Vitabu’s Fantasy History

Fantasy History is a series by Vitabu Books that features “excerpts from a book on Sierra Leonean women councilors, mayors, cabinet ministers, and political candidates”. The first of this series covers the life of Constance Horton Cummings-John, a pioneering politician from Sierra Leonean history. Constance came from an influential family and was an activist for…

Privileged Africans in the colonial era

Another fascinating aspect of Fatima Massaquoi’s autobiography is that it gives a glimpse at the lives of West African royalty during that era. I say privileged Africans, I mean people who were wealthy, who maintained relationships with (colonial) Europeans living in their territories at the time. Even if they had the best interest for their…

Life in colonial Vai country (according to Fatima Massaquoi)

It seems every couple of years a book about an African woman who lived in such-and-such historical era is released (usually leading to me screaming and freaking out then buying the book). The Autobiography of an African Princess is one such book published in 2013. The African Princess here, Fatima Massaquoi was born around 1904…