GRIOTS REPUBLIC - AN URBAN BLACK TRAVEL MAG - DECEMBER 2016

language,” he explained. “Our foreparents
mostly came from Africa and some
were indigenous inhabitants:Arawaks
and Tainos. Africans came with Columbus
too but nothing remained the same
once Columbus came to this part of the
world. Most of our African foreparents
joined with the Amerindians living in the
mountains to escape the Europeans.”
But living in a secluded mountain hideaway
wasn’t all that Sterling’s ancestors
did. Under the leadership of “Grandy
Nanny” as they call her, the group battled
the British with stunning guerilla
warfare, resisting capture for almost
80 years and forming free communities
of hundreds of the formerly enslaved.
“They were good at ambush,” explained
the colonel. “They would be camouflaged
as trees and when soldiers were
close, they would slit their throat. They
would blow the abeng {traditional horn
made from a cow’s horn} to tell people
the soldiers are coming. There are
different notes that represent different
things. It’s our code. You can use it anywhere
in the hills. It’s the original cellular
phone!”
As the community welcomed me and
other visitors, a man with his locs
piled high in a black cloth, pulled out
the abeng to commemorate the occasion.
He blew short blasts that echoed
through the room and surrounding
area. Several teens in casual summer
shirts gathered around two drummers
who beat handmade goatskin drums.
They danced with intricate steps, as the
drummers chanted in Kromanti. Watching
the dancers and how they responded
to the music, it was clear that the Kromanti
traditions that the group brought
from Ghana were still alive. “We make
drums the same way our ancestors did
200-300 years ago,” said the colonel.
“We play the same rhythms, the same