It’s Black History month in the US when we learn about and celebrate African American culture and heritage. One of the important things I’ve learned since returning to Sierra Leone in recent years is their close link with US history and culture.
Bringing in last year’s rice harvest in Bumpeh Chiefdom
Most people don’t know that many (maybe a majority) of African captives leaving for the then American colonies in the 1700’s came from the Guinea Coast. This is the area that now makes up the countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. They were brought to a slave fort in the Freetown harbor on Bunce Island and shipped to American plantations.
Sierra Leone is rice growing land. Sierra Leonean slaves were targeted to bring their skills in growing rice to South Carolina and Georgia plantations, among other areas. Their descendants went on to make up much of the African American population.
African Americans can now learn about their ancestry with DNA testing. Columbia University professor and HuffPost Live host Marc Lamont Hill learns of his African ancestry during his interview with African Ancestry, Inc. who performed his DNA testing. See the video link below.
Part of Hill’s ancestry is with the Mende & Temne tribes in Sierra Leone. Watch the video to hear which other well-known African Americans can claim the same. And what it means to finally know your ancestry.
Click for video: African Ancestry Helps You Trace Your Roots
Sherbro Foundation 
I was curious if you ever thought of changing the layout of your
site? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better.
Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or two images.
Maybe you could space it out better?
LikeLike
Antoinetta,
Yes, I would like to have more pix and videos. Here’s why I often don’t. Everything here is my own material, not from web searches. Traveling to rural Sierra Leone is difficult. I go to do my nonprofit organization work, not to be a journalist. It can be offensive to people you’re living among to keep pulling out the camera. (what if your guest did this to you?) And I go alone, and there’s no one to assist me. When your camera batteries run down and you’re living in a small town or village for a month with no electricity , you have to wait til someone with a generator can re-charge you.
So, please understand, my main objective is advance the mission of this nonprofit organization, not to be a stellar blogger. If you don’t like one post, please try other blog posts and other parts of the website. We have 60 posts and plenty of pictures throughout. But, sorry, no videos at this point.
If you want more pix, why not try this post: https://sherbrofoundation.org/2014/04/18/visit-a-scholarship-girls-family-village/
Arlene
LikeLike
Great post! We will be linking to this particularly great article on our
website. Keep up the great writing.
LikeLike
Thanks, Mammie. I think it’s important for our two countries to understand how deeply we’re connected. Send me your link. Arlene
LikeLike
I love it when individuals come together and share views.
Great blog, continue the good work!
LikeLike
Thanks, Joie. Now you’re the 5th commenter in a row giving Ultimate Skin Guide as your website. Who are all of you? Thanks for the comments. Arlene
LikeLike
My coder is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP.
I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s
tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on various websites for about
a year and am anxious about switching to another platform.
I have heard excellent things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import
all my wordpress content into it? Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!
LikeLike
Sorry, Kasey. You are beyond my capability.
LikeLike