Njinga Mbandi in the Afro-Brazilian culture: songs, body movements, and ritual performances in the diaspora

Njinga Mbandi was sovereign of the kingdoms of Ndongo and Matamba in the seventeenth century, becoming a symbol of African resistance to the Portuguese invasion. Diplomat, warrior, and skilled strategist, throughout her long life, she used different strategies to remain free. Her story crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the memory of enslaved Central African peoples who constructed rites and performances in Brazil that tell of her struggles. This article analyzes how the story of Njinga Mbandi was represented in the coronation parties of black kings and queens in Brazil, known as Congadas. The main sources are the songs and descriptions of dances performed by black people in Brazil in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, crossed with historical episodes from this character's real life in Angola. We see how this queen remains alive and active in black memory in the diaspora, providing a model of struggle even centuries after her death.