Black History Month!

February is Black History Month, a time when we celebrate greats like Malcolm, Martin, Langston and many others. Here's a piece of Black History of a different sort:

The Azande Warriors.

According to extensive research and fieldwork by the British Anthropologist E. E. Evans-Pritchard, the Azande date back to the early 1600's in southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Unmarried Azande warriors routinely took on boy-wives, who would be between the ages of twelve and twenty. They would purchase these boys in exchange for spears, and their bond would be publicly acknowledged. The boys did not cook, but would fetch cooked food, and would perform other services for their husbands. In return, the husbands gave the boy-wives pretty ornaments, and he and the boy addressed one another as "my love" and my "lover".

The image is a recreation I photographed of The Azande Warriors based on old photos and drawings.

Happy Black History Month!