In 1929, one of the first major acts of protest against British colonialism in West Africa broke out in Nigeria. In colonialist terms, the conflict became known as the Aba Riots, an attempt to reduce the action to the hysterical efforts of a few, removing women from it altogether. In the Igbo language, it is Ogu Umunwanyi – the Women’s War.
Black History
Josephine Baker – Experiment in Brotherhood
Josephine Baker dedicated herself to breaking barriers and tackling injustice. One of the most famous performers in Europe, she also worked as a civil rights activist and was a spy for the French Resistance during World War II, a task she accomplished with ease despite her great fame.
Miriam Makeba – Mama Africa
Posthumously labelled by Nelson Mandela as ‘South Africa’s first lady of song’, Miriam Makeba has been credited with bringing African music to the West. She was a vocal campaigner against apartheid and often used her songs to spread awareness internationally, though she maintained that her music was not political.
Mary Seacole – Mother of the Crimea
In 2007, Mary Seacole was introduced to the UK National Curriculum. Before this, her life went largely unrecognised, and only now is interest in her beginning to resurface.
Claudette Colvin – The Girl Who Came Before
The name ‘Rosa Parks’ is one that has been - deservedly - heralded globally as one of the first voices in the 1950s American Civil Rights Movement. Not many people know, however, that she was not the first; a girl named Claudette Colvin had been arrested for the same act nine months prior.
Phillis Wheatley – A Revolutionary Poet
In 1761, a young girl of seven or eight was taken from her home and sold into slavery. She became Phillis Wheatley, a woman who is now known as the first African-American author of a published book of poetry.
Marsha P. Johnson – The Shot Glass Heard around the World
Every June, LGBT Pride is celebrated all around the world thanks to the campaigning of the LGBT movement. But that movement owes its thanks to one woman - Marsha P. Johnson, who was instrumental in making Pride what it is today.