THE MERIKINS were already free men, women and children when they arrived at their new home in south Trinidad over two centuries ago.
But the original Merikins and their descendants today are among the central figures in African Emancipation Day celebrations.
Akilah Jaramogi, a descendant of the original settlers, explained the intrinsic connection between Merikins – a group of formerly enslaved people from the US – and Emancipation Day, a national holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people under the British Empire in 1834.
“Being free blacks, running away from plantations, burning down plantations, hiding in the swamps and on the shoreline – we’ve been resisting colonisers,” Jaramogi, a founding member and CEO of the Merikin Heritage Foundation told Newsday.
“And it’s a testimony to tell of the resilience, strength, and power of the Merikin people.”
The Merikin Heritage Foundation was established in 2010. Jaramogi first served as president, and is the current CEO.
The foundation has hosted several events this year, including sporting activities and field trips for children to educate them on the Merikins’ contributions to national development.
The original Merikins were represented by hundreds of their descendants and community supporters at the Emancipation Day parade in Port of Spain on August 1.
Jaramogi said the foundation put itself out on the national stage for the first time in years.
“I think this is a really special moment and event that we’re looking forward to,” she told Newsday ahead of the parade.
“It’s very, very important to celebrate Merikins around this time, because Merikins emancipated ourselves way before 1838.” (That year marked the end of apprenticeship, the years when formerly enslaved people still had to work on the estates for their former “owners.”)
“A lot of our people are emancipated around the world, but when it comes to the power, the liberty and mental freedom – I don’t think (enough) of them out there are at that level yet.
“It’s a good example to share that Merikin people have emancipated themselves way before that period when the colonisers (proclaimed) Emancipation.
Jaramogi is a descendant of the Merikins through her maternal grandparents, Arnold Elliot and Eugenia McLeod.
She estimated there are about 200,000 Merikin descendants alive today. Some of TT’s most prominent names have Merikin roots.
Some of the country’s most prominent names are also Merikins. They include Hazel Manning, formerly Kinsale, widow of former PM Patrick Manning, and calypsonian and former politician Winston “Gypsy” Peters.
Merikin names include, Kinsale, Mitchell, Gibson, Cole, Floyd, Cooper, Ayers, Hamilton, Foreman, Smith, Weston, Blackwell, Huggins, Jackson, Dickson, Bailey, Andrews, Braxton, Richardson, Fortune, Paul, Woods, Thompson, McNish, Saunders, Ransom and many others.
Today, some are concentrated in communities such as New Grant, Indian Walk, Company Villages, Hard Bargain, Fifth Company and Sixth Company
“Right now, the Merikins are all ove
