The Yoruba are on a Rock is the first book-length study of Africans who, arriving decades after the abolition of the British slave trade, radically shaped the religious and cultural landscape of Grenada. Rooted in intensive archival and ethnographic research, the book traces and unpacks the complex movements of people and ideas between various points in western Africa and the Eastern Caribbean. It argues that Orisa worship in Grenada is not, as has generally supposed, a residue of recaptive Yoruba peoples but emerged from dynamic and multi-layered exchanges within and beyond Grenada.
Shantel George will discuss the final chapter of the book which examines intriguing individual biographies of recaptive Africans to show how they constructed alternative narratives of return, and how the individuals remained close to Africa through their awareness of indentured histories and cultural traditions. These memories form a diasporic consciousness, shared with the descendants of a liberated African ancestor who was the great-grandfather of Malcolm X.
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This talk is part of Black History Month 2025, to find out about more events and see the full programme please visit www.blackhistorymonthscotland.org
