Much of what you think you know about African history is just incorrect. Until recently, the written history of Africa was heavily affected by nineteenth-century colonial narratives. These materials were undoubtedly twisted, portraying Africa as a backward region that was only changed by colonial overlords’ generosity (who simultaneously made a pretty penny out of plundering its natural resources). Through this …

Around 1770, Abla Pokou led her people from modern-day Ghana to the Ivory Coast, where she formed the Baoule nation. According to legend, she sacrificed her son to the river in order for her people to cross. Abla Pokou was born in the early eighteenth century. She was the niece of King Osei Tutu, the co-founder of Ghana’s Ashanti Empire. …

Hendrik Witbooi, also known as “!Nanseb Gaib Gabemab” (the snake in the grass), united his Nama people in what is now Namibia to fight a guerrilla struggle against German domination. Hendrik Witbooi was born in Pella, a province in the Northern Cape of South Africa that borders Namibia, circa 1830. Witbooi was descended from a long line of Witbooi Nama …