Queen Nzinga and Yaa Asantewaa: Two Queens Who Stood Up for Their People
Every October, Black History Month gives us a reason to pause and look again at stories we might not have been taught.
This year's theme, Honouring Our Communities, made me think straight away of two women I have painted: Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba and Yaa Asantewaa of the Asante.
They lived more than two hundred years apart, in different parts of Africa. But they had something important in common.
When their people were under threat, they stood up for them — even when it would have been far easier not to.
Queen Nzinga: the strategist
Nzinga Mbande ruled in the 1600s over Ndongo and Matamba, in the area we now know as Angola.
Portugal was pushing further inland, taking land and people. Nzinga used every tool she had to protect her kingdom — diplomacy, carefully built alliances and, when it came to it, military leadership.
Even after she was forced from her homeland, she didn't give up. She rebuilt her power in Matamba and went on to negotiate with European powers on equal terms.
What draws me to Nzinga is her intelligence. She was a strategist. She understood people, power and timing, and she refused to let other people decide what her kingdom was worth.
In my painting of Queen Nzinga, she stands beside a lion. The marks on her skin aren't meant to reproduce one specific historical symbol, but they are inspired by the Mbundu tradition of body marking, which you can see in surviving artworks from the region.
Yaa Asantewaa: the woman they underestimated
Yaa Asantewaa was a Queen Mother in the Asante Empire, in present-day Ghana.
In 1900, the British governor demanded the Golden Stool — the sacred symbol of Asante unity, believed to hold the spirit of the nation. While others hesitated, Yaa Asantewaa spoke up. Around sixty years old at the time, she called on her people to resist and helped lead the uprising that followed, which became known as the War of the Golden Stool.
The Golden Stool was never handed over.
Her story stays with me because of what it says about being underestimated. People can look straight at you and still completely misjudge your strength.
In my painting of Yaa Asantewaa, she stands proudly beside a lion, finished with 24-carat gold leaf that catches the light as you move around it.
Why I paint queens with lions
People often ask me why so many of my queens have a lion beside them.
For me, the lion stands for courage, protection and quiet authority. It isn't there to make the women look fierce. It's there to show the kind of strength they carried — the strength of someone who protects others.
That felt especially right for Nzinga and Yaa Asantewaa. Neither of them was fighting for herself. They were fighting for their communities.
Honouring our communities
Growing up in Zimbabwe, I didn't hear nearly enough about women like these. Later, raising my own children in the UK, I noticed the same gap.
Black history is so often taught as a history of struggle. Those stories matter. But they aren't the whole story. There are centuries of leadership, courage and achievement too — and women like Nzinga and Yaa Asantewaa are part of it.
Painting them is my way of keeping their stories alive, and of sharing them with people who may never have heard their names.
If you'd like to share Queen Nzinga's story with children, my Hidden Women activity pack introduces her through art, geography and creative challenges.
Queens of Courage and Community: a limited print release
To mark Black History Month, a small number of fine art prints of both paintings were released.
- Printed on Hahnemühle German Etching paper
- Each one finished by hand in metallic gold paint, so no two are quite the same
- Signed and numbered, with a certificate of authenticity
- An edition of just 10 of each queen
This release has now closed. To hear about the next release first, join the Collectors Club at the bottom of this page.
Whether you collected one, both or simply enjoy their stories, thank you for helping to keep these women remembered.