Jamaica's Warrior Queen Nanny of the Maroons
By dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
Nanny, Queen Of The Maroons
Oh Portland! Oh Portland where my forefathers thrived,
Where rivers meet with bustling waves, they fought and they survived,
The homeland of our great Maroon warriors and fighting braves,
Your valleys were shelter for their safety, its bushes and hidden caves.
A son from your bowels spewed I traced my ancestral line,
Your culture and your destiny are all wrapped up in mine,
I want to tell your story and publish your name,
And tell of brilliant Nanny our Queen, that has brought us fame.
With warriors fought red tunicked invaders time after time at wars,
Defeating these soldiers in battle superiority by far,
Nanny Queen, Great Chieftainess you fought relentlessly,
Bringing freedom to our Maroon Nation and great liberty.
Nanny, known as Granny Nanny, Grandy Nanny, and Queen Nanny was a Maroon leader and Obeah woman in Jamaica during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Maroons were escaped slaves throughout the Americas who formed independent settlements. Nanny herself was an escaped slave who had been shipped from Western Africa. It has been widely accepted that she came from the Ashanti tribe of present-day Ghana.
Growing up, I learned about Nanny from my Jamaican elders. She is an official national hero in Jamaica and is on the island’s currency. My family also has Maroon blood from my mother’s side, so I grew up knowing all the stories of her heroics by heart.
The island of Jamaica was under Spanish rule for nearly two hundred years, from Christopher Columbus’ arrival in 1494 until 1655 when the British captured it. During their rule, the Spanish first enslaved the native Arawaks (Taino) Indians, but they quickly succumb to diseases introduced by the Spanish conquerors. The Spanish then turned to the importation of African slaves, a practice that was replicated throughout the Spanish territories in the Caribbean and the Americas.
By 1530, slave revolts broke out in Mexico, Hispaniola and Panama with many fleeing to create independent colonies. The Spanish called these free slaves "Maroons," a word derived from "Cimarron," which means "fierce" or "unruly". Ironically the name is also a description of people marooned on lands far from home with no way to return home.
The British conquered Jamaica in 1655, forcing the Spanish colonists to flee Jamaica. Many Spanish slaves took the opportunity to join the Maroons who had previously run away from the Spanish and set up home bases in the interior mountains.
Nanny and her four brothers (all of whom became Maroon leaders) were sold into slavery and later escaped from their plantations into the mountains and jungles that still make up a large proportion of Jamaica. Nanny and one of her brothers, Quao, founded a village in the Blue Mountains, on the Eastern (or Windward) side of Jamaica, which became known as Nanny Town. Nanny has been described as a practitioner of Obeah, a term used in the Caribbean to describe folk magic and religion based on West African influences.
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Queen Nanny has largely been ignored by historians who have restricted their focus to male figures in Maroon history. However, amongst the Maroons themselves she is held in the highest esteem. Biographical information on Queen Nanny is somewhat vague, with her being mentioned only four times in written historical texts and usually in somewhat derogatory terms. However, she is held up as the most important figure in Maroon history. She was the spiritual, cultural and military leader of the Windward Maroons and her importance stems from the fact that she guided the Maroons through the most intense period of their resistance against the British, between 1725 and 1740.
Nanny Town, located in the mountains away from European settlements was difficult to assault militarily and thrived. Nanny limited her attacks on plantations and European settlements and preferred instead to farm and trade peacefully with her neighbors. She did however make numerous successful raids to free slaves held on plantations and it has been widely accepted that her efforts contributed to the escape of almost 1,000 slaves over her lifetime. While Nanny lived, Nanny Town and the Windward Maroons thrived and multiplied.
The British colonial administration became embarrassed and threatened by the successes of the Maroons. Plantation owners who were losing slaves and having equipment and crops burned by Maroon raiders demanded that the colonial authorities act. Hunting parties, made up of British regular army soldiers, militiamen, and mercenaries (many from the free black community), scoured the Jamaican jungles.
Slaves imported to Jamaica from Africa came mostly from the Gold Coast, although some came from Congo and as far away as Madagascar. The dominant group among Maroon communities was from the Gold Coast (present day Ghana). In Jamaica this group was referred to as Coromantie or Koromantee. They were fierce and ferocious fighters with a preference for resistance, survival and above all freedom and refused to become slaves. Between 1655 until the 1830’s they led most of the slave rebellions in Jamaica.
But Maroon settlements were sited high up in the mountains with only a narrow path leading to their town. The British soldiers, by contrast, could clearly be seen as they approach as they advanced in single file, allowing them to be picked off one by one. This method was particularly successful with large numbers of British soldiers being killed by a comparatively small number of Maroons.
A famous legend about Queen Nanny is that during 1737 at the height of the Maroon resistance against the British, Nanny and her people were near starvation and she was on the brink of surrender, when she heard voices from her ancestors telling her not to give up. When she awoke she found pumpkins seeds in her pocket which she planted on the hillside. Within a week the seeds grew into large plants laden with pumpkins that provided much needed food for the starving community. To this day, one of the hills near Nanny Town is known as ‘Pumpkin Hill’.
The most famous legend in Jamaica about Nanny is her catching bullets. There are two versions of the story of Nanny catching bullets. The first is that Queen Nanny was able to catch bullets with her hands, which was a highly developed art form in some parts of Africa. The other story is that Nanny was able to catch bullets with her buttocks and fart them out again. Renowned historian Edward Braithwaite suggests that the original story took a vulgar twist on account of British colonialists who were known to detest Nanny and were being deliberately offensive about her when they relayed this tale. As a child I was told a third version by Maroons, they say she picked up the bullets after they fired into her hut, and spit them out, which scared the superstitious soldiers away.
The last legend about Queen Nanny is that she placed a large cauldron on the corner of a narrow mountain path near the edge. The pot was said to be boiling even though there was no fire beneath it. British soldiers approaching would curiously look inside, fall in and die. Some were said to collapse and fall over the hill. There have been suggestions that the pot contained special herbs with anaesthetic properties, as Nanny was said to be an herbalist. Contemporary historians maintain that the pot was in fact a circular basin formed by the hollowed out rocks of the Nanny River, joined by the waters of the Stony River. The continuously flowing river kept the water constantly frothy, giving it the appearance of a boiling pot.
Spiritual life was of the utmost importance to the Maroons which was incorporated into every aspect of life, from child rearing to military strategies. Almost every slave rebellion involved African spiritual practices. Leaders, such as Queen Nanny usually practiced Obeah and were able to instill confidence in their followers. Spiritual practices such as Obeah (and voodoo in Haiti) evolved from Africa, and during slavery times were of great significance to the black population. However, under colonial rule as Western culture was imposed on the Caribbean, these African practices became ‘outlawed’ and took on negative connotations.
Among Maroon culture, their ancestors are revered and their importance to everyday life is recognized. The past is a source of pride which is both taught and shared. Amongst modern day Maroons, the history of their resistance against slavery is an extreme form of pride that forms a large part of Maroon identity. The story of the Maroons endurance and ability to hold off the British troops for almost eighty years is one that has never been repeated in history. What saw the Maroons through to freedom were their unfailing courage and determination. Their resistance to slavery drew on the strength of their memory of Africa and its culture. Their African culture and identity instilled in them great confidence and self esteem. So much so, that this diluted the stigma of inferiority imposed by the plantocracy. Therefore, the resistance against slavery by the Maroons was a defense of their culture and identity, their spiritual and political values and preservation of African civilization. This is why Maroon ancestors are an integral part of their day to day lives. At each annual Maroon celebration of the 1739 Peace Treaties there is a ‘private’ element of the festivities at which only Maroons may attend, where the ancestors are said to visit, including Queen Nanny who is honored.
On the plantations women did not escape the brutality of slavery. Marriage and partnerships among slaves were prohibited. For those that managed to form unions in secret, they were forced to endure the removal of their offspring who were separated from their mothers soon after birth and sold into slavery. Many women opted for abortions rather than see their babies endure the same fate (slavery) that had befallen them. Furthermore, women on the plantations were physically exploited by their slave masters by rape and other sexual practices that were often quite sadistic. They too endured hard physical labor within the household doing domestic work and rearing the children of their slave masters. Some occasionally worked on the plantation itself.
By contrast, the Maroon women raised crops and were responsible for most of the agricultural output within their communities. The men hunted wild hogs and raided the plantations for food and supplies and to free slaves. Often, the plantations were ‘raided’ to bring back women into the Maroon communities, without which they would be unable to increase their numbers and ensure the survival of the Maroons as a race. There are legends of great women Maroon warriors who raided the plantations and freed slaves, wielding huge knives that they used to cut off the heads of the British. The strength of women in Maroon communities stemmed from their position within traditional Ashanti or Akan culture. The Ashanti culture was based on a tradition of warrior nations and a history of proud and respected women. Many Ashanti elements were retained in Maroon language and culture.
Queen Nanny is credited with being the military leader of the Windward Maroons who employed clever strategies which led to their repeated success in battles with the British. She was a master of guerilla warfare and trained Maroon troops in the art of camouflage. Oral history recounts that Nanny herself would cover her soldiers with branches and leaves, instructing them to stand as still as possible so that they would resemble trees. As the British soldiers approached completely unaware that they were surrounded, the Maroons would swiftly pick them off.
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Queen Nanny is credited with being the single figure who united the Maroons across Jamaica and played a major role the preservation of African culture and knowledge. She was hated by the British. Early historians wrote in derogatory terms about the Maroons, trying to present them as savages no better than animals. Queen Nanny was often portrayed as being bloodthirsty. Thickness’ journal published in 1788 described an encounter with a woman presumed to have been Nanny herself, wearing bracelets and anklets made from the teeth of British soldiers. “The old hag had a girdle around her waist with nine or ten different knives hanging in sheaths to it, many of which I have no doubt have been plunged in human flesh and blood”.
Captain William Cuffee, known as Captain Sambo, is credited as having killed Nanny in 1733 during one of the many and bloody engagements of the war. The war itself lasted from 1720 until a truce was declared in 1739; Cudjoe, one of Nanny’s brothers and a leader during the Maroon War, was the driving force behind the treaty. After Nanny’s death, many of the Windward Maroons moved across the island to the more sparsely inhabited Western (or Leeward) side of Jamaica. Nanny Town was eventually captured by the British and destroyed in 1734. Moore Town is now the primary town of the Windward Maroons.
Much of her history was compiled by Historian Edward Braithwaite, who was instrumental in seeing Queen Nanny made a National Hero of Jamaica in 1976. This brought about a national recognition of the contribution made by the Maroons in securing liberty from slavery from the British. Nanny’s life and accomplishments have been recognized by the Government of Jamaica and she has been honored as a National Hero and awarded the title of “Right Excellent”. Currently, there are only seven such National Heroes and Nanny is conspicuous as the only woman. A modern portrait of Nanny, based on her description, appears on the Jamaican $500 note, the largest banknote in circulation in Jamaica.
The Windward Maroons with Queen Nanny as their leader are a role model for resistance, rebellion and survival. Queen Nanny herself is a symbolic figure for all those who suffer from oppression.
A History of Queen Nanny, the Mother of Us All, by Karla Gottlieb
‘Black Rebels, African Caribbean Freedom Fighters in Jamaica’ by Werner Zips
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News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
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“This behavior of targeting Black students is unacceptable and will not be ignored nor tolerated. Had the students been White, I doubt this detention and search would have occurred.” The Grio: HBCU president outraged by traffic stop, search of students
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The president of a historically Black university accused South Carolina law enforcement officers of racially profiling a busload of students from her school by stopping the vehicle for a minor traffic violation and using drug-sniffing dogs to search their luggage.
Noting that nothing illegal was found in the search, Shaw University President Paulette Dillard said she was outraged by the treatment, which also included questioning that she likened to an interrogation.
The traffic stop was done by deputies and law enforcement officers in Spartanburg County on Oct. 5 as 18 students from her Raleigh, North Carolina, school were traveling to a conference in Atlanta, she said. Dillard wrote in a statement Monday that she has asked the school’s general counsel to consider options for legal recourse.
“In a word, I am ‘outraged,’” Dillard wrote. “This behavior of targeting Black students is unacceptable and will not be ignored nor tolerated. Had the students been White, I doubt this detention and search would have occurred.”
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The 7th Annual BE Smart Hackathon, hosted by BLACK ENTERPRISE and American Airlines, has come to a close, showcasing a multitude of prize-winning teams representing the “best of the best” in tech among HBCUs across the country.
The three-member team from Atlanta-based
Morehouse College scored first place in the hotly-contested final round. Its innovative luggage tag app giving customers ease and affordability when checking baggage, impressed the BE Smart panel of judges composed of top executives from American and DXC Technology, among other tech companies.
The second and third-place winners came from Alabama A&M — Binary Beast for its rewards app and Team Tai for its innovative enhancement of AA’s Advantage program.
Held at AA’s spectacular Dallas-based campus, the event, produced under the theme: “Homecoming 2022: All Code, No Switch,” offered a highly-competitive field of 23 teams from 19 HBCUs. There were 111 students—the largest number to compete in the hack.
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The project, a collaborative effort involving six institutions, aims to digitize and make publicly available the legal records documenting enslaved persons in Mississippi and beyond. The Grio: The Lantern Project is helping to bring enslaved persons’ records to light
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African American families seeking to trace their ancestry back to the 1800s can now do so, thanks to a new and improved collaborative effort from a few libraries and Mississippi universities working together to bridge the information gap.
According to The Mississippi Clarion Ledger, the Lantern Project aims to digitize and make publicly available the legal records that document enslaved persons in Mississippi and beyond. The objective is to simplify access and gather all the documents in one place for families and historians to research without having to travel the distance to every courthouse for information.
The six institutions taking part are the Historic Natchez Foundation, University of Mississippi, Delta State, Mississippi State University, Columbus-Lowndes Public Library, and Montgomery County (Alabama) Archives.
Jennifer McGillan, the coordinator of manuscripts at the Mississippi State library, is coordinating the initiative. She said part of the effort involved harnessing the strength of a large institution to cover all the bases.
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Thousands of favela residents and activists have hit the streets of Rio to voice their support for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the leftist frontrunner to become Brazil’s next president.
Addressing a sea of supporters in one of Rio’s largest favelas, the Complexo do Alemão, Lula vowed to give his far-right rival Jair Bolsonaro “a thrashing” when South America’s biggest democracy holds the second round of its presidential election at the end of October.
“We’re going to win these elections,” proclaimed the 76-year-old ex-president who fell just short of an outright victory over Bolsonaro in the first round 10 days ago.
Lula, who rose from rural poverty to become Brazil’s first working-class president in 2002, said he was determined to return to power “to prove to the elites who have governed since 1500 that once again a metalworker will fix this country”.
“The only reason I’m running for president once again is my belief that we can change things,” Lula told activists during an assembly at the headquarters of Voz das Comunidades, the favela news group that organised his rare visit. “I promise you that this country is going to change – and it’s going to change for the better.”
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A wealthy businessman with a reputation for being frugal, Peter Obi has emerged as a powerful force ahead of Nigeria's presidential election next February, energising voters with messages of prudence and accountability that are amplified by an army of social media users. BBC: Peter Obi: The Labour Party candidate electrifying young Nigerians
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In a country that seems to always be on the lookout for a messiah to solve its myriad problems, young social media-savvy supporters have elevated Mr Obi to sainthood and are backing his largely unknown Labour Party against two septuagenarian political heavyweights.
The way he has attracted supporters seems to border on populism - a tag he and his supporters would denounce, but some of his rhetoric might be encouraging that.
"It's time to take your country back," he often says.
"[This election] is the old against the new," he told the BBC.
His name is often trending on social media on the back of numerous conversations sparked by his supporters, instantly recognisable from their display picture of his image or the white, red and green logo of his party.
Many of them, like Dayo Ekundayo from the eastern city of Owerri, were involved in the EndSars protests that forced the disbandment of a notorious police department two years ago and also morphed into calls for better government.
Now, they are deploying the same strategies that mobilised hundreds of thousands of young Nigerians and raised millions of naira within weeks for the 60-year-old who they consider an alternative to the two parties that have dominated politics since the end of military rule in 1999.
"Which Nigerian politician has ever held office and has his integrity intact? I do not see any other logical option for young people in Nigeria," said Mr Ekundayo.
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Jamaica’s broadcasting regulator has banned music and TV broadcasts deemed to glorify or promote criminal activity, violence, drug use, scamming and weapons.
The government has said the ban is meant to cut back on material that “could give the wrong impression that criminality is an accepted feature of Jamaican culture and society”.
Some Jamaican artists criticised the measure saying it will do little to stop crime and will cut out of the conversation populations affected by heightened gun violence.
“Art imitates life, and the music is coming from what is happening in Jamaica for real,” said Stephen McGregor, a Jamaican Grammy award-winning music producer and singer. “But because it doesn’t fit the moral mould of what they would like it to look like, they try to hamper it.”
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New Orleans is well known as the hub for the most delicious Creole food in the world. However, its otherwise rich agricultural history has been paved with adversity, especially for Black citizens. The “crescent city” has many food deserts that leave its Black residents unable to regularly purchase healthy options—and the lack of access is no accident.
Companies strategically place (or don’t place) grocery stores in specific neighborhoods, based on socioeconomic and racial status. While organizations like the National Black Food and Justice Alliance work to promote Black food sovereignty in those areas, food insecurity is still the status quo.
Planting seeds of change, urban gardeners have taken the initiative to serve the communities that need them most. Reedy Brooks, urban gardener and executive director of the edible holistic landscaping firm GloryGardens, trains people in greenhouse management and plant nursery care. During an interview with Prism Reports, she explained that she’s not just interested in “food justice”; she believes true liberation comes from “food sovereignty,” meaning neglected communities create their own gardens—for themselves and by themselves.
According to the Center for Planning Excellence, the city’s lacking government infrastructure made the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic even more devastating in terms of food access. About 35 percent of low-income Black neighborhoods and neighborhoods of color in New Orleans face food insecurity.
The lack of healthy food options are even more dismal for Black people living in the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, who, according to the U.S. The Census Bureau, account for over 90 percent of residents in that area. Still haunted by empty lots, debris, toxins and other environmental stains from Hurricane Katrina, the Lower Ninth Ward has been delayed in development compared to the rest of the city for years.
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