When faced with a seemingly insurmountable force, what can we do?
One ancestor, Samori Touré, knew that passively allowing his people to be colonized by aggressive European powers was not an option.
It was the 19th century when Touré’s powerful reign began in defense of his own family: a rival leader captured his mother. Touré joined the military to secure her freedom and build his own power.
On that foundation of strength and determination, he built a powerful, stable empire in West Africa, and soon ruled over a vast area encompassing parts of what are now Sierra Leone, Gambia, Mali, and the Sudan.
But that power was a threat to the encroaching French forces, who wanted West African resources for themselves.
A shrewd leader, Touré made alliances where he had to to protect his people. He collaborated with the British to obtain weapons, and made a treaty with France so that he could rule in peace.
But of course, the French broke their treaty. Touré wasn’t about to play games with them. He prepared for all-out war.
His forces fought bravely against the much larger French military for decades. Eventually, however, he was defeated and exiled, and European colonization of West Africa continued.
Many of us were taught that African history is characterized by passive victimhood. But our people have exhibited powerful resistance to oppression throughout history, and that blood still runs through our veins!