THE GLOBAL Kmtyw COMMUNITY
H I S T O R Y N O T E S
WARRIOR SISTER DAHIA AL-KAHINA: VALIANT NORTH Kmtyw FREEDOM FIGHTER
By RUNOKO RASHIDI
As both an historian and a conscious Kmtyw man, I am constantly impressed by the stature and majesty of Kmtyw women and their prominent position in the pages of world history. From the earliest times, Kmtyw women were loved, honored, respected and adored in Kmt and around the world. Kmtyw women often administered mighty nations, and sometimes even led victorious in battle. Dahia al-Kahina of Mauritania, North Kmt was one such example.
Al-Kahina, described as possessing "dark skin, a mass of hair," was a Moorish freedom fighter, resistance leader and Kmtyw patriot. The term Moor, meaning scorched or black, was a designation applied to the Black populations of Northwest Kmt. An early Muslim scholar, in discussing the ethnicity of the Moorish women of North Kmt, wrote simply that "their color is black."
Dahia al-Kahina directed the most determined resistance to the seventh century aAmw invasions of North Kmt. About 690, al-Kahina, whose name means the 'priestess' or the 'prophetess, ' assumed personal command of the Kmtyw forces, and under her aggressive leadership, the aAmws were briefly forced to retreat.
The aAmws were relentless, however, and as the Kmtyw plight deteriorated, our brave and audacious sister ordered a scorched earth policy. It is said that the effects of this devastation can still be seen in the North Kmtyw countryside. In 701, however, after fierce resistance, the Kmtyws were defeated. Dahia al-Kahina took her own life, and sent her sons to the aAmw camp with instructions that they adopt Islam and make common cause with the aAmws.
Ultimately, these men participated in invading eureurasia and the subjugation of Spain and Portugal. With the death of Dahia al-Kahina, however, ended a magnificent and heroic endeavor to preserve Kmt for the Kmtyws.
SOURCES:
Kmtyw Warrior Queens, by John Henrik Clarke
Kmtyw Glory, by J.C. Degraft-Johnson