Unrecognized in African history: African women and their fight for liberation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Women's contribution to Africa's decolonisation and independence struggle has not always received recognition equal to that of men in today's African political history studies. Their influence on African politics today is also usually silenced. This article thus goes on a historical journey to show that women in Sub-Saharan Africa have been at the forefront of subverting colonial patriarchal politics, which persist in many African states to this day. Through the conceptual thinking of Afro-feminism, the article gives examples of women across Africa and in African history who fought at the frontlines of liberation and decolonisation battles to create equal, equitable, culturally-conscious, and gender-aware political systems on the continent.