30/9: Echoes of The Colonial Past: From Kormantse to Kromanti
An evening with Raoul de Jong · The Black Archives × LOATAD
There is a term which crossed the Atlantic and never was forgotten. In the places where enslaved Africans developed a new culture traces of their origins were never fully erased. In Suriname the term Kromanti still lives in the Winti tradition and among the Maroons. In jamaica and other Caribbean people it is part of the collective memory and culture as well. When you look for the source of the term, you have to cross the ocean and arrive on the coast of Ghana, at a town called Kormantse. It lies near the fort once known as Cormantine but renamed Fort Amsterdam by the Dutch. It is one of the sites from which enslaved Akan people were shipped into the trans-Atlantic slave trade, a grave crime against humanity. The enslaved people carried their memory and culture with them into the Americas. In a period when Ghana leads a movement demanding reparatory justice the descendants of those who were taken away are searching for the place their ancestors’ tradition, language and culture came from.
What is remembered, and what has been silenced? And what does it mean to carry a name, a language and a memory back to where it began?
On Wednesday 30 September, The Black Archives and LOATAD invite you to an evening where these threads meet. Author Raoul de Jong shares the story of his own search for Kormantse, a journey through family memory and his novel Jaguarman and his booklet Kromant.
Co-founder of The Black Archives Mitchell Esajas will share his journey on the search for the source of Kromanti which will be shared through a podcast which will be published in 2027.
Between Kormantse and Kromanti, we come together to remember and to imagine what healing, reparatory justice and reconnection can look like.
There is a term which crossed the Atlantic and never was forgotten. In the places where enslaved Africans developed a new culture traces of their origins were never fully erased. In Suriname the term Kromanti still lives in the Winti tradition and among the Maroons. In jamaica and other Caribbean people it is part of the collective memory and culture as well. When you look for the source of the term, you have to cross the ocean and arrive on the coast of Ghana, at a town called Kormantse. It lies near the fort once known as Cormantine but renamed Fort Amsterdam by the Dutch. It is one of the sites from which enslaved Akan people were shipped into the trans-Atlantic slave trade, a grave crime against humanity. The enslaved people carried their memory and culture with them into the Americas. In a period when Ghana leads a movement demanding reparatory justice the descendants of those who were taken away are searching for the place their ancestors’ tradition, language and culture came from.
What is remembered, and what has been silenced? And what does it mean to carry a name, a language and a memory back to where it began?
On Wednesday 30 September, The Black Archives and LOATAD invite you to an evening where these threads meet. Author Raoul de Jong shares the story of his own search for Kormantse, a journey through family memory and his novel Jaguarman and his booklet Kromant.
Co-founder of The Black Archives Mitchell Esajas will share his journey on the search for the source of Kromanti which will be shared through a podcast which will be published in 2027.
Between Kormantse and Kromanti, we come together to remember and to imagine what healing, reparatory justice and reconnection can look like.
When? Wednesday 30 September 2026
Time? 19:00 – 21:00 uur (doors: 19:00)
Where? LOATAD, Accra
Tickets? Sign up for free via eventbrite
Time? 19:00 – 21:00 uur (doors: 19:00)
Where? LOATAD, Accra
Tickets? Sign up for free via eventbrite
TBA x LOATAD
This event is part of a collaboration between The Black Archives (Amsterdam) and the Library Of Africa and The African Diaspora, LOATAD (Accra). The Black Archives is a community archive that preserves the history of Black emancipation movements and the legacy of Black writers, scholars and activists in the Netherlands. LOATAD, founded in 2017, is a decolonised library, archive and writing residency devoted to the literatures and histories of Africa and its diaspora.
Together we build bridges between the continent and the diaspora: sharing archives, stories and knowledge, and creating space for dialogue about our shared histories of slavery, colonialism and resistance and about healing, reconnection and reparatory justice. This evening, and the forthcoming podcast grew out of that shared mission. Sign up to stay tuned about the podcast!
This project is made possible by Mondriaan Fund and DutchCulture.
This event is part of a collaboration between The Black Archives (Amsterdam) and the Library Of Africa and The African Diaspora, LOATAD (Accra). The Black Archives is a community archive that preserves the history of Black emancipation movements and the legacy of Black writers, scholars and activists in the Netherlands. LOATAD, founded in 2017, is a decolonised library, archive and writing residency devoted to the literatures and histories of Africa and its diaspora.
Together we build bridges between the continent and the diaspora: sharing archives, stories and knowledge, and creating space for dialogue about our shared histories of slavery, colonialism and resistance and about healing, reconnection and reparatory justice. This evening, and the forthcoming podcast grew out of that shared mission. Sign up to stay tuned about the podcast!
This project is made possible by Mondriaan Fund and DutchCulture.