Zing

To bring back some Zing, and as an expression of solidarity for the 8th of March, an old manuscript newly rediscovered in Harvard about Queen Nzinga of Ndongo.

“According to legend, Queen Nzinga (or Zinga, or Njinga) 1583-1663 was given her name because she was born with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. To the Ndongo, this was an indication she would become a wise and proud woman. Indeed she was, a strong, charismatic, and shrewd leader who would not acquiesce to the European colonists. … Many fascinating stories and legends are attributed to Queen Nzinga. In an often repeated tale, the Portuguese governor, Correia de Sousa, did not offer a chair for Nzinga to sit on during their negotiations, and instead, had a floor mat laid out for her to sit. The use of banal floor mat was appropriate only for subordinates and Nzinga took exception to this slight by the governor. Unwilling to accept this humiliation, she ordered one of her servants to get down on the ground on all fours so she could sit upon his back during negotiations. Through this overt act, she asserted her status as an equal to the governor, not an inferior. … In another peculiar legend, Nzinga was a woman noted for executing her lovers. With a large, all male harem at her disposal, she had the men fight one another to the death in order to spend the night with her and, after a single night of lovemaking, were, in turn, put to death.”

For those who want to check it out themselves...http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/preserving/