[imagesource: Netflix]

Jada Pinkett Smith just released a compelling Netflix docuseries that finally gives African female leaders their due.

It is true, history is made up of fierce black women from Africa, too.

African Queens is intended to be a multi-season docuseries, with each season taking a look at a different female ruler from the continent.

In the first four episodes, Pinkett Smith executive produces and narrates the tale about the iconic 17th-century leader of Ndongo and Matamba, in what is now modern-day Angola.

“It’s time we all come together to know her name,” Jada boldly declares in an opening voiceover:

Blending dramatization with documentary, African Queens: Njinga traces the rise and reign of Queen Njinga of Angola amid family betrayal and political rivalries.

African Queens: Njinga series premieres February 15, 2023 only on @netflix. pic.twitter.com/uVXE9gvCAx

— Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) February 7, 2023

The Hollywood Reporter notes that the new Netflix series is a documentary that plays like an epic drama, weaving together expert interviews with lavishly produced scripted scenes and fine acting from the wonderful cast.

Per Quartz, Pinkett Smith said the inspiration behind the docuseries stemmed from a conversation with her daughter:

“I was asking Willow what makes a queen and as we started talking about that, I started thinking about that question from more of a historical context. That is when the idea sprouted in my mind.”

“We need to have more information and more content around Black queens that have lived. There is just not a lot of accessible content around these stories.”

With a few exceptions – like Cleopatra, planned as the subject of season two – these powerful black female leaders won’t be so familiar to the masses:

In that light, African Queens — like last year’s The Woman King — serves as both an overdue corrective to the Eurocentric narratives that dominate Western understanding of world history and a much-needed injection of fresh subject matter for an entertainment industry that’s already retraced the stories of Elizabeth I or Anne Boleyn more times than it’s possible to count.

Here’s the trailer again from YouTube:

In asking the question ‘Stream It Or Skip It?’ Decider reckons it should be streamed as it is overall well-written and engaging.

Meanwhile, The Guardian gave it two out of five stars and called it a “mediocre Channel 5 show”. Ouch.

If anything, watch it for the African Queens of the past and present.

[sources:quartz&decider&hollywoodreporter]