Her Name Was DEOLINDA: "If That Makes Me A Lesser Woman- I want No Parts of It!
Discovering a Black Woman Heroine

It was exactly 5:05.p.m on a Tuesday afternoon as I stood in my kitchen, overlooking ours and our neighbour’s garden, I asked myself after a month or if not longer off of writing Notes on Black Women to study for my French language listening, reading, writing, and speaking exams how the hell do I jump right back into writing my beloved Notes on or for Black women?
During my absence ideas continued to flow and were gathered largely on Post-it notes, they have sat on my desk all this time:
As I headed to my office and glanced at them, somehow, I didn’t feel like sorting through them, it’s a hard task trying to decide which topic is priority, when to me they all are! I did the best thing I could, I grabbed my Black History deck of cards one focused on Black women’s history and the other on Afro-Caribbean and Afro- Latino history ( as that’s my background even though I was born in London), then I shuffled the deck and simply said to the universe, “Send me a topic to research and write about.” Out popped one card from each deck— both were focused on Black women…. It was a sign, time to get back to work and continue creating Notes on Black Women.
FREEDOM….
To start, I’d love to focus on the idea of freedom, when we talk about or think about historical freedom fighters, we often recall men’s names first, or only. History holds space for women warriors too, although it’s not always well documented or called upon and that’s where I come in, and this week’s Black woman included in the encyclopaedia of Black women I’m creating. There are some brilliant, bold, women who sometimes have been or currently are more involved in the advancement of Black people’s freedoms and rights than Black men have been historically or presently. One of them is Deolinda Rodrigues de Almeida, an Angolan freedom fighter whose courage lit the path for an African nation's independence, there’s a lot that can be said about her role in the fight for liberation.
Not only that, after researching a bit about her I realised she’s someone who could be added to “club twenty-seven— more about this in a moment.
Who Was She?
Deolinda was born in 1939 in Angola, southern Africa. Her country was under brutal Portuguese colonial rule at the time. She grew up in a religious family and was extremely intellectually bright. She studied in Angola and abroad—eventually going to Brazil and the United States.
Her time in the United States— How It Opened Her Eyes
She arrived in the United States circa 1960, via a scholarship, she studied at:
· Spelman College (an HBCU for Black women in Atlanta, Georgia.)
· Drew University (a Methodist-affiliated university in New Jersey.)
The United States she knew and experienced was very different to the United States we know today, that said with all that’s going on in this part of the world when it comes to things like DEI, it could be argued that in 2025 it’s business as it was at Deolinda’s time of arrival— for Black and brown people at least.
Of course, in the USA she saw racism and segregation up close, as someone researching her history to understand her as a Black woman and her contribution as a Black woman, it appears that her eyes were opened to the fight for liberation not just in the USA, but globally. She didn’t remain in the USA she went back home to Angola, not because she was “pushed out” as some other Black figures have indicated such as James Baldwin who fled to Paris to escape the racism of his native country the USA. In Deolinda’s case her people, women, and country needed her.
More Than a Fighter
Deolinda wasn’t just a revolutionary with a gun. She was a writer, a thinker, and a woman of faith. She used her words just as powerfully as her actions. She wrote letters and kept journals where she poured out her thoughts about war, womanhood, sacrifice, and hope. Sadly, (especially for me as someone who loves to read journals and essays of other people), not much of her work has been translated from her native language of Portuguese to English only a minor amount has been.
She once wrote:
“The Angolan woman is not just a woman. She is a worker, a mother, a soldier, and a revolutionary.”
Sound familiar?
Black women all over the world have been holding up families, movements, and futures for generations since the dawn of day, Deolinda understood that deeply.
Excerpt from Deolinda's Diary
(Originally written in Portuguese, early 1960s)
"They say a woman should not lead. That she should obey. But who do they think carried the water to the fighters in the bush? Who nursed the wounded with no medicine? Who buried the dead with her own hands? I do not carry a rifle for glory—I carry it so my children’s children will not be born slaves. If that makes me less of a woman, then I want no part of their definition."— Rodrigues, Deolinda (2003). de Almeida, Roberto (ed.). Diário de um Exilio sem Regresso [Diary of an Exile Without Return] (in Portuguese) (1a ed.). Luanda, Angola: Editorial Nzila.
The Cost of Her Courage
In the 1960s, Deolinda became a part of the MPLA (People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola), this organisation was focused on the fight for liberation from the European colonisers in Portugal. Her role was of course fighting to free her country. She helped organise women, trained as a fighter, then became a respected leader.
Imagine this line of work in detail and consider the fate of many other freedom fighters how does it commonly end? The fight for freedom generally, and certainly the fight to liberate women from men’s oppression, more precisely if I consider my own aim as to why I write on certain topics— to liberate Black women from our nuanced oppression and one sided loyalty to Black men, or even if we consider any other kind of resistance to the status quo of one demographic’s oppression, the “fighters” whoever they are, are going to gain enemies, and it could be come dangerous work.
In 1967, this was the case, Deolinda was captured by the colonisers—Portuguese forces. She was tortured and eventually killed at just twenty seven years old.
Club Twenty- Seven…
If I said the names Kurt Cobin, Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin, or even Jimi Hendrix just to name a few, would these names raise an eyebrow of suspicion? Would the penny drop about what they all had in common? Their age of death was twenty-seven, all iconic figures in their own genres and creative paths, even if they were not traditional freedom fighters. To “Club twenty-seven” as it’s often referred to when an iconic person dies at this age ( which links to a lot of conspiracy theories around their deaths also), we can add Deolinda to the club, and her death most likely was a conspiracy or plot to take her down by Portuguese colonisers.
The colonial government of the time thought they could silence her. But they didn’t.
Her legacy lives on—in the streets named after her, in the books that carry her words, and in the hearts of every Angolan, and Black woman who remember what she gave.
What Twenty-first Century Women Can Learn From Deolinda?
Deolinda Rodrigues de Almeida may have lived in a very different time, but her life offers timeless lessons that speak directly to Black women today—especially those with the intention of building joyful, intentional, and freedom-rooted lives.
1. Your Voice is a Weapon—Use It
Deolinda was not just a fighter; she was a writer, thinker, and communicator. She used her pen to challenge colonialism, patriarchy, and injustice. Her diaries were powerful tools of resistance. And I guess this is why many women of colour and Black women write on subjects such as oppression. I know I would place myself here, and see my writing as a tool, even if I gain the odd enemy or two. Use your voice, no matter how you use it— just use it.
2. Go Where You Are Needed—Even if It’s Hard
She left a “comfortable” life in America, and I use the word “comfortable” very, very lightly as at the time, in the 1960s it was not “comfortable” for any Black person, especially Black women with the oppression from men of all races and white women. However, compared to what was happening in her native location in Angola it was probably more tolerable for her. Regardless, she left the USA to return to Angola and join the liberation struggle. She chose purpose over personal safety. Today this learning from her actions could translate as doing just this: go where you are loved and celebrated, also place your energy where it is needed and will benefit you or fellow women or Black women in particular.
3. Freedom is a Daily Practice
Deolinda understood that true freedom isn’t just political—it’s mental, emotional, spiritual, and collective. She wrote about the chains within, not just the ones outside. In today’s context for Black women this could translate in so many ways! From whom you date and why, to how you date and why, and seeing yourself as the beauty standard not anyone or anything else, which I have written about a lot in my essay, The Beauty Standard Has Shifted to Black Women.
The ‘Beauty Standard’ Has Shifted To Black Women
I had an interesting comment on my essay How We Take Back Control of Black Women’s Femininity (2023); it spoke to research I had done myself to answer: is the black woman’s (natural) physical make-up really the beauty standard? Some may scoff at this, but it’s a question that needs deeper examination.
Black women, regardless of where in the diaspora we are from have a legacy of trauma inflicted on us and imposed on us by men, and other women who don’t identify as we do or look like us. We’ve fought hard to fight it off but still have a lot of work to do, and we need to remember that when it comes to oppression from all men, it’s all men not just white men. It could be argued in some respects given that Black women are doing so well in terms of their education, employment, and social mobility globally compared to Black men globally our biggest oppressors today are not necessarily white or non-Black men— it’s Black men.
This does not let white men or non-Black men off the hook, but there’s enough data out there to support this argument or nuanced oppression we face ( compared to other races of women) from our own men. That is, if you’re willing to read it, see if for what it is, and not protect Black men and their behaviours towards Black women that harm them, or see them as something worth protecting over yourself— a woman, in a world that does not have women’s backs, regardless of what race she is.
To remember Deolinda, I think this is a powerful quotation to close with:
"The Angolan woman is not just a woman. She is a worker, a mother, a soldier, and a revolutionary."
So are you. In your own way. On your own terms.
Timeline of Deolinda Rodrigues de Almeida
“The freedom of my people is worth more than my life.”
1939 – Born in Angola
Deolinda Rodrigues de Almeida is born in Catete, Angola, into a Methodist Christian family.
Raised in a politically aware and religious household, she becomes committed to justice from a young age.
1950s – Studies in Angola and Brazil
She excels in school and begins higher education in Luanda.
Later travels to Brazil on a church scholarship, where she is exposed to liberation theology and rising Black consciousness.
1960 – Moves to the United States
Attends Methodist institutions in the U.S., including studies at Spellman College (a historically Black women’s college in Atlanta) and Drew University in New Jersey.
Witnesses racism and segregation firsthand, which deepens her understanding of global anti-Blackness and strengthens her revolutionary views.
Early 1960s – Returns to Angola to Join the Struggle
Rejects a life of “comfort” abroad and returns to Angola to join the MPLA (People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola).
Helps establish the OMA (Organização da Mulher Angolana) to organize women in the fight for liberation.
Mid-1960s – Becomes a Guerrilla Fighter
Trains as a guerrilla fighter and works as a nurse, political educator, translator, and radio operator.
Writes letters and keeps journals documenting her experiences, thoughts on gender, liberation, and spirituality.
1967 – Captured and Executed
Deolinda and her comrades are captured by rivals, handed over to Portuguese colonial authorities.
She is tortured and killed at just twenty-seven years old.
Her body is never found.
Legacy
Her writings are published in the book:
“Diário de um exílio sem regresso” (“Diary of an Exile Without Return”).Today, she is honoured in Angola with streets, schools, and memorials named after her.
Recognised as one of Angola’s national heroines and a symbol of Black women’s leadership in liberation movements.
Much love,
The Black Woman Essayist
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