7 Jamaican Freedom Fighters Whose Stories Must Be Told on Film

Tacky Tacky was a Coromantee chief of the Akan people from Ghana. He led one of the most significant rebellions in Jamaica and the Caribbean. Tacky's position as an overseer on the Frontier plantation in the St. Mary's parish of Jamaica gave him the opportunity to draw plans for a rebellion. According to the Jamaica Gleaner, "on Easter Monday, 1760, Tacky and his warriors went to Port Maria, where they killed the shopkeeper of Fort Haldane and took gunpowder, muskets and cannon balls. They then went to the plantations killing white people, and by morning light hundreds more enslaved people had joined them. In the end, a reported 60 whites, and 300-400 enslaved people were killed." Tacky's rebellion helped spur on uprisings on estates in the other parishes including Westmoreland, St. John, St. Thomas in the East, Clarendon and St. Dorothy's. Dutty Boukman Boukman was born in Jamaica but was allegedly deported to Saint-Domingue (Haiti) after he had been caught teaching other enslaved people to read. The moniker “Dutty” was not complimentary. It summed up how slave owners viewed enslaved Black men and women who were literate. Boukman, who held positions as a commander (slave driver) and later a coach driver, was able to hold secret meetings with the enslaved Africans in Haiti. Boukham declared at a meeting that “God who has created the shining sun above ... is watching us and sees the misdeeds of the whites! The God of the whites demands crime. Our God is benevolent. Our God who is so good orders us to take vengeance!” A week later, on Aug. 24, 1791, the Haitian revolution began. Boukman has been noted for his leadership skills, courage and fearlessness during the successful revolution. Nanny Nanny, a woman from the Ashanti tribe, was a leader of the Maroons, enslaved Africans who had escaped the plantation life at the beginning of the 18th century. She was an outstanding military leader who was a thorn in the side of the British in their battles as she outsmarted, outplanned and outmaneuvered the British at every turn. Besides inspiring her people to ward off the troops, Nanny was also a type of chieftainess or wise woman of the village, who passed down legends and encouraged the continuation of customs, music and songs, that had come with the people from Africa, and which instilled in them confidence and pride. She also had responsibility for the welfare of the women and children in the community; even the king had to call upon her for advice, especially those relating to women. For more than 30 years, she freed more than 800 enslaved people and helped them settle into Maroon communities. In her lifetime and after, she was seen as a symbol of unity and strength for her people during their time of crisis, and her settlement, called Nanny Town, remained under Maroon rule. Paul Bogle Paul Bogle, it is believed, was born free about 1822. He was a Baptist deacon in Stony Gut and was generally regarded as a peaceful man who shunned violence. "In 1865, the American civil war and a severe drought had dramatically increased food costs in Jamaica, while collapsing sugar prices had cut estate wages and made work scarce," reported the Jamaica Gleaner. Poverty and injustice in the society and lack of public confidence in the central authority, urged Bogle to lead a protest march to the Morant Bay courthouse on Oct. 11, 1865. They confronted the white and brown militia protecting the St. Thomas vestry, and fighting erupted, killing 29 of them and spreading unrest to other parishes. His rebellion achieved its objectives. It paved the way for the establishment of just practices in the courts and it brought about a change in official attitude, which made possible the social and economic betterment of the people. Cudjoe Cudjoe and his brother, Accompong, led the Maroon “Freedom Fighters” in what was dubbed the First Maroon War against the English Occupation Army that had claimed Jamaica. Cudjoe possessed all the qualities of a born commander. He defeated the British in every encounter. Before planning a plantation raid, he would have his spies mingle freely with the enslaved people in the markets and on the plantations, gathering information on when to strike and where. Cudjoe's war against the white inhabitants of Jamaica had brought him great fame among the white planters and the fugitive enslaved people alike as he left burning properties and a trail of white bodies behind him. According to gutenburg.org, Cudjoe's men were "always supplied with arms and ammunition; and as his men were perfect marksmen, never wasted a shot, and never risked a battle, his forces naturally increased, while those of his opponents were decimated. His men were never captured, and never took a prisoner." Sam Sharpe “I would rather die upon yonder gallows, than live in slavery,” are the famous words of Samuel Sharpe before he was put to death. Sharpe was a Baptist deacon, a freedom fighter and the main instigator of the 1831 Christmas Rebellion, which was instrumental in bringing about the abolition of slavery in Jamaica. In 1831, the British Parliament began discussions concerning the abolition of slavery -- a move planters were against. Sharpe became aware of this and brought it to the attention of his congregation. He devised a plan of resistance in 1831, by which the enslaved people would refuse to work on Christmas Day of 1831 and afterwards, unless their grievances were addressed. The rebellion was a key moment in the fight for the abolition of slavery as just a few years later, in 1834, slavery would be abolished and a system of "apprenticeship" would be instituted. Marcus Garvey Although numerous documentaries such as Look for Me in the Whirlwind (2000) have been made, the life and work of Marcus Garvey should still be portrayed on film. Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr., Jamaica’s first national hero, was born in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica, on Aug. 17, 1887. After migrating to the United States, Garvey preached his doctrine of freedom to Black people. He founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), which touched the lives of over 8 to 11 million Black people living in North and Latin America, the West Indies and Africa. Garvey launched successful businesses, encouraged entrepreneurship and urged millions of people to buy from Black-owned businesses. He inspired other Black leaders and activists such as Louis Farrakhan, President Nnamdi Azikiwe, Elijah Muhammad, President Kwame Nkrumah, Kwame Ture, President Jomo Kenyatta, President Nelson Mandela, President Patrice Lumumba, President Julius Nyerere, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Garvey’s influence, teachings and legacy still live on today as he is recognized as the first Black man to awaken the dignity of the Black race in Jamaica, North America and Africa.

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