This episode examines the complex and multifaceted roles of women during the Atlantic slave trade period in West Africa. It profiles the Mino (Agojié), Dahomey’s all- female military regiment, and explores women’s positions as traders, political advisors, and warriors. It highlights three remarkable figures: Queen Agontimé, who rose from captivity to become a Candomblé priestess in Brazil; Queen Nzinga Mbande of Ndongo and Matamba, a diplomatic and military leader who resisted Portuguese colonization; and Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita, a religious visionary whose Antonianism movement challenged both church authority and the slave trade.

The episode also details the unique practice of woman-to-woman marriage in Dahomey, emphasi ...