Many Black Women of this Fortress: Graca, Monica and Adwoa, Three Enslaved Women of Portugal's African Empire

This book presents rare evidence about the lives of three African women in the sixteenth century, during which Portugal built a global empire on African gold and bodies. It highlights how these women advocated for themselves and exercised spiritual and female power, challenging new forms of captivity, racial capitalism, religious orthodoxy, and sexual violence. Their collective story sheds light on the complexities of modernity's gestation.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 296 pages
Publication date: 28 July 2022
Publisher: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd

This captivating book delves into the lives of three remarkable African women during the sixteenth century, a pivotal era that witnessed the emergence of global empires, slavery, capitalism, modern religious dogma, and anti-Black violence. These profound aspects of our contemporary world took shape as Portugal constructed a vast global empire fueled by the exploitation of African gold and bodies. The forced labor of African women and girls, who were enslaved, manumitted, baptized, and often coerced into religious conversion, played a crucial role in the economic prosperity of the Atlantic basin. However, a select group of African women, ordinary yet bold, resisted these oppressive forces, challenging new forms of captivity, racial capitalism, religious orthodoxy, and sexual violence.

Many Black Women of this Fortress unveils the insurgent ideas and actions of Graça, Mónica, and Adwoa, showcasing their unwavering advocacy for themselves and the exercise of spiritual and female power. Their collective story, pieced together from obscurity and overlooked colonial records, offers a profound insight into the complexities of modernity's gestation. By highlighting their lives, we dare to embrace the full spectrum of our shared history and understand the profound impact of these women on the world.

Dimension: 216 x 138 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781787386976