Greetings beautiful people!

It’s been a while. I took a longer than planned hiatus but I knew I’d be back on this date. 

Today (July 19) is the second best date in July. Why? Because it’s the day my best friend and left lung was born. And so in honour of her 30th birthday, I’m dedicating this post to her.

We’re going to take a little detour from the Caribbean and head over to the beautiful Sierra Leone 

Quick facts

Freetown

Last year I gave a very brief history of Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone, and how it came about but let’s get into a little more detail. Freetown today is home to over one million people, but it has a rich and rather chaotic history. The city was founded in 1787 by the Sierra Leone Company as a haven for freed slaves from the Americas and around Africa. Around 400 Black people from London (and other cities) arrived and established Granville, named after British abolitionist Granville Sharp. The indigenous people of SL weren’t particularly happy about all these people settling in their land and destroyed the settlement. That didn’t stop the British from trying again, and 1792 they brought a bigger group of free Black people over and established Freetown. The Maroons, Americans, Brits and Africans intermarried to create the Creole population still seen in Freetown today. They were connected in their Christian views and learned Western cultures, but also their position as outsiders, with little to no knowledge of native cultures and customs.

Today, Freetown is a melting pot of tribes, religions and cultures, all joined together in their love for their country.

Krio

Krio is the official language of Sierra Leone,

After Patois, Krio is my favourite Black language. Mainly because of how similar it feels and sounds to Patois at times. This is of course because the same languages that blended together to give us Patois, did the same thing in SL to create Krio. As with Patois, I’d like to remind (or inform) you all that Krio is a bonafide language and NOT broken English or slang. Put some respect on its name!

@dusoir

It’s interesting that Krio is quite similar to Jamaican Patois. I forgot who tagged me to speak about Krio but I’ve learnt a lot 🥰 #krio #sierraleonetiktok🇸🇱 #africantiktok

♬ original sound – Soir

Mas!

I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t speak about mas in some form.

Here’s a playlist of some of the traditional characters that can be found in Sierra Leone.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this very brief look into the beautiful Sierra Leone.

Please go wish my bestie a happy birthday 💜💜

Until next time

Ri x