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Califia: Queen of California Surveying Her Queendom by Torreah Cookie Washington (detail)      

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2021

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This is Queen Califia, the Black Amazon Goddess the state of California was named for. Know, then, that, on the right hand of the Indies, there is an island called California, very close to the side of the Terrestrial Paradise, and it was peopled by black women, without any man among them, for they lived in the fashion of Amazons. They were of strong and hardy bodies, of ardent courage and great force.

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There reigned on this island of California a Queen, very large in person, the most beautiful of all of them, of blooming years, and in her thoughts desirous of achieving great things, strong of limb and of great courage, more than any of those who had filled her throne before her. She was not petite, nor blond, nor golden-haired. She was large and black as the ace of clubs. But the prejudice of color did not then exist even among the most brazen-faced or the most copper-headed. For, she was reputed the most beautiful of women.

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She is the one.

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In the collection of Acres of Ancestry Initiative