“We try to teach our children the culture and remind them that they can be great. We stick to our heritage and we intend to carry on as free Maroons as long as the world exists.”
Sidney Peddie (sid-nee ped-dee), Colonel Accompong Maroons
“Cudjoe (18th century maroon freedom fighter) was taught and observed that the land the maroons occupied belonged to all of them and its amicable distribution and use must be perpetuated.”
Milton MacFarlane (milll-tun mick-far-lane), author
“Indigenous women in Jamaica live a role model lifestyle to redirect African people to a real image of compassionate family life, a unit that was totally intentionally destroyed in slavery.”
Gaama Gloria Simms (gah-mah glaw-ree-yah seems), Paramount Queen of the Maroons
“How can we preserve our culture and maintain our future? That's the first question we all need to ask ourselves.”
Marcia Douglas (mar-shah dug-lass), Colonel, Charles Town Maroons
“If you chop that branch, it’s filled with water that the Maroons would drink…This is why, when we cut a tree, we plant another one to replace it.”
Lloyd Wilks (loyd wilks), Jamaica's consul general at Toronto
“We make drums the same way our ancestors did 200-300 years ago. We play the same rhythms, the same songs that record the history of our ancestors.”
Wallace Sterling (wahl-lass stir-ling), Colonel Maroon Council
“Fight in the morning, fight in the day and fight in the night. There ain’t no giving in. In true maroon determination, doggedness and defiance, we will win.”
Nichole McIntosh (neh-kole mak-in-tosh), nurse, poet, blogger
“Africans who refused to be enslaved said, "Oh no. We insist to have the right to practice our African centered way of life as we see fit and we do not need a slave master over us.”
Nana Farika Berhane (fah-rick-ah beh-hahn), author and poet