In pursuit of your black education, when studying women in black history, something we should consider is who were the African queens and what did they do? One thing that we can be glad of is that, even with all of the lost knowledge, there are still several volumes that can be published to answer those questions so I encourage you to do more research and contribute your version of the stories. In this light, I want to briefly discuss with you two queens - Queen Candace and Queen Nzinga.

When I was a child, I was told in school that in 332 B.C., Alexander the Great, after defeating Egypt, cried because he had no more nations left to conquer. If the man actually did cry, it was not for that reason; it was because of Queen Candace according to Chancellor Williams in his The Destruction of Black Civilization. Alexander wanted to continue south and invade Ethiopia, but Queen Candace, at the head of her own army, all of whom were on the backs of mammoth-sized elephants, waited for Alexander at her border. Alexander did not even attempt to fight her.

Queens

Adding more to your black education, observe that nearly 2,000 years later, in 1623, Queen Nzinga, like Queen Candace, stood at the head of her own army; however, she was not fighting a Greek invasion. Her empire, which is now Angola, was being invaded by the Portuguese who were hunting for slaves. Her brother, who had inherited the throne, cooperated with the Portuguese. Princess Nzinga opposed her brother. Upon his death, the princess became Queen. She promptly gave the Portuguese an ultimatum to evacuate her capital city or risk war.

During the next forty years, she successfully held the Portuguese at bay, helping to destroy their economy while protecting her empire and as many Africans as she could from the slave trade. Her generals and commanders had such respect for her that one of them, during peace negotiations with a Portuguese governor who refused to seat Princess Nzinga as a member of royalty, bent himself into the shape of a royal stool and offered his back as her throne.

Do the stories of these successful queens remind you of anyone named Harriet Tubman, ex-slave and conductor for the Underground Railroad, who never lost a passenger?

My point is that the stories of these women do not represent isolated cases. Many such women throughout our history demonstrated this same kind of strength and leadership. They struggled to maintain order and justice. They cared for and protected their people. This is the legacy of black women. Today, representatives of mainstream media are doing their darndest to ensure that the legacy of black women is reduced to "nappy-headed whores."

Remember this; as First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama is not a "black first." In re-Africanizing black education, we see that she is simply reclaiming her legacy as a Queen.