African Influences in Grenada? History Uncovered w/ Dr Shantel George
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- Опубліковано 6 жов 2024
- In the story of Grenada's history, the arrival of indentured Africans on the Spice Isle’s shores is a chapter of which many are unaware.
In this video British-Grenadian academic, Dr Shantel George and the Exodus Collective's Zoe Smith discuss the impact of indentured Africans on Grenada’ culture.
We explore the ways in which indentured Africans stood out from the wider population in Grenada thanks to their direct links to their African cultures.
Although relatively small in number, these Africans left a remarkable cultural legacy in Grenada, rejuvenating existing practices as well as bringing new traditions to the island, such as Shango.
The impact of indentured Africans in Grenada reverberates far beyond the island’s shores as the mother of Malcolm X, Louise Little (nee Louise Langdon) who was born in La Digue, St Andrew, Grenada was the grandchild of an indentured African laborer.
Shantel George also discusses her forthcoming book on the social impact of the atlantic slave trade with a focus on the role of kola nut.
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ABOUT DR SHANTEL GEORGE
Shantel is a historian of enslavement, orisha & kola nuts at the University of Glasgow. Her latest book, “Yoruba are on a Rock: Liberated Africans in Grenada,'' is under contract with Cambridge University Press.
Her book focuses on the 2,700 recaptives who were sent to Grenada between 1836 and 1863. One of their key cultural legacies was Orisha worship-a combination of dance, music, healing, divination, animal sacrifice, spirit possession, and feasts-which originated among the Yoruba people of western Africa. Over time, this practice became known as “African work” in Grenada.
The book provides a new way of interpreting African work in Grenada, arguing that rather than being a survival of a homogenous group of liberated Yoruba, it has been recreated through exchanges within the island, the wider Eastern Caribbean, as well as across the Atlantic world.
NB: THE IMAGE USED IN THIS VIDEO THUMBNAIL IS FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES.
PHOTO CREDIT: GIOVANNI MAROZZINI, CAMEROON, 2010.
Due to the brainwashing that took place during slavery, we were thought to be uncomfortable with every thing African including African names, African features, African centered religions and Africa itself. I grew up in the Spritual Baptist faith attended Shango services and was always at a Nyabinghi get together with the Rastafarians. That upbringing centered me for life. In College I took Kiswahili for my language requirement and a minor in African Ethic Studies. As a people of African decent we must embrace our culture wholeheartedly to be fully respected and empowered. Great content as usual. One love always.
This is really interesting - I'd like to have more conversations about these traditions in Grenada.
As a newbie to the island, it feels as if a significant part of our heritage is being brushed under the carpet so to speak.
The great work that Shantel and others (on the island) are doing may hopefully shift this...
@@ExodusCollective Rasta Nan Nan is a good person to interview on Grenadian Rastafarian history, he wrote a Book on the struggles of that movement...Finding a Spritual Baptist Church is not difficult...
@@akanmoonigbosun6615 thank you - I'll follow up on both of those!
But Shango and Baptist, Muslims, Jew or Christianity is not African culture. For all divination witchcraft, charm, voodoo and amulet was brought into Africa with the sword by the Arabia Idumea people called the Fulanis, moors, maroons and black Caribs. They also settled all over the Caribbean. The maroons settled in Jamaica, moors in America and black Caribs in St, Vincent. We were told they were fierce warlike hostile please. We should not be partaking in those rituals because we are not part of them but are the Israelites. Also we should stop talking about one Caribbean as though we are indigenous Taino Arawak Creoles, or black Caribs and maroons.
Carnival is ours the new moon festival, saracca is ours the feasts of the Tabernacle. The bull horn is ours and part of our tradition for new moon. Grenadians must stop following the Caribbean culture and trying to incorporate it into our lifestyles. Lastly we should stop immitating Jamaica, St Vincent, St Kitts and Antigua accent or language because we are not maroons. Or try to speak Creoles we are not Taino Arawak, kalinagoes, Olmec at native Indian of the Caribbean. We should do better and lead by example else we shall fall for anything.
Happy 2023 Grenada stay safe and may the God of Jacob our father bless you! I love you!
@@doreenramsey1016 Any man who thinks he knows it all and speaks with absolute certainty on a subject matter is a clear indication he knows very little, and any attempt to teach is a turn off.
as a Grenadian who spend a lot of time in Africa when ever i listen to the drumming and watch the dancing in Africa my blood runs cold because of the similarities
We are one people
What a wonderful interview! We need this. Thank you.
Thank you 🙏🏾!
Thank you for this video in History.
Great discourse, Dad's Mum (Grandma Wilhemina Josephine Cuffie/Hastick)DNA has a lot of pure good African mixing.
her people are Nigerian, Benin, Togo and her Dad was Ghanaian thus the Cuffie. It is hard work digging, however the reveals are rewarding.
That's really interesting! DNA testing is definitely helping people to piece together their origins in ways they couldn't do before.
Very true never shall we be discouraged in endeavors of self discovery.
I love looking up History. I love me some History.
We love you so much traveling is problems
It is also in Guyana. African Guyanese weddings have the Queh Queh drumming and singing ceremonies, to teach the bride, how to be a wife, and husband how to love the wife. To bless them for offspring and the meeting of the extended family.
Munich, Grenada. Who knew? Never heard about it. I had to look it up, I see it's located in St Andrew.. I like finding out ways to potentially connect my various countries 😀
Yes Munich is a really interesting village - there's a great place that goes by the name of Rome's Museum that's definitely worth a visit
@@ExodusCollective Wow, another St Andrew village I never heard of. So much to learn about 🇬🇩. Hopefully, one of these days I get to explore 🇬🇩 fully
Very brilliant area, had electricity there in Munich first, so education was promoted.
Awesome interview
Thanks John
🇬🇩🇬🇩🇬🇩🔥🔥🔥💯
Born in Grenada 🇬🇩 now living in uk ❤️🔥🫶🏽
Hey, we could be family. My family is also from Riversallee near the junction.
Is the book out?
If it's called African works it lost its meaning and lost its origin,playing with word is very damaging to research works especially Africa history.
Shango is normal as any religion; I don't see why we're comfortable pronouncing Christianity without feeling guilty or any religion but it's very hard to accept our own real Africa spiritual identity.
Absolutely it's called Shango for a reason. There are areas in Nigeria where individual Orishas are venerated - including Shango - hence the very specific reference to him. Leave it alone - stupes....
❤Garifuna❤
Far as I know Ghana fir a long time exported kola nuts to Nigeria which has much more use for them
No, kola nut is grown locally in Yorubaland, it's not imported from Ghana.
I am not sure how African influence is in Grenada when we Grenadians know we are the direct descendant of Grenada. This is why we are called the negroes of the Caribbean. We were enslaved by the British not Scotland. Our history was handed down by our ancestors.
Scottish enslaved Barbados and brought the indigenous Scottish and Irish there as mulatto.
We would never get history right if we keep calling the Caribbean Africans. Africans do most speak Creoles. The Creoles came from the indigenous Taino Arawak who intermarry the maroons and black Caribs who spread out into their lands for 1000 years. Hence they never classified as Negros because they did not came from Africa.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
It is hard to understand your logic. And troubling to see your use of language. That in of itself speaks volumes.
Over 70-80% of peoples in the carrybeyond (caribbean) are brought from Africa. Or you are indigenous to the Island.
We never ever called ourselves Negroes, We call ourself according to the land we are from and according to our Family Names.
African names have a meaning i.e born on Saturday (Kwame), 1st born (Mensah), or a characteristic or trait. Your slave name is based upon what?
When outside of Africa you are taught to use this naming convention that has no meaning or a derogotory meaning based on a White mans conception.
Europeans brought in these naming conventions. Our back story is not known as it was robbed, beaten out of us and we were dehumanised for centuries.
The word carib is a derivation of the word cannibal (look it up) And therefore how can you call yourself a Carib?
The word Negro is from the Spanish Negrita meaning Black, which has no bearing on your land or culture. Same as Noir/French, Schwartz/German all are colours not people.
The word Mulatto is another word from our colonizers and we would never of called ourself that name either.
After that was Half-caste, then Mixed race, Now mixed heritage, all a big mix up. The root of the caste system in asia is why caucas-asians use the same system.*
If you go to Ghana, Nigeria, Gambia the West coast of Africa you will find your Islands culture in a form. So African rentention in the islands is real even if marginalised.
As for the Inhabitants of the Islands pre-colonisation again what naming convention are you using, Spanish, Portugese.
A maroon is an African that seperated from the coloniser on their domiciled plantation simply that. Which thousands of years you talking nonsense.
This is the problem we have when coming from the Western hemisphere using the White mans language and cultural misappropriation.
I hope you learned something today. Peace.
"We would never get history right if we keep calling the Caribbean Africans".
His Story is not Our Story. Remember that. Our story was beaten out of most of us, but not all of us.
Kunta Kinte refused the name Toby and even was mutilated and forced to comply with his enslavers cultural genocide during the African Holocaust (You would probably call it the slave trade)
What is your excuse for continuing such ignorance?
"I am not sure how African influence is in Grenada" Just enquire about the language we use and why we still have many African names mixed with English, Spanish, Portugese.
Also there is a custom (some would say ritual) That exists in Grenada that is directly imported from Africa. The name i soon remember.
@@DABEEZ737 you have to understand history and stop assuming skin colour.
When the French came here in the 1600 they met the maroons, moors and black Caribs living amongst the indigenous people and interbreeding with them. They were very fierce warlike and hostile and they fought them. But all those who were captured were chained, beaten and enslaved. Except for St Vincent who resisted slavery.
In Grenada there were about 523 black Caribs and Taino Arawak or kalinagoes mixing. They were enslaved by the French of about 250 Caucasians. They bought petite Martinique for $100m and had mulatto children with the black Caribs.
Later in 1700 the British will fought the French in a 16 month war that will bring about the end of the indigenous people and Caribs. All slave masters fled the island with their house 🏠 slaves.
When the British regained control of the island all the Caribs were killed except for 50 who refuses to surrender to the British and leaped to their death.
This place is called leapers Hill. It was there they took their own lives.
Since there were no slaves on the island the British went to Africa and brought the negroes. 34% came from Nigeria as Yoruba and Igbo, 19 % from Ghana as Ashanti and Fante, the Bights from Benin, Bantus and Kongo from Congo, form Angola, central Africa and the Mandinka people.
This is why the African culture is very heavy in Grenada.
I don't see how we are the same as the Caribbean as you can see our faces are quite different and we are not a diverse people like the Caribbean who is a melting pot of many racial ethnicity.
Our skin colour does not identify our race.
@@DABEEZ737 I just want to say that slavery was not don't only to Africa or black people which is a term I hate to use. Black has nothing to do with Africa. The indigenous people of the Philippines called the Aeta people were enslaved and taken to Mexico in chains and were also sold and enslaved.
Also the Chinese, Japanese and Philippines mulattoes were also enslaved on mexico as well. They too were brought in chains and sold but they were free and some bought their freedom.
The Taino Arawak Creoles were also enslaved and they are originated from Spain, Portugal, Ireland and France. Those on the Caribbean were taken to Holland, those in Holland were brought to the Americas, those in the Americas were brought to the Caribbean and so on.
Never think that only one race was enslaved. Indians and from Bengal were also enslaved on Mexico and the Americas and they were dark skin Indians. Let's stop the racial bias and slavery bias.
Stop calling the Caribbean black Africans because this is not their ancestral land!
You can never tell me those mixed faces in Jamaica and America are that of Africans.