Haiti Cécile Fatiman (1771-1883), was a Haitian vodou priestess, a mambo. She is famous for her participation in the vodou ceremony at Bois Caïman, which is considered to be one of the starting points of the Haitian Revolution. “Cast aside the image of the God of the oppressors.” Cécile Fatiman In August 1791, Fatiman presided …
Dutty Boukman
Haiti Dutty Boukman (or Boukman Dutty; died 7 November 1791) was an early leader of the Haitian Revolution. Born in Senegambia (present-day Senegal and Gambia), he was enslaved to Jamaica. He eventually ended up in Haiti, where he became a leader of the Maroons and a vodou houngan (priest). According to some contemporary accounts, Boukman, …
Queen Mary, Queen Agnes and Queen Matilda
St Croix Mary Thomas, known as Queen Mary, (ca. 1848–1905) was one of the leaders of the 1878 “Fireburn” labor riot, or uprising, on the island of St. Croix in the Danish West Indies. Mary Thomas was from Antigua and arrived in St. Croix in the 1860s to take work on the plantations in the …
José Antonio Aponte
Cuba The Aponte conspiracy (also known as the Aponte rebellion) was a large-scale slave rebellion in Cuba that occurred in 1812. It is named after its alleged leader, José Antonio Aponte. In the year 1808, Napoleon’s invasion of Spain and the arrival of falsehoods around the theme of slavery caused a risky resolution on behalf …
Apongo
Jamaica The revolt did not end there, as other rebellions broke out all over Jamaica, many of which were rightly or wrongly attributed to Tacky’s cunning and strategy. Other slaves learned of Tacky’s revolt, which inspired unrest and disorder throughout the island. Rebels numbering about 1,200 regrouped in the unsettled mountainous forests in western Jamaica, …
Queen Akua of Kingston
Jamaica It was also discovered that Coromantee slaves in Kingston had elected a female Fante slave named Cubah (a British misnomer of the Fante day name “Akuba” or “Akua”) the rank of ‘Queen of Kingston’. Cubah (Akua) sat in state under a canopy at their meetings, wearing a robe and a crown. It is unknown …
Chief Takyi
Jamaica Tacky’s War, Tacky’s Revolt, or Tacky’s Rebellion, was a widespread slave rebellion in the British Colony of Jamaica in the 1760s. Led by Akan people (then referred to as Coromantee but originally from around Kromantsie in the Central Region of Ghana) — tribes including Ashanti, Fanti, Nzema and Akyem, — it was loosely led …
Tula Rigaud
Curaçao Tula (died 3 October 1795), also known as Tula Rigaud, was an African man enslaved on the island of Curaçao, in the Dutch West Indies, who liberated himself and led the Curaçao Slave Revolt of 1795. The revolt, which began on 17 August 1795, lasted for more than a month. He was executed on …
Samuel Sharpe
Jamaica Samuel Sharpe, or Sharp (1801 – 23 May 1832), also known as Sam Sharpe, was an enslaved Jamaican who was the leader of the widespread 1831–32 Baptist War slave rebellion (also known as the Christmas Rebellion) in Jamaica. Sharpe’s originally peaceful protest turned into Jamaica’s largest slave rebellion. The uprising lasted for 10 days …
Breff, Queen of St John
St John, Caribbean Breffu was an Akwamu leader of the 1733 slave insurrection on St. John (then known as St. Jan) in Danish West Indies. She committed suicide with 23 other rebels to evade capture as the rebellion weakened in 1734. “one of the leaders of the rebellion, Baeffu, whom none of us knew, and …