When France sent ambassador Jean-Marie Bayol to Dahomey to secure a deal for the kingdom's rich natural resources, he was greeted by an elite force of all-women warriors known as the Agooji.

Queen Nzinga made men fight to the death to gain entry to her bedchamber—but the morning after was even more brutal.

We see women in the African context who were the first fighters ... What did you admire about these warrior women? They were valiant fighters who didn’t ascribe to cultural norms.

“Bringing African warrior women to the forefront of this narrative is an ode to the strength and resilience of African ...