BE.BOP 2016, Black Europe Body Politics Call & Response: Reflections on Maroon societies and the universality of Blackness: Jeannette Ehlers
Maroon | məˈro͞on | noun a member of any of various communities in parts of the Caribbean who were originally descended from escaped slaves. In the 18th century Jamaican Maroons fought two wars against the British settlers , both of which ended with treaties affirming the independence of the Maroons .-- The New Oxford American Dictionary What is it that you think about when you hear the word "maroon"? Is it the color? Is it as a verb - as in, 'to be marooned'? Abandoned? Or is it in the sense of creating safe spaces, amidst hostile territories in the way many captured Africans and their descendents did in Jamaica and other areas throughout the diaspora? The fact remains, and we can never emphasize it enough, that the maroon is the only true popular hero of the Caribbean...an indisputable example of systematic opposition, of total refusal. --Edouard Glissant Danish-Trinidadian artist Jea...
