Introduction by Adom Getachew and Thomas Meaney<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Contributions by Jean Mackellar<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe who have been colonized can never forget\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Andr\u00e9e Blouin\u2014once called the most dangerous woman in Africa\u2014played a leading role in the struggles for decolonization that shook the continent in the 1950s and \u201960s, advising the postcolonial leaders of Algeria, both Congos, Ivory Coast, Mali, Guinea, and Ghana. 304 pages \/ January 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this autobiography, Blouin retraces her remarkable journey as an African revolutionary. Born in French Equatorial Africa and abandoned at the age of three, she endured years of neglect and abuse in a colonial orphanage, which she escaped after being forced by nuns into an arranged marriage at fifteen. She later became radicalized by the death of her two-year-old son, who was denied malaria medication by French officials because he was one-quarter African.
In Guinea, where Blouin was active in S\u00e9kou Tour\u00e9\u2019s campaign for independence, she came into contact with leaders of the liberation movement in the Belgian Congo. Blouin witnessed the Congolese tragedy up close as an adviser to Patrice Lumumba, whose arrest and assassination she narrates in unforgettable detail.
Blouin offers a sweeping survey of pan-African nationalism, capturing the intricacies of revolutionary diplomacy, comradeship, and betrayal. Alongside intimate portraits of the movement\u2019s leaders, Blouin provides insights into the often-overlooked contribution of African women in the struggle for independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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