The Dark Road from Romarong

Wilfred Kanu Jr.

Description

THE DARK ROAD FROM ROMARONG DEFINITIVE EDITION WILFREDKANUJR. A story about the history of Freetown, Sierra Leone Contains English translations of the lyrics from the album Dark Horse from Romarong …a City of Kings. ǣ ʹ ͵ͷ ͵͵ǡ ͳͲͳʹ ǡ © Copyright 2010 | 2024 Reissue The Theatre of Literary & Performing Arts ® All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author. ͻͻǦͺǦͺͻ͵ͶʹǦͷͳǦͲ ISBN: Scanning this QR code connects to Freddy Will’s ϐ Ǥ The accompanying album Krio language for this book is: Dark Horse from Romarong …a City of Kings. The English translation of the lyrics is in this book. The music is also available on Spotify and every other streaming platform on the World Wide Web. ͻͻǦͺǦͺͻ͵ͶʹǦͷͳǦͲ ϐ Ǥ DEDICATION I dedicate this book to my grandfather, Alhaji Sheikh Abdul Gardrie. 3 INTRODUCTION The Dark Road from Romarong is a fictitiousnarrative that retraces the past of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. The author received the tale from his granddad, Alhaji Sheikh Abdul Gardrie, who recounted it. He included his spin on the story until Sierra Leone’s European colonization.

Sujets

• HISTORY
• Histoire
• África
• General officer
• General
• Africa

Informations

• Publié par: Badson Publishing
• Date de parution: 25 janvier 2024
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798893425710
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 6 Mo

Extrait

THE DARK ROAD FROM ROMARONG DEFINITIVE EDITION W ILFRED K ANU J R. A story about the history of Freetown, Sierra Leone Contains English translations of the lyrics from the album Dark Horse from Romarong …a City of Kings.

Published by: Badson Publishing Postfach 2 35 33, 10127 Berlin, Germany

© Copyright 2010 | 2024 Reissue The Theatre of Literary & Performing Arts ® All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

e 979-8-89342-571-0 ISBN:

Scanning this QR code connects to Freddy Will’sprofile. The accompanying album Krio language for this book is: Dark Horse from Romarong …a City of Kings.

The English translation of the lyrics is in this book. The music is also available on Spotify and every other streaming platform on the World Wide Web.

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979-8-89342-571-0

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profile.

DEDICATION I dedicate this book to my grandfather, Alhaji Sheikh Abdul Gardrie.

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INTRODUCTION The Dark Road from Romarong is a fictitious narrative that retraces the past of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. The author received the tale from his granddad, Alhaji Sheikh Abdul Gardrie, who recounted it. He included his spin on the story until Sierra Leone’s European colonization. The tale covers Romarong from the decay of the Mali Empire at the start of Songhai’s domination through the Trans -Atlantic Slave Trade. Ultimately, it concluded when the British consolidated the hinterlands. The tale also occurs in Fouta Jallon circa 7000 BC and finishes in Romarong in 1900 AD. The narrative focuses on the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade from the Sierra Leonean point of view. This narrative elucidates that Freetown was not always a hub of slavery. The Dark Road from Romarong discloses the particular influences of various ethnic groups, for example, the Fulani, who emigrated from Fouta Jallon, the Mende from western Sudan, and the Temne people, with their Niger-Congo origins. This narrative explores the forgotten people who intermarried from East Africa to the Sahel and Morrocco to the Sub-Sahara, illuminating their plight for survival and triumph and shaping them into a new congregation of ethnicities. Although a work of fiction, this book strongly echoes genuine occurrences. In addition, the English translations of Krio lyrics from Freddy Will’s Hip Hop album “Dark Horse from Romarong... a City of Kings” are also included, complementing the story.

Wilfred Kanu Jr., also knownas Freddy Will, created a set of songs in the Krio language of Sierra Leone. This tongue was constructed by formerly enslaved people who were repatriated to Freetown and altered to a dialect from English, French, German, and Portuguese before returning to Africa. This book also narrates the origins of the Krio people in general. In 2009, at the Thunder Dome Sound Studio, the album was produced by JUNO award-winning jazz pianist Eddie Bullen in Ontario, Canada. Freddy Will, the executive producer, crafted this album from Hip Hop, R&B, and jazz genres. He sought to draw the attention of a Western audience by giving the music an “Afropolitan vibe” and classic hip-hop. The album was designed in such a way that it would appeal to fans who do not comprehend Krio and aficionados of traditional Afrobeat. Additionally, it was intricately entwined with this narrative about formerly enslaved people, the repatriation, and the colonization of Sierra Leone .

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T ABLE OF C ONTENTS ROMARONG ...........................................................................................................................7 COASTAL PEOPLE ................................................................................................................8 SLAVERY ........................................................................................................................... 29 EMANCIPATION & REPATRIATION ..................................................................................... 40 COLONIALISM ................................................................................................................... 50 THE TRANSLATIONS .............................................................................................................. 67 THE LYRICS ....................................................................................................................... 68 ENDURANCE ................................................................................................................. 69 INTERNATIONAL............................................................................................................ 73 JOS CAM ....................................................................................................................... 77 ENDS MEET ................................................................................................................... 81 DARK HORSE FROM ROMARONG ................................................................................... 84 ATHENS OF WEST AFRICA .............................................................................................. 88 FLASH ........................................................................................................................... 91 SENIOR MAN ................................................................................................................. 93 COM’MOR BEYEN ME NOW ........................................................................................... 95 INTELLECTUAL THUG ..................................................................................................... 97 PROMISE ...................................................................................................................... 99 ANGEL ........................................................................................................................ 102 SAVE........................................................................................................................... 104 KING OF KINGS ............................................................................................................ 107 ABOUT THE AUTHOR .......................................................................................................... 109 WILFRED KANU JR. .......................................................................................................... 109 CAREER....................................................................................................................... 109

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ROMARONG THE STORY

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COASTAL PEOPLE

Ajourney ends beneath the lush canopy of a tropical rainforest, where the earthy soils of the surrounding regions already held a wealth of mineral resources —iron ore, gold, limonite, diamond, platinum, tantalite, bauxite, rutile, chromite, spring water, and workforce. The chieftaincies that would ignite in this rainforest came from splinters of ethnic people, burrowing into the fertile ground and claiming it as their own. Little did they know the land had been inhabited for many years. The scent of the rainforest was powerful as the sun shone through the thick foliage, creating dazzling patterns of light and shadows. Every sound was magnified, from the river’s trickle to the birds’ rustle, while the trees seemed to whisper secrets of the

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past. The atmosphere was electric as the new people prepared to stake their claim i n the rich, new land and start a new era of success. This expectation of opulence is one of the reasons they migrated to the then-unpopulated region. The lush rainforest themed with an array of captivating wildlife – from the majestic African bush elephant, the stealthy African leopard, the powerful hippopotamus, the mysterious snake eel, the graceful waterbuck, the striking red colobus, the sturdy warthog, the mischievous monkey, the vibrant iris glossy—starling, the brave African wild dog, the shocking electric catfish, the dazzling giant African swallowtail, and the resilient red mangrove that was to be repopulated by the newcomers. The diverse array of insects, birds, reptiles, amphibians, baboons, apes, butterflies, and chimpanzees in the rich savannah and mangrove swamps, combined with the majestic whales, graceful African manatees, and pesky killfish in the ocean. They painted a vibrant and intense picture of the wild, lush rainforest teamed with captivating wildlife. Today, the West African fauna endanger a customary and significant source of nutrition, revenue, and cultural beliefs in various areas. At the end of this journey, large groups of ethnic people would form a confederation of ethnic chieftaincies. Centuries later, the natives would name those dusty and, at times, muddy communities Romarong—a place of wailers. There would be voices of lamentationreverberating through the atmosphere, the haunting moans of grief after a natural disaster. Those screams signaled an agonizing announcement of loss and undoubtedly sent shivers down the spines of those who heard them.

The prehistoric communities of these ethnic people would someday develop into an eclectic blend of chieftaincies. What we now know as Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, was then in her most aboriginal gestation. However, there were native inhabitants in and around this tropical rainforest before the ethnic people arrived. After they arrived, Middle Easterners and Western Europeans would follow to exploit them and the deposits of natural and mineral resources in this region .

“A place of wailers” because of the agonized voices in the village’s ambiance when the natives and ethnic people cried out in sorrow. Those calls signaled an outpour of grief. The wailings sent startling chills through the spines of everyone who heard them . So, they called it Romarong—a place of wailers. As if an orphanage of the displaced ethnic people borne to lands, streams, rivers, and an ocean that should never dry up. The ethnic people were there to forge a new life in these surroundings .

Long before slavers flocked to its shores and bullied the unsuspecting natives into their slave ships using the power behind their muskets and cannons, Romarong had had her share of turbulences. Years before the Arabs and Western Europeans seduced the people of West Africa with manufactured goods like salt, firearms, cotton—made fabric, tobacco, and rum, an ethnic divide existed. Along the way came more ethnic people destined to turn the vibrant region into their breadbasket.

They arrived with genuine intentions to continue living. Some journey from East Africa. Others ventured through dangerous conditions in the north and sub—Sahara. When they journeyed to Romarong, they established villages along the Bankasoka

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