball-to-eyeball. The Mbande and Matamba’s national pride expanded as legend of this setting and Queen Nzinga’s practical intelligence spread among the Mbande-Matamba. Queen Nzinga was able to negotiate on behalf of her people to obtain benefits for them.

African leaders today can certainly learn from Queen Nzinga. In the 21^st century, leaders such as Boris use derogatory terms to describe Africans and they are tongue tied afraid to raise their voices.  Queen Nzinga would never ever stoop so low because she understood that as an African, she was equal any European.

Military Strategist

 As Queen Nzinga had to take her place as a military strategist. She was a military strategist in a patriarchal society. Queen Nzinga’s father was her mentor on leadership and power.

Queen Nzinga’s father gave her firsthand training on the battlefield. He took her there and she learned a battle strategy. This practical intelligence and knowledge gained Nzinga the respect and admiration of the military. The generals followed her to battle showing that Queen Nzinga inspired both men and women. All the Mbande and Matamba were on the same mission to preserve the African wealth and heritage.

Guardian of African lives

 Queen Nzinga was a relentless champion of human rights and defender of African dignity. Her arms fought valiantly against the barbaric practice of slavery which the Portuguese wanted to instill on African people. The Portuguese had already started shipping millions of Africans from Angola to Brazil to work on sugar plantations.

 Queen Nzinga’s actions held off Portuguese expansion into central Africa. The military strategies that she implemented reflected Nzinga as a skilled military general.

Defender of the Motherland

 Queen Nzinga implemented an elite warrior squad and used great military intelligence. The Mbande Matamba astuteness cultivated under Queen Nzinga’s leadership council made them realize the competing interests between the different European powers.  Queen Nzinga exploited those differences and used them to defend her homeland. This is great female leadership in action.

Between the years of 1641 and 1642, Queen Nzinga realized that she had to form an alliance with the Dutch in order to obtain guns. She used those guns to fend off the Portuguese in the war to stop their expansion into central Africa.

 Queen Nzinga used her political and military capital to defend the homeland against the invading Portuguese and Dutch forces that threatened to the Mande Empire. Today, Queen Nzinga is known as one of the Premier generals of Africa. She is held up with the great generals of Africa. Queen Nzinga represents the best of female leadership that defends the homeland and keeps sovereign wealth for the Africans.