THE MOST INFLUENTIAL WOMEN IN HISTORY | AFRICA [1/5]
Queen Nanny of the Windward Maroons (1686-1733)
A Jamaican political leader, military strategist and Obeah woman. Originally born in Ghana, Queen Nanny led the Windward Maroons (maroons were formerly enslaved Africans who escaped to freedom and built communities outside of formal slave societies) in a successful war against the British, resulting in a negotiated land agreement for the Windward Maroon community.
Queen Nanny’s experience is particularly significant, because a woman occupying three positions often associated with men expands the way we imagine the roles of women in history: she, like all the women recognized, asks us to explore women as agents in a way that is affirming of a woman’s definition of womanhood. Recognized as a national hero in Jamaica, Queen Nanny symbolizes strength, unity and the centrality of womanhood to resistance.
It is said that Queen Nanny was not only a warrior, she was also a wise woman who encouraged her community to remember those customs and traditions that had travelled across the Atlantic in the bellies of slave ships. In that spirit, Queen Nanny: we remember you. (x)
