Few in this day and age would be unfamiliar with the tragic and often brutal history of African oppression at the hands of colonizing forces. Over a period of almost four centuries, more than four million Africans were transported to North America and the Caribbean Islands in the Atlantic slave trade. Taken from their homeland and separated from their tribes and families, they were enslaved in a so-called ‘brave’ new world.
In such an unfamiliar environment, it was only natural that dispossessed souls would cling to the vital memories of home and tradition. And elements of African culture such as religion, language, folklore and artistic traditions and history endured, despite furious attempts on the parts of their oppressors to eradicate these remnants of independence.
