Mama Julia Chikamoneka: Difference between revisions

[[File:Mama Julia Chikamonekela led protest.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Mama Julia Chikamonekela led protest during the visit of the Colonial Secretary, Reginald Maudling at the Legislative Council in 1961 - The National Archives UK]]

In March 1960, Mama Chikamoneka, with other women, marched to the District Commissioner’s office where they intruded and slapped him. She, Emelia and Mandalena stripped to the waist before marching to the City Airport.

Mama Chikamoneka’s most legendary act of defiance was her decision to march half naked with other activists in public to protest the abhorrent colonial regime and to call for immediate independence. This happened in 1960 when Ian McLeod, Secretary of States for the Colonies, visited [[Zambia]] (then [[Northern Rhodesia]]).  McLeod famously wept as a result of this action, and Chikamonekela called it “the most amusing incident in my life.” In her view, to show her nakedness was the highest form of anger and the only weapon she had – she wanted to highlight the suffering of the people. <ref name=stm/>

In 1961, Chikamonekela and the league of women protested outside the Legislative Council during the visit of the Colonial Secretary, Reginald Maudling.