Amandla sister: a woman so strong people beg her to take it easy. She is so bold, so determined to live in her power 24/7 that fear means nothing to her. The only thing that matters to an Amandla sister is victory: she will sooner sacrifice her happiness than live without the power that comes with being a self-determing woman with her own damn mid and own damn plans. The original Amandla sisters are women known as Les Amazons. They were an army of 3000 women whose war cry was, “Let the men look after the kids.” They were fearless and fearsome. They would sooner cut off their breasts than lose a battle. And they used to cut off their breasts if the va-va boom slowed down their aim on the battlefield. They are my heroes: fierce African women who took shit from no one. Their ambition came first, their families second and their enemies came in their hands, when their heads were delivered to King Ghezo, of the Kingdom of Dahomey, who insisted on having a female army because they were that fierce. Dahomey is known as Benin today, but there are still traces of the old Kingdom in Abomey, where the Kings’ palaces still stand. These pictures were taken at the remains of the palace. No pictures are allowed inside the Kings’ old stomping ground, where Ghezo’s throne sits on the skulls of four of his greatest enemies. You are not allowed to go to the Kings’ graves on Monday because it’s a market day, and West Africa is not a region that takes protocol lightly.
He of the Amandla sisters.
The courtyard
A modest space for powerful Kings…
The palace is now a UNESCO world heritage site.
MadamAfrica 