Diasporans with DNA traced roots granted citizenship to Sierra Leone

[thekingsmen]

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Alot of the early slaves that landed in the gullah Islands came from Barbados so that's why the language sounds similar and they also do year of returns to both Barbados and Africa led by queen quetta

that's not why; it's actually the reverse

....the reason is because at later dates and various waves (black loyalist, seminole wars etc...), Aframs from the lowcountry/sea islands migrated to the Bahamas

and to end this convo...

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[IllmaticDelta]

Slaves from the Caribbean were a huge majority of the slaves being imported to the US starting from the 1600s. By the late 1600s Maryland and Virginia's black population were mostly from Barbados. Same with SC especially charleston, New Netherlands(present day Jersey,NYC,Pennsylvania and delaware) the earlier ones came from dutch brazil then later curacao,Trinidad and Jamaica. It wasnt until 1712 after the New York slave revolt and the revolt from 1741 in which slaves from st kitts killed their masters that colonizers soley focused on direct african trade and severely curtailed slave shipments from the west indies. In 1807 smuggling from the west indies started up again specifically in the gulf coast( Louisiana and Texas) bringing them from Cuba and the french west indies. That lasted until the 1850s.

This fact actually kills your Gullah-Bahama Creole argument. You postulated that Gullah is similar to Bahamian because slaves were imported from the Bahamas (I proved to you in my last post that this theory is false and is actually the reverse) but as we all know, there has never been any culture/creole in Maryland or Virginia similar to what developed in the Carolinas/Sea Islands.

 

[frush11]

My family are Krio from Freetown. Not had the chance to visit yet though, hopefully after COVID

Its quite a few off us here

I'm trying to venture out of Freetown,when I go back.

I like the look off Makeni, and they have reliable electricity

 

[JadeB]

Liberia also gives citizenship to all black people. I don't think Nigeria would do that since Nigeria doesn't even like its own people lol.

Tribalism in Nigeria will be the death of us

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Me and my mom are gonna go for it and we’re strongly considering applying for dual citizenship for the whole immediate family. I’m thinking it would be best if we do the Family Kit, plus digging up on their background and receiving a certain energy frequency from Spirit, I feel like I can trust AfricanAncestry at their word of properly disposing tests after results and not collecting them for agencies and shyt. Legit made me happy when I saw that both the creators live in DC and are Howard alum

And I have a deep feeling we might have significant Salone results on the matrilineal side because my mom’s side of the family has ancestral roots in Florence, South Carolina...Which is at least 2 hours from Charleston. We also have Gullah-Geechie distant family members down there too. Hell,

same here

we have a close friend of the family who used to be my personal barber and he’s originally from Sierra Leone but he looks straight up ADOS and has what I believe to be a New York-lite accent and his complexion is similar to Pea from Baby Boy....I was like when I found out about that

old post

Spoiler

Sierra Leoneans in Diaspora celebrate Black Loyalists, founding of Freetown

Organizers of Sierra Leone Black Loyalists celebrations are elated over the massive turnout of Sierra Leoneans who thronged Busboys & Poets Café in Washington, DC for what they called a first of its kind commemoration of Sierra Leonean and African American history in recent memory.

Sierra Leoneans of all ages and walks of life (students, parents with young children, young and middle-aged professionals, artists, writers, scholars and notables came to celebrate the founding of Freetown and its Founders, the Black Loyalists.

Dr. Fuambai Sia Ahmadu (pictured, above), Executive Director, of MSLDC Inc. and the event primary sponsor said “we received lots of feedback from audience members that the mix of cultural performance - traditional dance, poetry and music videos - as well as the teachings from our two historians, Kevin Lowther and Professor Nemata Blyden was educational, emotional and very inspiring.”

Dr. Ahmadu declared the event as successful in "highlighting the importance of Krio history, culture, and language to our national identity as Sierra Leoneans and awakening us to our powerful interconnections with African-Americans, notably among peoples such as the Gullah of South Carolina. “

“Most members of the audience who came Sunday knew very little, if anything, about the black loyalists and were fascinated to learn about this critical aspect of the history of Sierra Leone, “ said Dr. Ahmadu.

Other highlights were dramatic performances by Natasha Beckley, Miss Sierra Leone 2011, poetry readings by Akindele Decker from the Sierra Leone Gullah Association and David Vandy, from Voice of America. The event also featured video screenings of Freddy Shabaka’s song, the Black Loyalist and his latest release, Heal Our Nation.

Shabaka also participated via telephone on a discussion of Sierra Leone’s Black Loyalists on African New Dawn Radio show which airs every Sunday from 8 – 9 pm on Rutgers University’s WRSU, 88.7 FM in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

After Sunday’s celebration, Shabaka shared some of his sentiments on the Founders of Freetown including his observations on developing events in Sierra Leone in an interview conducted via email.

Dennis Kabatto: For starters, talk about the significance of the tribute to Sierra Leone’s ‘Black Loyalists’ event that you helped organize and attended Sunday at Bus Boys and Poets in Washington, DC

Freddy Shabaka: The Black Loyalists were the founders of Freetown and many people are not aware of what they had to go through to make this journey possible. They were refugees from the American revolutionary war who were slaves that fought for the British based on promises of freedom, land and sustenance after the war. The British did not live up to their promises and they suffered greatly in a place called Nova Scotia in Canada. These freed slaves appointed one of their own, Thomas Peters, as their leader. Peters travelled to London to meet with British authorities. It is important to keep in mind that the slave trade was still going on so this was a very risky journey. It was while he was in London that he met with abolitionists like Granville Sharp. He told them that he had heard of their attempt to create a settlement in Africa and that he wanted to take his people to Sierra Leone which they felt was their Zion. This was the first back to Africa movement long before Marcus Garvey and the black starliner. When Thomas Peters went back to Nova Scotia with Clarkson, they used the churches to spread the message of the plan to return to Africa. This started an exodus-like movement as blacks travelled for miles to hear this message. Many blacks were recruited for the trip and on January 15th 1792, Thomas Peters and 1,196 blacks sailed in a convoy of 16 ships for a place they called Freetown.

This story appears to have fallen between the cracks of black history and this event on Sunday was an attempt to create awareness and pay tribute to such an important slice of our history. I helped with the event but the event was actually organized by Dr. Fuambai Ahmadu who runs the Miss Sierra Leone USA pageant and mentors young Sierra Leone women. She is an amazing woman and a Sierra Leonan gem.

DK: How was the attendance?

FS: The attendance was amazing. We were just expecting a few people but the place was packed with standing room only. It was a lovely family event.

DK: Celebrating Sierra Leone ‘Black Loyalists’ from America highlights or bring to the fore the connection or relationship if you will, of Sierra Leoneans and African Americans that is normally ignored or swept under the rug. Share your opinion on the lack of awareness or bonding between Sierra Leoneans and African Americans.

FS: The strong connections between Sierra Leoneans and African Americans tend to be ignored but there are several strong historical connections between both peoples with the Black Loyalists being just one of them. When I was going to school in Freetown they taught us a little about the Nova Scotians but we didn’t really know much about Nova Scotia so it became a dead end. If we had understood that these were African American slaves who fought hard and suffered greatly with their struggles resulting in the creation of Freetown then we would have seen this part of our history very differently as we were already familiar with the African American story not realizing that it was also part of our own story.

As a teenager I grew up listening to Bob Marley singing about Exodus, and Burning Spear singing about Marcus Garvey, and we didn’t realize that we had our own Exodus from the American Revolutionary War, and our own Marcus Garvey in the form of Thomas Peters. I believe that it is important to acknowledge these ties because it is our reality. We are all the same people in many ways and an understanding of what connects us rather than just what separates us is a good place to start.

People need to understand that the slaves who were in bondage in America faced difficult choices. Fighting for the American patriots or the British was a personal one. They all wanted their freedom so they made decisions as to the best way to secure this freedom. This means that some families and friends went separate ways with some becoming Black loyalists and the other half remaining in America. This is a real bond that we have with African Americans. The blood flows through our veins regardless of whether we acknowledge it or not.

Sierra Leoneans in Diaspora celebrate Black Loyalists, founding of Freetown

 

[JadeB]

Alot of the early slaves that landed in the gullah Islands came from Barbados so that's why the language sounds similar and they also do year of returns to both Barbados and Africa led by queen quetta

Other than Virginia (for Nigeria) and Georgia (for Ghanaians) where did Nigerian and Ghanaian slaves were sent to in British America?

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Other than Virginia (for Nigeria) and Georgia (for Ghanaians) where did Nigerian and Ghanaian slaves were sent to in British America?

 

[The Solid One]

Should've posted this is a different subforum. AA doninates TLR.

Fixed that for ya

 

[DOGGFATHER96]

This fact actually kills your Gullah-Bahama Creole argument. You postulated that Gullah is similar to Bahamian because slaves were imported from the Bahamas (I proved to you in my last post that this theory is false and is actually the reverse) but as we all know, there has never been any culture/creole in Maryland or Virginia similar to what developed in the Carolinas/Sea Islands.

I was speaking on Barbados. Not the Bahamas.

 

[Tommy Knocks]

damn they got beaches like that

 

[get these nets]

Other than Virginia (for Nigeria) and Georgia (for Ghanaians) where did Nigerian and Ghanaian slaves were sent to in British America?

You and others interested in these type of topics should fukk with The Root section. Not as much activity as other subforums, but civil discussion take place there.

Oh, and

Spoiler

Chapter 3

 

[Speaking Womanese]

I’ve got 6%... am I welcome?

 

[Black Magisterialness]

Nigeria is never doing this....

 

[frush11]

damn they got beaches like that

Yes, we got tons off them, and small Islands too