This week I received an email with a link to an excellent article. It is written by a Kenyan writer and director of the Chinua Achebe Center for African Literature and Languages at Bard College, Binyavanga Wainaina. His satirical look at how not to write about Africa underscores part of the mission of African Ancestry: to transform the way that people view Africa. Those of you who prefer to read the article can click here.

How do you think about Africa? Take some time today to view it through a different lens!

Today a friend showed me a picture of his adorable 1 year-old daughter dressed up as a princess. The picture was taken at a birthday party where the boys (3 – 6 year olds) were superheroes and the girls were princesses. I immediately “attacked” him questioning why the girls couldn’t be superheroes. Why, I asked, did they have to be princesses? (I had just finished reading The Warrior Method by Dr. Raymond Winbush.) My concern was that the boys were being conditioned to view their sisters as stereotypes. Of course  my friend  thinks that I was blowing it out of proportion.

Well, for the record, I have no problem with our girls being princesses. Princesses come from Queens. And, most importantly, Princesses become Queens!

Queen Nzingha of Angola defeated the Portuguese repeatedly when they refused to respect the country’s peace treaty. She was smart, strategic, charming, beautiful, strong, and well-respected.

Queen Amina of Nigeria was famous for her bravery and military exploits and was successful in conquering cities to extend the state of Zazzau. She was also an architect known for creating strong mud walls to protect her military conquests.

Queen Yaa Asantewa of Ghana was an Ashanti leader. She led the rebellion against British colonialism known as the War of the Golden Stool. When the Asante government couldn’t agree on how to rescue their king from exile by the Europeans, Queen Yaa Asantewa is quoted as saying “…if you, the men of Asante, will not go forward, then we will. We, the women, will. I shall call upon my fellow women. We will fight the white men. We will fight till the last of us falls in the battlefields.”

I encourage you to spend some time learning about our superSHEroes and share the knowledge with the superheroes and princesses in your life!

I’m happy to have the opportunity to share another perspective of the African Ancestry Experience with you. I hope that this new blog will serve as a way to give you a behind-the-scenes look at how we think and what we do at African Ancestry. You can come here for information about the events we participate in, testimonials from African Ancestry family members in real-time, news announcements, information from our partners, to meet the people who keep this engine running, and even to hear from Dr. Kittles about technological advances in genetics.

I have lived and breathed this African Ancestry Experience every day for the past six years. I look forward to sharing more of it with more of you through this blog. Thanks for checking in and please come back and visit from time to time!