Citizen Brooklyn

Clifton ‘Packiman’ Rowe and Roy share a laugh with their late Uncle, Lewis Rowe
Courtesy of MACPRI/Action 4 Reel Flimworks

”What these people were able to achieve was ten thousand more than Spartacus was able to achieve.” – Roy T. Anderson

A Fascinating, insular culture, the Jamaican Maroons were the first freedom fighters. African slaves from different cultures who, against all odds, bonded together and freed themselves from the tyranny of one of the ugliest periods in human history, becoming independent.

The sacred “Kindah” tree in Accompong, Jamaica.
Courtesy of MACPRI/Action 4 Reel Flimworks

”My experience in the Slave River is hard even to describe. I went to the edge of the water, dipped my feet in and closed my eyes and could hear almost hear them talking to me. That’s no lie.” – Roy T. Anderson

In this powerful documentary, Roy T. Anderson, a Maroon descendent, invites us along on the journey of his ancestors. From New Jersey to Jamaica to Ghana and back, Roy’s determination to pick up his family’s thread of Maroon history transported him back to where slavery began in Africa. He first hand traced the agonizing path his ancestors walked in their forced voyage to the new world.

Filming near the Peace Cave in Accompong
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”When they look at the Maroons’s story, my ancestors, up against the mightiest of superpowers, limited resources and what they were able to achieve is absolutely nothing short of amazing.” – Roy T. Anderson

Along the way, Roy interviews his extended family, Maroon elders, scholars and an array of intriguing people, from medicine men to colonels. He discovers the full meaning of being descended from a powerful and important line of some of the most resilient, determined and sometimes controversial humans who ever walked this planet. With his exclusive access to their community, Roy uncovers each layer of Maroon history and his own. The viewer is drawn in by the emotion and commitment this elusive group of people still feel for their ex-slave ancestors who were able to defeat the British and establish their own territory in 1739.

Maroon descendants.
Courtesy of MACPRI/Action 4 Reel Flimworks

Akwantu- The journey is an inspiring, educational look at what remains of a fascinating society, their rituals and their history. It will inspire people to trace their ancestry. Additionally, the film reminded this author, however obscene, the problem of human slavery still exists today.

You can learn here: http://www.akwantuthemovie.com/index.html

Along a busy street in Kumasi, capital of the Asante Region in Ghana
Courtesy of MACPRI/Action 4 Reel Flimworks

Roy’s maternal grandfather Alfred Rowe, twisting tobacco
Courtesy of MACPRI/Action 4 Reel Flimworks

Roy on the Gulf of Guinea; Cape Coast castle in the background
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Maroon couple from Accompong – ‘Brother’ Jack Rowe and ‘Miss Daisy’ Isolyn Rowe
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A quiet moment of reflection at Slave River in Ghana’s Central Region.
Courtesy of MACPRI/Action 4 Reel Flimworks

Queen Nanny’s final resting place – Bump Grave – in Moore Town, Jamaica
Courtesy of MACPRI/Action 4 Reel Flimworks

In the dark dungeons at Cape Coast Castle in Ghana.
Courtesy of MACPRI/Action 4 Reel Flimworks

One of the male slave dungeons at Cape Coast Castle in Ghana.
Courtesy of MACPRI/Action 4 Reel Flimworks

Roy interviews his mom in Toronto.
Courtesy of MACPRI/Action 4 Reel Flimworks

A Maroon working her garden.
Courtesy of MACPRI/Action 4 Reel Flimworks

The Abeng – national maroon symbol in Jamaica.
Courtesy of MACPRI/Action 4 Reel Flimworks