From: Allie Kamara

To: SALONEDiscussion@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2007 3:52 AM

Subject: Re: [SALONEDiscussion] Fwd: Public History - Salone and America!

Amadu, it's about 3:50 am Sunday morning, EST, and what a productive night it has been. If my wife had not denied me what was promised, I could not have stayed up this long to learn so much about the Gullahs, a people I have heard so much of but never did I found the time to do enough research about.

Now, all of a sudden, I am kind of interested and I am looking forward to providing me with more information pertaining to your future event. I am so convinced my 13 and 15 year-old girls will not want to miss this opportunity of a life time.

The following is an excerpt from the many sources of information I Goggled throughout this productive night. Man, I am now going to bed and will make sure I tell my wife later on that nothing did I miss.

----------------------------------------------------------

 

The Gullahs' African personal names and African vocabulary words include many items that are familiar in Sierra Leone today. The Gullah have drawn their African nicknames from various sources, including African first, or given, names; clan names; and the African tribal names of their ancestors. They use the masculine names Bala, Sorie, Salifu, Jah, and Lomboi; and the feminine names Mariama, Fatu, Hawa, and Jilo. The Gullah also use as nicknames the clan names Bangura, Kalawa, Sesay, Sankoh, Marah, Koroma, and Bah; and the Sierra Leonean tribal names Limba, Loko, Yalunka, Susu, Kissi, and Kono. Gullah loanwords from Sierra Leonean languages, used in everyday speech, include: joso, "witchcraft" (Mende njoso, forest spirit); gafa, "evil spirit" (Mende ngafa, masked "devil"); wanga, "charm" (Temne an-wanka, fetish or "swear"); bento, "coffin" (Temne an-bento, bier); defu, "rice flour" (Vai defu, rice flour); do, "child" (Mende ndo, child); and kome, "to gather" (Mende Kome, a meeting).

 

http://www.yale.edu/glc/gullah/06.htm

Amadu Massally <amadu.massally@gmail.com> wrote:

Greetings: 

Almost a year ago, as illustrated below (for your convenience), is one of my many public writings on these forums re: the Sierra Leone-Gullah Connection.  In the posting mentioned the intent was more educational and it is still relevant today as it summarizes the clear evidential matter that connects us to the US.  After the formation of the Sierra Leone-Gullah Heritage Association in April 2006, we decided to lead Sierra Leoneans as a group to St. Helena in a historic move (because never had Sierra Leoneans gone down there to visit with a purpose, let alone host an event in Gullah country).  By the time we were done we were able to bring back the key to the city of Beaufort, SC given to us by Mayor Bill Rausch, thereby granting us the 'green light' to go back any time. 

 

This year we will be doing the same and we (SLGHA) have agreed in principle to work with COSLO - an organization of children born in the US of Sierra Leonean parentage (which includes my sons and your children too).  This is a critical group of Sierra Leoneans that with the absent of inter-generational cooperation, particularly from a cultural perspective, will be lost to American culture forever.  So it is important that all S/Leoneans with children born and raised in the US support what COSLO (and Adelaide Wilson) is trying to do here, living the legacy of her late brother.  We encourage other organizations who would like to participate to contact us as soon as possible as we begin our planning this month.

 

We believe they (COSLO) are taking the right step by linking up with the Gullah efforts (and African-Americans at large) on one side and Siera Leoneans on the other.  And they are also doing the smart thing by working with Sierra Leoneans who have done this in the past and with results to show for it.  So save the date:  On the 2nd weekend in November (9, 10 and 11, 2007) we will be going down to Gullah country again and this time it will be BIGGER and BETTER.  Last year we hosted a Transatlantic Red (Jollof) Rice Luncheon where some notable Sierra Leoneans, Charlie Haffner, our own Moh'm Jalloh and Akinedle Decker, and Dr. Cyrus Macfoy contributed speeches and performances with some of the most significant of Gullah leaders present.  This year we are speculating a Sierra Leone-Gullah youth-led Conference focusing on how we can possibly host exchange programs for S/Leonean and Gullah (African-American) youth wherein the former and latter will trade places for a period of time.  Adult organizations are also welcome.  This will be our focused event among other planned activities.  Joseph James and his West African Council will be co-sponsoring the event as we build bridges between African-American Youth and Sierra Leonean Youth for the future... 

 

Also, this year we would have wrapped up the mobile Bunce Island exhibit by November that will tour both the US and Salone (2 copies of course) and we will use that as an educational tool for African-Americans as we commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in UK (saving next year for America's).  We will be providing more information on that as quickly as possible and hopefully simultaneously launching our website.  Get involved and make it a planned family trip this year!

 

Regards,

 

Amadu Massally

Salone Gullah

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Amadu Massally < amadu.massally@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 15, 2006 8:20 AM
Subject: Public History - Salone and America!
To: SALONEDiscussion@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Youth for Sierra Leone Improvement < ysli@youthforsierraleone.com >, Sierra Leone Foundation <sierraleonefound@btconnect.com>, Sierra Leone Network < SierraLeoneNetwork@yahoogroups.com>, Young Leaders-Sierra Leone < youngleaders_sl@yahoo.com>, Abu-Hassan <askia@rocketmail.com >, Jonelle Williams < kepswilliams@msn.com>, nelsonekwep <nelsonekwep@yahoo.com>, Akindele Decker < akindeledecker@gmail.com>, Miriam Conteh-Morgan <conteh-morgan.2@osu.edu>, DEMARIE CONTEH-MORGAN < conteh-morgan.4@osu.edu >, julashkj@yahoo.com

 

Greetings:

On July 3, 2006 Moh'm Jallloh wrote this excerpt from one of his many intelligent postings:

"In doing so, the IMF and the World Bank continued the 500-year tradition of Western impoverishment of Africa that started with the greatest theft in the history of mankind --  the Western abduction of tens of millions of young Africans during the Atlantic slave trade. It was the transformation of those Africans into slaves, and their forced labor, without pay, on Western plantations, which largely explains the transformation of America and Western Europe from a collection of  poor countries into rich empires."

 

Since I am an aspiring public historian (willing to give up my accounting career) and wanting to do this for the rest of my life, I would like to take this opportunity to talk a bit about the slave trade and particularly how Sierra Leonean slaves impacted the Great United States.  So I will provide some highlights below to ponder:

• Sierra Leoneans where sold as slaves here with a premium in the 1700s because of the rice-cultivating know-how.  They were the first to introduce complex irrigation systems in South Carolina and Georgia (feel proud).
• Descendants of these slaves have transformed into the Gullahs (or Geechees), a unique group of African-Americans that live off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia largely (but also off coastal southern North Carolina and northern Florida) who have been able to preserve much of their African culture and heritage.
• The rice industry was the first successful industry in the country and South Carolina because of its rice-growing prowess was the wealthiest of all states.
• Richard Oswald managed Bunce Island from England and sold Sierra Leonean slaves to merchants through his agent Henry Laurens for a 10% commission.  The point is they both made lots of money, became internationally renowned and both represented their respective countries to negotiate United States independence under the Treaty of Paris.  United States independence was, thus, negotiated, at least in part, between a British slave trader with operations in Sierra Leone and his agent for rice-growing slaves in South Carolina.
• The Language You Cry In documents the recording by Dr. Lorenzo Turner (a linguist) of a Mende burial song which Georgia slave descendant Amelia Dawley sang without even knowing its meaning.  That song was traced to Senehun Ngola a small village in Sierra Leone by Joseph Opala, Anthroplogist, Cynthia Schmidt, an ethnomusicologist, and a Sierra Leonean linguis Tazieff Koroma.  The Moran family, including Wilson Moran (bcc'd here) , whos is grandson of Amelia Dawley, was able to visit Sierra Leone and just recently built a school there.  The song is the largest text (5 lines) of Africanism language found among the Gullahs to date.
• Priscilla's Homecoming is another feature film in the making that introduces Thomalind Martin Polite (bcc'd here) who in her thirty-first year here on earth discovered that there is an unbroken chain of events that links her to the 7th generation and 5th grandparent who was a 10-year old girl sold into slavery in 1756, named Priscilla.  There is no other such story like this in the world where a descendant of a slave can unequivocally claim there African ancestry.  But prove me wrong...
• Ever heard of the Black Seminoles?  People of Sierra Leonean descent who waged a six-year war against the US government as they battled for the then un-inhabited Florida.
• Need I say more?

The point is Sierra Leoneans have contributed to this country's success from the early days of its existence.  In fact it was the successful rice industry that set the foundation that catapulted this Great USA into becoming what it is today (at least in terms of economics).  Now Ghana, Senegal, and The Gambia for example, reap billions of dollars in revenues from Heritage Tourism and Sierra Leoneans whose story put the others to shame gets $0.00 from such today.  Ever wonder why?  But can we change that?

 

CAVEAT:  While my twist here has been geared towards Sierra Leone for obvious reasons, there were other participants to include Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Liberia...  But in spite of the others, our Sierra Leonean story and connection is the strongest.  Now that you know somewhat; teach your children about this stuff!  Or let me know if you need more information.

 

The truth will and should reveal itself!
Amadu Massally

--
"There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not."

~ Robert F. Kennedy

---

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in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find your fit.

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  New Members

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Gentlemen (Dr. Kamara and Allie):  This is one topic you do not want to get me started on... 

 

Allie first of all, I hope you find time to be productive like you were last night more often (lol).  Because now look at what you have stumbled into -- your S/Leonean culture in the US that has been here for 250 years (do you wonder why these topics were never taught in our schools growing up?).  And not only that, you have now finally dragged Dr. Sheku Kamara out of peeperdom... life will never be the same!  It is not by coincidence that it is the US-Salone connection that would trigger it and on Easter Sunday for that matter.

 

Dr. Kamara there were no lines of demarcation back then to the specificity you mentioned here.  That area was either called the Rice Coast or the Windward Coast and includes 6 countries, until later on.  So yes there was a direct route except that the towns and cities you have mentioned came after the fact but we can see why what you think makes sense.  In addition to unifying much of Sierra Leone and strengthening the Mano River Union, the Gullah connection can also bring a lot of healing for African-Americans and will change their lives forever (those who participate at least).  Every Sierra Leonean-African-American (and this includes African-Americans born from S/Leonean parentage like our kids that were born here) should go on a heritage tour and upon return their lives will be changed positively, forever.  We can bring back pride and self-esteem to the African-American communities by simply taking them (all of them) to Africa (SL) and show them some of their identity that was stripped during slavery.  We believe that simple step will make a HUGE difference here in America and obviously in SL.  So as you can see there is a whole lot that can come out of this deal...  And the Gullahs do not want to wait much longer.  They have been "waiting for this for a long, long time..." quoting Emory Campbell, Director Emeritus - Penn Center!

 

But I have one question for you Doc...  What do you see in it that shows a great potential for unifying much of SL as well as strengthening the Mano River Union?  I would be very much interested in understanding your thoughts along those lines, and perhaps we can incorporate another twist to this ever evolving topic. 

 

See the slave castle at Bunce or Bance (original name) Island: http://www.courant.com/media/acrobat/2005-04/16889541.pdf

 

Welcome and best regards,

 

Amadu Massally

 

On 4/8/07, S. G. Kamara <Shekgk@comcast.net> wrote:

Amadu and Allie:

 

Thank you for the posting.  I also took time to read the material posted by Joe Opala in detail.  It is not only very informative, but eye-brow raising as well.  The wide areal and linguistic backgrounds make one wonder whether in fact the name Gullah is not a misnomer.  The Mende, Vai, and Gola words clearly predominate, but other personal and clan names establish the connection so deeply to all areas covered by Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia today, although mostly Sierra Leone.  For instance, I know of the "Kalawas" originating only from the Biriwa Chiefdom in Bombali District, and the Marrahs only from Koinadugu.  For me (a non-historian) I am also fascinated by what I surmise to be a very valid suggestion of how the Bance Island Fort must have carved out its own catchment area independent of the Freetown slave fort.  It appears that there might have been a direct route from eastern (now) Guinea and northwestern (now) Liberia through Kailahun, Kenema, Bo, and Moyamba areas on to Bunce; and perhaps another southeastwards to Liberia.  This says a lot, and perhaps suggests another connection with the famous tri-national periodic market at Koindu, which has been of great, mutual economic benefit to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.  If anyone has information on this, I would appreciate your sharing.

 

Another powerful merit of the Gullah Connection I can see is that in it lies a great potential for unifying much of Sierra Leone as well as strengthening the Mano River Union.

 

Best regards,

 

Sheikh Gibril   

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Allie Kamara

To: SALONEDiscussion@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2007 3:52 AM

Subject: Re: [SALONEDiscussion] Fwd: Public History - Salone and America!

 

Amadu, it's about 3:50 am Sunday morning, EST, and what a productive night it has been. If my wife had not denied me what was promised, I could not have stayed up this long to learn so much about the Gullahs, a people I have heard so much of but never did I found the time to do enough research about.

Now, all of a sudden, I am kind of interested and I am looking forward to providing me with more information pertaining to your future event. I am so convinced my 13 and 15 year-old girls will not want to miss this opportunity of a life time.

The following is an excerpt from the many sources of information I Goggled throughout this productive night. Man, I am now going to bed and will make sure I tell my wife later on that nothing did I miss.

----------------------------------------------------------

 

The Gullahs' African personal names and African vocabulary words include many items that are familiar in Sierra Leone today. The Gullah have drawn their African nicknames from various sources, including African first, or given, names; clan names; and the African tribal names of their ancestors. They use the masculine names Bala, Sorie, Salifu, Jah, and Lomboi; and the feminine names Mariama, Fatu, Hawa, and Jilo. The Gullah also use as nicknames the clan names Bangura, Kalawa, Sesay, Sankoh, Marah, Koroma, and Bah; and the Sierra Leonean tribal names Limba, Loko, Yalunka, Susu, Kissi, and Kono. Gullah loanwords from Sierra Leonean languages, used in everyday speech, include: joso, "witchcraft" (Mende njoso, forest spirit); gafa, "evil spirit" (Mende ngafa, masked "devil"); wanga, "charm" (Temne an-wanka, fetish or "swear"); bento, "coffin" (Temne an-bento, bier); defu, "rice flour" (Vai defu, rice flour); do, "child" (Mende ndo, child); and kome, "to gather" (Mende Kome, a meeting).

 

http://www.yale.edu/glc/gullah/06.htm

Amadu Massally <amadu.massally @gmail.com> wrote:

Greetings: 

Almost a year ago, as illustrated below (for your convenience), is one of my many public writings on these forums re: the Sierra Leone-Gullah Connection.  In the posting mentioned the intent was more educational and it is still relevant today as it summarizes the clear evidential matter that connects us to the US.  After the formation of the Sierra Leone-Gullah Heritage Association in April 2006, we decided to lead Sierra Leoneans as a group to St. Helena in a historic move (because never had Sierra Leoneans gone down there to visit with a purpose, let alone host an event in Gullah country).  By the time we were done we were able to bring back the key to the city of Beaufort, SC given to us by Mayor Bill Rausch, thereby granting us the 'green light' to go back any time. 

 

This year we will be doing the same and we (SLGHA) have agreed in principle to work with COSLO - an organization of children born in the US of Sierra Leonean parentage (which includes my sons and your children too).  This is a critical group of Sierra Leoneans that with the absent of inter-generational cooperation, particularly from a cultural perspective, will be lost to American culture forever.  So it is important that all S/Leoneans with children born and raised in the US support what COSLO (and Adelaide Wilson) is trying to do here, living the legacy of her late brother.  We encourage other organizations who would like to participate to contact us as soon as possible as we begin our planning this month.

 

We believe they (COSLO) are taking the right step by linking up with the Gullah efforts (and African-Americans at large) on one side and Siera Leoneans on the other.  And they are also doing the smart thing by working with Sierra Leoneans who have done this in the past and with results to show for it.  So save the date:  On the 2nd weekend in November (9, 10 and 11, 2007) we will be going down to Gullah country again and this time it will be BIGGER and BETTER.  Last year we hosted a Transatlantic Red (Jollof) Rice Luncheon where some notable Sierra Leoneans, Charlie Haffner, our own Moh'm Jalloh and Akinedle Decker, and Dr. Cyrus Macfoy contributed speeches and performances with some of the most significant of Gullah leaders present.  This year we are speculating a Sierra Leone-Gullah youth-led Conference focusing on how we can possibly host exchange programs for S/Leonean and Gullah (African-American) youth wherein the former and latter will trade places for a period of time.  Adult organizations are also welcome.  This will be our focused event among other planned activities.  Joseph James and his West African Council will be co-sponsoring the event as we build bridges between African-American Youth and Sierra Leonean Youth for the future... 

 

Also, this year we would have wrapped up the mobile Bunce Island exhibit by November that will tour both the US and Salone (2 copies of course) and we will use that as an educational tool for African-Americans as we commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in UK (saving next year for America's).  We will be providing more information on that as quickly as possible and hopefully simultaneously launching our website.  Get involved and make it a planned family trip this year!

 

Regards,

 

Amadu Massally

Salone Gullah

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Amadu Massally < amadu.massally@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 15, 2006 8:20 AM
Subject: Public History - Salone and America!
To: SALONEDiscussion@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Youth for Sierra Leone Improvement < ysli@youthforsierraleone.com >, Sierra Leone Foundation <sierraleonefound@btconnect.com>, Sierra Leone Network < SierraLeoneNetwork@yahoogroups.com>, Young Leaders-Sierra Leone < youngleaders_sl@yahoo.com>, Abu-Hassan <askia@rocketmail.com >, Jonelle Williams < kepswilliams@msn.com>, nelsonekwep <nelsonekwep@yahoo.com>, Akindele Decker < akindeledecker@gmail.com>, Miriam Conteh-Morgan <conteh-morgan.2@osu.edu>, DEMARIE CONTEH-MORGAN < conteh-morgan.4@osu.edu >, julashkj@yahoo.com

 

Greetings:

On July 3, 2006 Moh'm Jallloh wrote this excerpt from one of his many intelligent postings:

"In doing so, the IMF and the World Bank continued the 500-year tradition of Western impoverishment of Africa that started with the greatest theft in the history of mankind --  the Western abduction of tens of millions of young Africans during the Atlantic slave trade. It was the transformation of those Africans into slaves, and their forced labor, without pay, on Western plantations, which largely explains the transformation of America and Western Europe from a collection of  poor countries into rich empires."

 

Since I am an aspiring public historian (willing to give up my accounting career) and wanting to do this for the rest of my life, I would like to take this opportunity to talk a bit about the slave trade and particularly how Sierra Leonean slaves impacted the Great United States.  So I will provide some highlights below to ponder:

• Sierra Leoneans where sold as slaves here with a premium in the 1700s because of the rice-cultivating know-how.  They were the first to introduce complex irrigation systems in South Carolina and Georgia (feel proud).
• Descendants of these slaves have transformed into the Gullahs (or Geechees), a unique group of African-Americans that live off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia largely (but also off coastal southern North Carolina and northern Florida) who have been able to preserve much of their African culture and heritage.
• The rice industry was the first successful industry in the country and South Carolina because of its rice-growing prowess was the wealthiest of all states.
• Richard Oswald managed Bunce Island from England and sold Sierra Leonean slaves to merchants through his agent Henry Laurens for a 10% commission.  The point is they both made lots of money, became internationally renowned and both represented their respective countries to negotiate United States independence under the Treaty of Paris.  United States independence was, thus, negotiated, at least in part, between a British slave trader with operations in Sierra Leone and his agent for rice-growing slaves in South Carolina.
• The Language You Cry In documents the recording by Dr. Lorenzo Turner (a linguist) of a Mende burial song which Georgia slave descendant Amelia Dawley sang without even knowing its meaning.  That song was traced to Senehun Ngola a small village in Sierra Leone by Joseph Opala, Anthroplogist, Cynthia Schmidt, an ethnomusicologist, and a Sierra Leonean linguis Tazieff Koroma.  The Moran family, including Wilson Moran (bcc'd here) , whos is grandson of Amelia Dawley, was able to visit Sierra Leone and just recently built a school there.  The song is the largest text (5 lines) of Africanism language found among the Gullahs to date.
• Priscilla's Homecoming is another feature film in the making that introduces Thomalind Martin Polite (bcc'd here) who in her thirty-first year here on earth discovered that there is an unbroken chain of events that links her to the 7th generation and 5th grandparent who was a 10-year old girl sold into slavery in 1756, named Priscilla.  There is no other such story like this in the world where a descendant of a slave can unequivocally claim there African ancestry.  But prove me wrong...
• Ever heard of the Black Seminoles?  People of Sierra Leonean descent who waged a six-year war against the US government as they battled for the then un-inhabited Florida.
• Need I say more?

The point is Sierra Leoneans have contributed to this country's success from the early days of its existence.  In fact it was the successful rice industry that set the foundation that catapulted this Great USA into becoming what it is today (at least in terms of economics).  Now Ghana, Senegal, and The Gambia for example, reap billions of dollars in revenues from Heritage Tourism and Sierra Leoneans whose story put the others to shame gets $0.00 from such today.  Ever wonder why?  But can we change that?

 

CAVEAT:  While my twist here has been geared towards Sierra Leone for obvious reasons, there were other participants to include Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Liberia...  But in spite of the others, our Sierra Leonean story and connection is the strongest.  Now that you know somewhat; teach your children about this stuff!  Or let me know if you need more information.

 

The truth will and should reveal itself!
Amadu Massally

--
"There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not."

~ Robert F. Kennedy

---

Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels
in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find your fit.

--
"There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not."

~ Robert F. Kennedy

•  6
  New Members

• Sierra leone
• Freetown sierra leone
• Sierra leone calling card
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Gentlemen (Dr. Kamara and Allie):  This is one topic you do not want to get me started on... 

 

Allie first of all, I hope you find time to be productive like you were last night more often (lol).  Because now look at what you have stumbled into -- your S/Leonean culture in the US that has been here for 250 years (do you wonder why these topics were never taught in our schools growing up?).  And not only that, you have now finally dragged Dr. Sheku Kamara out of peeperdom... life will never be the same!  It is not by coincidence that it is the US-Salone connection that would trigger it and on Easter Sunday for that matter.

 

Dr. Kamara there were no lines of demarcation back then to the specificity you mentioned here.  That area was either called the Rice Coast or the Windward Coast and includes 6 countries, until later on.  So yes there was a direct route except that the towns and cities you have mentioned came after the fact but we can see why what you think makes sense.  In addition to unifying much of Sierra Leone and strengthening the Mano River Union, the Gullah connection can also bring a lot of healing for African-Americans and will change their lives forever (those who participate at least).  Every Sierra Leonean-African-American (and this includes African-Americans born from S/Leonean parentage like our kids that were born here) should go on a heritage tour and upon return their lives will be changed positively, forever.  We can bring back pride and self-esteem to the African-American communities by simply taking them (all of them) to Africa (SL) and show them some of their identity that was stripped during slavery.  We believe that simple step will make a HUGE difference here in America and obviously in SL.  So as you can see there is a whole lot that can come out of this deal...  And the Gullahs do not want to wait much longer.  They have been "waiting for this for a long, long time..." quoting Emory Campbell, Director Emeritus - Penn Center!

 

But I have one question for you Doc...  What do you see in it that shows a great potential for unifying much of SL as well as strengthening the Mano River Union?  I would be very much interested in understanding your thoughts along those lines, and perhaps we can incorporate another twist to this ever evolving topic. 

 

See the slave castle at Bunce or Bance (original name) Island: http://www.courant.com/media/acrobat/2005-04/16889541.pdf

 

Welcome and best regards,

 

Amadu Massally

 

On 4/8/07, S. G. Kamara <Shekgk@comcast.net> wrote:

Amadu and Allie:

 

Thank you for the posting.  I also took time to read the material posted by Joe Opala in detail.  It is not only very informative, but eye-brow raising as well.  The wide areal and linguistic backgrounds make one wonder whether in fact the name Gullah is not a misnomer.  The Mende, Vai, and Gola words clearly predominate, but other personal and clan names establish the connection so deeply to all areas covered by Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia today, although mostly Sierra Leone.  For instance, I know of the "Kalawas" originating only from the Biriwa Chiefdom in Bombali District, and the Marrahs only from Koinadugu.  For me (a non-historian) I am also fascinated by what I surmise to be a very valid suggestion of how the Bance Island Fort must have carved out its own catchment area independent of the Freetown slave fort.  It appears that there might have been a direct route from eastern (now) Guinea and northwestern (now) Liberia through Kailahun, Kenema, Bo, and Moyamba areas on to Bunce; and perhaps another southeastwards to Liberia.  This says a lot, and perhaps suggests another connection with the famous tri-national periodic market at Koindu, which has been of great, mutual economic benefit to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.  If anyone has information on this, I would appreciate your sharing.

 

Another powerful merit of the Gullah Connection I can see is that in it lies a great potential for unifying much of Sierra Leone as well as strengthening the Mano River Union.

 

Best regards,

 

Sheikh Gibril   

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Allie Kamara

To: SALONEDiscussion@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2007 3:52 AM

Subject: Re: [SALONEDiscussion] Fwd: Public History - Salone and America!

 

Amadu, it's about 3:50 am Sunday morning, EST, and what a productive night it has been. If my wife had not denied me what was promised, I could not have stayed up this long to learn so much about the Gullahs, a people I have heard so much of but never did I found the time to do enough research about.

Now, all of a sudden, I am kind of interested and I am looking forward to providing me with more information pertaining to your future event. I am so convinced my 13 and 15 year-old girls will not want to miss this opportunity of a life time.

The following is an excerpt from the many sources of information I Goggled throughout this productive night. Man, I am now going to bed and will make sure I tell my wife later on that nothing did I miss.

----------------------------------------------------------

 

The Gullahs' African personal names and African vocabulary words include many items that are familiar in Sierra Leone today. The Gullah have drawn their African nicknames from various sources, including African first, or given, names; clan names; and the African tribal names of their ancestors. They use the masculine names Bala, Sorie, Salifu, Jah, and Lomboi; and the feminine names Mariama, Fatu, Hawa, and Jilo. The Gullah also use as nicknames the clan names Bangura, Kalawa, Sesay, Sankoh, Marah, Koroma, and Bah; and the Sierra Leonean tribal names Limba, Loko, Yalunka, Susu, Kissi, and Kono. Gullah loanwords from Sierra Leonean languages, used in everyday speech, include: joso, "witchcraft" (Mende njoso, forest spirit); gafa, "evil spirit" (Mende ngafa, masked "devil"); wanga, "charm" (Temne an-wanka, fetish or "swear"); bento, "coffin" (Temne an-bento, bier); defu, "rice flour" (Vai defu, rice flour); do, "child" (Mende ndo, child); and kome, "to gather" (Mende Kome, a meeting).

 

http://www.yale.edu/glc/gullah/06.htm

Amadu Massally <amadu.massally @gmail.com> wrote:

Greetings: 

Almost a year ago, as illustrated below (for your convenience), is one of my many public writings on these forums re: the Sierra Leone-Gullah Connection.  In the posting mentioned the intent was more educational and it is still relevant today as it summarizes the clear evidential matter that connects us to the US.  After the formation of the Sierra Leone-Gullah Heritage Association in April 2006, we decided to lead Sierra Leoneans as a group to St. Helena in a historic move (because never had Sierra Leoneans gone down there to visit with a purpose, let alone host an event in Gullah country).  By the time we were done we were able to bring back the key to the city of Beaufort, SC given to us by Mayor Bill Rausch, thereby granting us the 'green light' to go back any time. 

 

This year we will be doing the same and we (SLGHA) have agreed in principle to work with COSLO - an organization of children born in the US of Sierra Leonean parentage (which includes my sons and your children too).  This is a critical group of Sierra Leoneans that with the absent of inter-generational cooperation, particularly from a cultural perspective, will be lost to American culture forever.  So it is important that all S/Leoneans with children born and raised in the US support what COSLO (and Adelaide Wilson) is trying to do here, living the legacy of her late brother.  We encourage other organizations who would like to participate to contact us as soon as possible as we begin our planning this month.

 

We believe they (COSLO) are taking the right step by linking up with the Gullah efforts (and African-Americans at large) on one side and Siera Leoneans on the other.  And they are also doing the smart thing by working with Sierra Leoneans who have done this in the past and with results to show for it.  So save the date:  On the 2nd weekend in November (9, 10 and 11, 2007) we will be going down to Gullah country again and this time it will be BIGGER and BETTER.  Last year we hosted a Transatlantic Red (Jollof) Rice Luncheon where some notable Sierra Leoneans, Charlie Haffner, our own Moh'm Jalloh and Akinedle Decker, and Dr. Cyrus Macfoy contributed speeches and performances with some of the most significant of Gullah leaders present.  This year we are speculating a Sierra Leone-Gullah youth-led Conference focusing on how we can possibly host exchange programs for S/Leonean and Gullah (African-American) youth wherein the former and latter will trade places for a period of time.  Adult organizations are also welcome.  This will be our focused event among other planned activities.  Joseph James and his West African Council will be co-sponsoring the event as we build bridges between African-American Youth and Sierra Leonean Youth for the future... 

 

Also, this year we would have wrapped up the mobile Bunce Island exhibit by November that will tour both the US and Salone (2 copies of course) and we will use that as an educational tool for African-Americans as we commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in UK (saving next year for America's).  We will be providing more information on that as quickly as possible and hopefully simultaneously launching our website.  Get involved and make it a planned family trip this year!

 

Regards,

 

Amadu Massally

Salone Gullah

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Amadu Massally < amadu.massally@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 15, 2006 8:20 AM
Subject: Public History - Salone and America!
To: SALONEDiscussion@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Youth for Sierra Leone Improvement < ysli@youthforsierraleone.com >, Sierra Leone Foundation <sierraleonefound@btconnect.com>, Sierra Leone Network < SierraLeoneNetwork@yahoogroups.com>, Young Leaders-Sierra Leone < youngleaders_sl@yahoo.com>, Abu-Hassan <askia@rocketmail.com >, Jonelle Williams < kepswilliams@msn.com>, nelsonekwep <nelsonekwep@yahoo.com>, Akindele Decker < akindeledecker@gmail.com>, Miriam Conteh-Morgan <conteh-morgan.2@osu.edu>, DEMARIE CONTEH-MORGAN < conteh-morgan.4@osu.edu >, julashkj@yahoo.com

 

Greetings:

On July 3, 2006 Moh'm Jallloh wrote this excerpt from one of his many intelligent postings:

"In doing so, the IMF and the World Bank continued the 500-year tradition of Western impoverishment of Africa that started with the greatest theft in the history of mankind --  the Western abduction of tens of millions of young Africans during the Atlantic slave trade. It was the transformation of those Africans into slaves, and their forced labor, without pay, on Western plantations, which largely explains the transformation of America and Western Europe from a collection of  poor countries into rich empires."

 

Since I am an aspiring public historian (willing to give up my accounting career) and wanting to do this for the rest of my life, I would like to take this opportunity to talk a bit about the slave trade and particularly how Sierra Leonean slaves impacted the Great United States.  So I will provide some highlights below to ponder:

• Sierra Leoneans where sold as slaves here with a premium in the 1700s because of the rice-cultivating know-how.  They were the first to introduce complex irrigation systems in South Carolina and Georgia (feel proud).
• Descendants of these slaves have transformed into the Gullahs (or Geechees), a unique group of African-Americans that live off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia largely (but also off coastal southern North Carolina and northern Florida) who have been able to preserve much of their African culture and heritage.
• The rice industry was the first successful industry in the country and South Carolina because of its rice-growing prowess was the wealthiest of all states.
• Richard Oswald managed Bunce Island from England and sold Sierra Leonean slaves to merchants through his agent Henry Laurens for a 10% commission.  The point is they both made lots of money, became internationally renowned and both represented their respective countries to negotiate United States independence under the Treaty of Paris.  United States independence was, thus, negotiated, at least in part, between a British slave trader with operations in Sierra Leone and his agent for rice-growing slaves in South Carolina.
• The Language You Cry In documents the recording by Dr. Lorenzo Turner (a linguist) of a Mende burial song which Georgia slave descendant Amelia Dawley sang without even knowing its meaning.  That song was traced to Senehun Ngola a small village in Sierra Leone by Joseph Opala, Anthroplogist, Cynthia Schmidt, an ethnomusicologist, and a Sierra Leonean linguis Tazieff Koroma.  The Moran family, including Wilson Moran (bcc'd here) , whos is grandson of Amelia Dawley, was able to visit Sierra Leone and just recently built a school there.  The song is the largest text (5 lines) of Africanism language found among the Gullahs to date.
• Priscilla's Homecoming is another feature film in the making that introduces Thomalind Martin Polite (bcc'd here) who in her thirty-first year here on earth discovered that there is an unbroken chain of events that links her to the 7th generation and 5th grandparent who was a 10-year old girl sold into slavery in 1756, named Priscilla.  There is no other such story like this in the world where a descendant of a slave can unequivocally claim there African ancestry.  But prove me wrong...
• Ever heard of the Black Seminoles?  People of Sierra Leonean descent who waged a six-year war against the US government as they battled for the then un-inhabited Florida.
• Need I say more?

The point is Sierra Leoneans have contributed to this country's success from the early days of its existence.  In fact it was the successful rice industry that set the foundation that catapulted this Great USA into becoming what it is today (at least in terms of economics).  Now Ghana, Senegal, and The Gambia for example, reap billions of dollars in revenues from Heritage Tourism and Sierra Leoneans whose story put the others to shame gets $0.00 from such today.  Ever wonder why?  But can we change that?

 

CAVEAT:  While my twist here has been geared towards Sierra Leone for obvious reasons, there were other participants to include Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Liberia...  But in spite of the others, our Sierra Leonean story and connection is the strongest.  Now that you know somewhat; teach your children about this stuff!  Or let me know if you need more information.

 

The truth will and should reveal itself!
Amadu Massally

--
"There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not."

~ Robert F. Kennedy

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