https://herstoryafrica.com.ng The women history forgot to teach you. An educational archive of African women who fought for equality, rights, and social change. en Fri, 15 May 2026 11:13:53 GMT https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/ten-years-in-prison-for-a-pill https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/ten-years-in-prison-for-a-pill Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Nigeria's Senate is debating raising the punishment for supplying abortion drugs from 3 to 10 years. The pill at the centre of that law is the same one keeping women in villages from bleeding to death after childbirth. Why It Matters https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/6400-miles-past-the-moon-and-still-not-far-enough https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/6400-miles-past-the-moon-and-still-not-far-enough Mon, 13 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Christina Koch just became the first woman to travel around the Moon. The comment sections proved exactly why that milestone still matters. Why It Matters https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/what-her-cloth-said-when-she-could-not-speak https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/what-her-cloth-said-when-she-could-not-speak Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Across East Africa, women have been buying, wearing, and gifting printed cloths that carry messages most people cannot read. A kanga is never just a kanga. It is a letter you wear on your body. History https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/charlotte-maxeke-voice-across-the-sea https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/charlotte-maxeke-voice-across-the-sea Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Before she was the Mother of Black Freedom in South Africa, she was a girl with a voice that filled concert halls in London. This is how a singer became a scholar, then a force the colonial state could not ignore. History https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/the-secret-maps-in-her-hair https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/the-secret-maps-in-her-hair Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Before there were letters or phones, African women were sending messages through braided patterns in their hair. Some of those patterns even mapped the way to freedom. History https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/the-girl-they-tried-to-keep-hidden https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/the-girl-they-tried-to-keep-hidden Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Shipped from Nigeria to Ireland as a child with the promise of a better life, Destiny was held captive for five years. She was not supposed to survive. She was certainly not supposed to speak. She did both. Profiles https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/the-tignon-laws https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/the-tignon-laws Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT In 1786, colonial Louisiana tried to control Black women by forcing them to cover their hair. They turned the restriction into one of history's most powerful fashion statements. History https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/to-the-mothers-who-gave-us-everything https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/to-the-mothers-who-gave-us-everything Sun, 15 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT A Mothering Sunday reflection on the African women who carried movements, raised revolutions, and wrote the truth, all while raising children who would inherit their courage. Why It Matters https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/the-revolution-is-uncomfortable https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/the-revolution-is-uncomfortable Tue, 10 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Every generation of African women who pushed for change made people uncomfortable. The discomfort is not a flaw in the movement. It is proof that the movement is working. Why It Matters https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/they-didnt-call-it-feminism-either https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/they-didnt-call-it-feminism-either Tue, 10 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Most of the women who built the freedoms African women have today never used the word. That doesn't make what they did any less feminist. History https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/what-your-timeline-wont-teach-you https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/what-your-timeline-wont-teach-you Tue, 10 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Social media has turned feminism into a debate. History tells a different story. One that is harder to argue with. Concepts https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/a-conversation-with-my-father https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/a-conversation-with-my-father Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT What happens when you tell your father you built a website about African women's history, and why the word 'feminism' keeps getting in the way of the actual conversation. Why It Matters https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/daughters-of-independence https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/daughters-of-independence Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Behind every African independence movement were women who organised, sacrificed, and fought, then were largely written out of the story. It is time to write them back in. History https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/she-ran-the-market https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/she-ran-the-market Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Long before modern business, African women were running trade networks, controlling markets, and building serious wealth. Here is why that history matters. History https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/writing-africa-back https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/writing-africa-back Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT The African women writers who put their continent's stories on the world map and fought to make sure those stories were told on their own terms. Culture https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/beyond-the-kitchen https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/beyond-the-kitchen Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Challenging the myth that African women were historically confined to domestic roles by exploring centuries of women who ruled, fought, traded, and shaped the continent. History https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/how-colonialism-rewrote-the-rules https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/how-colonialism-rewrote-the-rules Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT A look at how European colonisation disrupted the power, autonomy, and rights that African women held in their own societies, and how the effects still linger today. History https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/the-aba-womens-war https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/the-aba-womens-war Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT The story of how thousands of women in southeastern Nigeria organised one of the largest anti-colonial uprisings in African history in 1929. History https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/the-dahomey-amazons https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/the-dahomey-amazons Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT The story of the Mino, a feared all-female military regiment in the Kingdom of Dahomey that challenged European armies and rewrote what women in combat could look like. History https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/the-womens-march-of-1956 https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/the-womens-march-of-1956 Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT How 20,000 South African women of all races marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest the pass laws, creating one of the most powerful moments in anti-apartheid history. History https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/what-are-gender-roles https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/what-are-gender-roles Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT A clear look at where gender roles come from, how they shape everyday life, and why understanding them gives you the freedom to question what you have been told. Concepts https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/what-does-gender-equality-look-like https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/what-does-gender-equality-look-like Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Moving beyond the buzzword to paint a real picture of what a gender-equal world looks like in practice, from homes to classrooms to governments. Concepts https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/what-is-consent https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/what-is-consent Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT A straightforward guide to understanding consent in everyday life, why it is a basic human right, and why every young person needs to know about it. Concepts https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/what-is-patriarchy https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/what-is-patriarchy Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT A clear and simple explanation of what patriarchy means, how it works, and how young people can learn to recognise it in the world around them. Concepts https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/who-is-a-feminist-and-why-we-all-should-be https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/who-is-a-feminist-and-why-we-all-should-be Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT A simple, honest breakdown of what it means to be a feminist, why it matters for everyone, and how African women have been leading the way for generations. Concepts https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/why-african-womens-stories-belong-in-every-classroom https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/why-african-womens-stories-belong-in-every-classroom Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT How the absence of women from African history education harms everyone, and why teaching their stories is not optional but essential. Why It Matters https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/why-economic-independence-changes-everything https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/why-economic-independence-changes-everything Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT How having your own money transforms a woman's choices, safety, and future, and why financial empowerment is at the heart of gender equality. Why It Matters https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/why-educating-girls-changes-everything https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/why-educating-girls-changes-everything Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT How investing in girls' education transforms families, communities, and entire nations, with real stories from across Africa. Why It Matters https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/why-men-who-support-women-are-not-weak https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/why-men-who-support-women-are-not-weak Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Challenging the idea that supporting gender equality makes a man less of a man, and showing why male allyship has always been part of the fight for justice. Why It Matters https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/why-representation-matters https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/why-representation-matters Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT How seeing women in positions of power changes what girls believe is possible, and why African women's visibility in leadership matters for the next generation. Why It Matters https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/feminism-equality-not-anti-men https://herstoryafrica.com.ng/articles/feminism-equality-not-anti-men Sat, 08 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT Why the idea that feminism means hating men is a misunderstanding, and why the history of African women's movements matters. Concepts