The Woman King, The King of Movies
The Woman King, starring famed actress, Viola Davis, has made headlines these last few weeks with its stunning trailers, and most recently, its 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Centered around the African kingdom of Dahomey, the movie follows the Agojie, a platoon of legendary female soldiers, as they defend their kingdom from neighboring enemies and greedy Europeans.
Given its plot, inspiration, and casting, it didn’t take much for me to decide I wanted to see it. I try my best to support movies that are made for us, and by us, and to me, this was one of them. I also felt a special connection to this movie, as its setting in Dahomey made me think of the Arada “nation” that is venerated in Carriacou (one of my homelands) and Haiti’s traditional religions, (Carriacou) Big Drum Dance and Haitian Vodou, respectively. The Arada are really Fon and Ewe people named after their old city. Today, it is called Allada, and is located in what is now Benin. Essentially, this is the story of my ancestors.
While I wanted to touch on the happenings within the movie, the focus of this article is on the historical accuracy of the film.
The Agojie were a real group of female warriors existing within Dahomey’s kingdom from the 1600's to 1904. Nicknamed the Dahomey Amazons by Europeans, it is believed these women…
