When we think of the transatlantic slave trade, the brutality of capture, forced transport, and unpaid labour is rightly at the forefront. But what’s often overlooked is how targeted and strategic this system was. Enslavement wasn’t random. European slavers...
King Toera was the last independent ruler of the Menabe region in western Madagascar who was executed by French colonial forces in 1897 during their conquest of the island. After initially extending hospitality to the French, he was met...
Breaking on the wheel, a brutal method of execution, was widely used in Europe and its colonies during the 18th century. In this gruesome practice, the victim was tied to a large wheel, and their bones were methodically broken...
Koitalel Arap Samoei was a legendary figure and resistance leader among the Nandi people of Kenya, known for his courageous opposition to British colonial rule. In 1905, under the guise of a peace treaty, Koitalel was lured into a...
Prince William Ansah's family was one of the most influential in the 18th-century Gold Coast (now Ghana) and they engaged in human trafficking with the English, French, Dutch, and Portuguese. It was a booming business around that era.
Prince William...
In the late 19th century, as European powers scrambled to colonize Africa, numerous indigenous leaders faced the difficult challenge of resisting foreign domination. Among these was Andreas Lambert, a revered chief in present-day Namibia. Lambert’s resistance against German colonial...
Marcos Xiorro was an enslaved African in Spanish Puerto Rico who, led an unsuccessful slave revolt against the sugarcane plantation owners and the Spanish Colonial government in 1821. His story, though largely forgotten, remains a significant chapter in the...
The Baixa do Cassange strike, also known as Mariano’s revolt, was a labor strike regarded as the first political action that sparked the Angolan War of Independence against Portuguese rule, which lasted from 1961 to 1974.
The roots of the...
Chief Kapeni was a prominent Yao chief in present-day Malawi who, in the 1800s, made a decision that would eventually lead to his death and the capture of his kingdom. Ignoring the warnings of neighboring chiefs, he gave British...
Omukama Chwa II Kabalega, born on June 18, 1853, was the ruler or Omukama of Bunyoro, also known as Bunyoro-Kitara, a Bantu kingdom in Western Uganda, from 1870 to 1899, and a legendary hero who fought against British colonialism.
Kabalega...
