Posted
on April 7, 2016
Many
times people and nations celebrate an important person on his or her
birthday, or on the anniversary of an important event, such as a
coronation. But many times a person is celebrated on the anniversary
of his or her death.
This
is one of those times.
Josina
Machel died on this date in 1971. She was an important person in the
modern history of Mozambique. Her grandfather preached against
“assimilation” with the Portuguese, who had colonized their
country – in other words, he thought that the peoples of Africa and
of Mozambique specifically should hold onto their own cultures,
languages, and religions rather than adopting the cultures of the
European colonizers. Josina's whole family may have worked against
the Portuguese colonizers – I'm just guessing, based on the fact
that her father, two of her five sisters, two uncles, and Josina
herself were all imprisoned at some point for their actions towards
independence for Mozambique. One of her uncles was actually assassinated by
Portuguese agents!
 |
| Machel was not a pacifist. She was trained military! |
Josina
Machel not only worked for independence, she also worked for freedoms
and rights of African women, she traveled almost 2,000 miles in her
efforts to elude Portuguese and British forces that sought to
imprison her as an “undesirable visitor” and a rebel, and she
married the man who would eventually become Mozambique's first
president.
It
was a shock, after I read all the things Machel did in her life, to
read that she died so early – tragically, she was just 25 years old
when she died! She died of liver cancer.
In
1972, one year after Machel died, the organization she worked for
(Mozambican Liberation Front) declared April 7 as National Women's
Day in their nation. Mozambique finally achieved full independence in
1975.
Here are some of the beautiful sights to be seen in Mozambique:
Also
on this date:
Plan
ahead:
Check out my Pinterest boards for:
And
here are my Pinterest boards for:
