Lupita’s documentary sheds light on the forgotten women warriors

Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o arrives for the 2019 British Academy Britannia (BAFTA) awards at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills on October 25, 2019. She first heard whispers of the Agoji when she was working on the 2018 Hollywood blockbuster movie "Black Panther". PHOTO | VALERIE MACON | AFP

What you need to know:

  • The Agoji were women fighters in the kingdom of Dahomey, present-day Benin, between the 17th and 19th centuries.

Oscar-winning Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o made historians sit up last week when Channel 4 television showed her documentary, "Warrior Women", about the fearsome but virtually unknown Agoji females from West Africa’s past.

The Agoji were women fighters in the kingdom of Dahomey, present-day Benin, between the 17th and 19th centuries.

As to why their story remained so little known, Lupita said, “African history is often misrepresented as it is filtered through a European lens.”

VITAL DETAILS

She first heard whispers of the Agoji when she was working on the 2018 Hollywood blockbuster movie "Black Panther".

“I wanted to find out more for myself by going to Benin,” she said. “The Agoji had a complicated history and they defied notions of what women were capable of.”

In an interview with the UK’s Metro Daily newspaper, Lupita said she was overwhelmed on a daily basis making the documentary.

“I remember feeling a deep sense of sadness because I was learning about things that have been all but lost. History depends on who’s holding the pen and what their interests are.”

ASTOUNDING STORIES
Channel 4 ran "Warrior Women" as part of its Black History season and The Guardian review commented, “This is a reminder that when television ignores African history, it deprives us of some astounding stories.”

Talking of her own life, the Mexico City-born Lupita said she now lives in Brooklyn, in New York City. “I can see the Hudson River from my sofa in the distance and beautiful sunsets over the Brooklyn buildings.”

Asked if she was tempted to follow her father, Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o, into politics, she was adamant: “No, never. One politician in the family is enough.”

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Having a mobile phone means you also have a camera and having a camera means taking photos of yourself to send to friends.

We all know them as selfies. But beware. Hundreds of people around the world are dying, victims of unforeseen accidents while posing for the perfect picture.

Back in 2011, there were only three reports of selfie-related deaths, but that number grew to 93 in 2017, and figures across those six years totalled 259.

The 2018 global study found most deaths occurred in India, Russia, the United States and Pakistan, with most of the victims men, the majority aged between 20 and 29.

Drowning, transport accidents and falling were the commonest causes of death, but the involvement of animals, electrocution, fire and firearms was also reported.

In some cases, the victims died through bravado, like two Russians who posed for a selfie while pulling a pin from a live hand grenade.

Other victims included an American who fell 250 metres while taking his photo in California’s Yosemite Park; seven youths who drowned in a lake near Kuhi, India, when their boat tipped over as they posed.

In Britain, a man was struck by a lightning bolt attracted to his selfie stick. In Chile, a Belgian woman tourist stepped backwards into the scalding waters of an Andean geyser.

Researchers cautioned that the number of selfie-related deaths could be much higher because they are never named as the cause of death.

For instance, people killed in road collisions while taking a selfie will have their deaths recorded as traffic accidents.
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Heard on a bus:

“Hello, Julie, how’s your mother?”

“Not so well. She had a knee replacement and it’s still hurting. Of course, it’s her own fault because she won’t slow down. She’s 67 and has a full-time job and often looks after the grandkids.

But she better get herself organised pretty soon because she’s getting married again before Christmas.”

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With the increase of secularism in Britain, religion is taking a lesser part at many funerals.

Items being chosen by people to be placed in their coffin still include the traditional photographs, love letters and wedding rings.

But there are many more eccentric choices, according to Co-op Funeral care.

Among these it named: A TV remote, a roasted potato, a teddy bear, a packet of sweets, a guitar and a plate of fish and chips.
* * *
Joke: Pallbearers were carrying a dead woman into the cemetery when they accidentally bumped the coffin against a wall and heard a moan.

Opening the casket, they found the woman was actually alive. Ten years later, she fell ill and was pronounced dead.

As the pallbearers carried her into the cemetery, her husband cried: “Watch out for the wall!”