We Bin Comin a Long Time, Oh, Yes!

“Historical Study Tour of Sierra Leone” (#4 of 9)

Tour leaders introduced us to the third theme, Abolition, through a tour of Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital and largest city.  Destinations included:

1. A tour of downtown and information about the establishment of Sierra Leone in 1792 as the site where Britons returned formerly enslaved Africans from Nova Scotia.  Many of these were Gullah, Maroon, and formerly Jamaican peoples.  This creolization of blended African diasporic cultures makes Sierra Leone unique among other Rice Coast countries.
   

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2. Old Fourah Bay College. Founded in 1827, it is the oldest Western style university in West. Edward Jones of Charleston, SC was its first principal.
   

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3. King Jimmy, Big Market, and Victoria Park.  Vendor stalls and wares were abundant. Sierra Leonean fabric, jewelry, clothing, shoes, walking sticks, and more have now found homes in the U.S.
4. A Visit with Ambassador Brewer and the US Embassy in Freetown. A splendid surprise, a handmade quilt by T. Smalls, a Gullah man from St. Helena Island, is displayed in the Embassy lobby. 
   

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5. A panel discussion of “Herbs and Nutrition Across the Sea.” Authentic “root medicine” is a shared cultural phenomenon in Gullah Geechee and Sierra Leone communities, utilizing plants and herbs found in the woods and grown in gardens as healing agents.
6. A Press Conference co-hosted by the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Freetown City Council, and National Monuments and Relics Commission. Tour group members were encouraged to return home as cultural ambassadors.
   

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The Freetown sites and visits affirmed that I’ve served as a Cultural Ambassador to Sierra Leone since my 2005 visit.  Like the words of the Gullah spiritual, “We Been Comin a Long Time, Oh, Yes,” I’ve been informing about cultural connections, oh, yes! – through  my book Reminiscences of Sea Island Heritage (1986); my book Gullah Branches, West African Roots (2006);  my CD Gullah Tings fa Tink Bout, funded through the SC Arts Commission (2014); and my ongoing weekly “Gullah Geechee Program Series,” school field trip performances, exhibits and programs at Brookgreen Gardens (since 2004).