1.10 Kinship and Political Leadership

Dr. Linda Heywood & A More Complex Queen Njinga

LO 1.10.C Describe the legacy of…Queen Njinga of Ndongo-Matamba’s leadership.

Objective 1: Students will compare the claims of two contrasting secondary sources

Objective 2: Students will write a nuanced, complex thesis that evaluates the effectiveness of Queen Njinga’s political leadership in resisting European colonization of Ndongo-Matamba.

“Njinga…was a powerful woman who did what was necessary to maintain the independence of her lands. She served as an inspiration for her people during her life and for Angolans and Brazilians centuries after her death. Njinga demands to be presented as the complex human being that she was, and given her rightful place in world history.” - Dr. Linga Heywood

Notes

Queen Njinga is undoubtedly a master strategist and one of the most fascinating rulers in world history. Dr. Linda Heywood, one of the nation’s leading scholars on West African history, taught at Howard University for 20 years before moving to Boston University. She has reframed the way Njinga is viewed and discussed by modern historians. Sometimes, there is a desire to oversimplify Queen Njinga’s story and turn her into a hero of resistance to the trans-Atlantic slave trade. As Ta-Nehisi Coates writes, Njinga is one of the “heroes whom Black diasporans have used to construct a pantheon and a usable past.” However, Coates continues, “Linda Heywood gives us a different Njinga—one brimming with all the qualities that made her the stuff of legend but also full of all the interests and inclinations that made her human.”

Dr. Heywood describes Queen Njinga as both “a superwoman” and “pathological,” who did what was necessary to maintain independence for her people (the Ndongo, not “Africans” in general) while also selling two to three thousand people per year to the Dutch. Njinga also “spared no expense on housing, clothing, and material objects for her inner circle.” In an interview, Dr. Heywood describes Njinga as “endlessly fascinating but hard to like.”

Lesson Description

I display the 1.10 required source image (on the slides) of Queen Njinga on the screen as students enter the class. After students discuss with their table groups, we briefly cover what students already know about her. I also play an introduction to the Netflix series about her.

The prompt: "Develop an argument that evaluates the effectiveness of Queen Njinga’s political leadership in resisting European colonization and preventing the forced migration of enslaved peoples to the Americas.”

I post the UNESCO PDF of the comic on our Google Classroom page and give students about 12-15 minutes to read it and answer prompt #1. The comic is partially a product of the Angolan government’s strategy to boost its own legitimacy (despite a poor human rights record) by associating itself with Njinga and promoting her as a symbol of anti-European colonization. The comic relays true facts about Njinga, but the omission of the Dutch in the comic narrative makes it seem like Njinga’s goal was to protect “Africa” from Europeans to prevent the slave trade.

After reading the comic, I ask students to share their claims. We then move on to the reading from Dr. Heywood, which presents a more complex portrayal of Njinga. The passage is only 457 words and combines pages 136-141 of Njinga of Angola. I instruct students to identify aspects of Dr. Heywood’s research that both corroborate and refute the comic’s narrative. After a few minutes of reading, I invite a few student volunteers to share their reactions. At this point, my students have a lot of emotions to process regarding Njinga. I channel this energy into guiding them through the process of crafting a nuanced, complex claim. I leave slide #15 on the board while they write.

Next, I share three student example thesis statements and have students assess them. We then discuss the merits of each (slides #16-21).

The class ends with a fantastic discussion. First, we read Ta-Nehisi Coates’s quote about Njinga and Dr. Heywood’s book, and then I have them discuss the following questions in a small group before having students share with the whole class.

• Ta-Nehisi Coates mentions that Queen Njinga is part of a 'pantheon' constructed by the Black diaspora in search of a “usable past.” What does that mean?

• How do the contrasting portrayals of Queen Njinga in the comic book and Dr. Heywood’s research influence our understanding of her legacy? How can we reconcile the heroic image of Njinga with the more complex aspects of her involvement in the slave trade?

• The dual nature of Njinga as both a legendary figure and a person with real interests and inclinations. How can we apply this perspective to other historical figures who are celebrated in cultural narratives but may have actions or attributes that complicate their legacy? What challenges arise in such an approach?

• Corroborate, refute, or modify the title of this section on Queen Njinga from a new book about the Black Panther Party for young adults: “Queen Njinga: Protecting Her People.”

Time permitting, there is a bonus discussion question about the Netflix trailer on slide 25. I also included an “afterword” section. Slides 27 and 28 briefly describe Njinga’s partnership with the Catholic Church after her alliance with the Dutch fell through.

UNESCO Comic:

The UNESCO comic strip comes from their 2014 “Spotlight on African Women Series.” I have used the UNESCO comic for years in AP World History, and for whatever reason, the link seemed to be a moving target. The comic is open source, so I downloaded it from the UNESCO site. My PDF contains original pages 1-3 (copyright and author info) and then the comic strip, which is pages 10-38. I post the downloaded PDF to my Google Classroom page. You can find the full 54-page PDF here: Link - UNESCO (also available in French & Portuguese)