Sierra Leoneans Were Well Known fa Growin Rice

“Historical Study Tour of Sierra Leone” (#7 of 9)

            During my 2005 trip to Sierra Leone, Susu village elders at a naming ceremony for “Priscilla’s Homecoming” participants assigned me the name “Kemeforay.”  It means “old man,” which is a mark of respect in Sierra Leonean culture.  An old man is regarded as an elder, an adviser. I maintained the meaning of my moniker throughout the Historical Study Tour.

 I advised about the commonality of our speech ways through the words of a song I’d created in 2005. During an impromptu session with Sierra Leonean university students and tour participants, I shared “Gullah Cousin ta Krio”:

“Chorus: Gullah cousin ta Krio./Same taak, same soun.  Yeah, dat so!/When A say a wod./Repeat wha you heard./Dey cousin-tongue, fa true.  You see-oh.

“Een Gullah we say dis (dis); een Krio dey say dis (for this)/Een Gullah we say dat (dat); een Krio dey say dat (for that)/Een Gullah we say oona (oona); een Krio dey say una (for you)/Een Gullah we say ooman (ooman); een Krio dey say uman (for woman)

“Refrain:Yeah, we taak de same way—small-small, small-small/Yeah, we taak de same way—jes a lee bit”

I also advised about the significance of rice heritage at the “Sierra Leone-Gullah Connection Musical Extravaganza,” through singing another song I’d created in 2002, “Well Known fa Growin Rice”:

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“De plantas didn know rice production/Dey needed workas who knew rice production/Sierra Leoneans knew rice production/They were skilled/They were not born slaves

“De plantas grew rich from de slave trade/Bot homes, oh, were destroyed by de slave trade/De African fambly was uprooted by de slave trade/They were skilled/They were not born slaves

“Chorus: Sierra Leoneans were well known fa growin rice/Well known fa growin rice,/well known fa growin rice/Slave traders sought them out and for them paid a higha price/They were skilled/They were not born slaves.”