An African Prince enslaved in Newark Honored in a Historic Ceremony
BENJAMIN ALEXANDER
Three national anthems—“The Star-Spangled Banner,” “God Bless Our Homeland Ghana,” and the Black American anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing”—were sung in the opening portion of a festive and uplifting event on Saturday afternoon, May 3, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), symbolizing the coming together of those three national and cultural realms in the story that was being celebrated.
The occasion was the unveiling of a marker honoring Cudjo Banquante, or Jack Cudjo. Born around 1720 into Gold Coast Akan royalty—the Akyem Abuakwa family—Banquante was captured and sold to slave traders.
After a possible stopover in the Caribbean, he ended up in Newark to live out years of involuntary servitude for the wealthy and prominent Coe family. He served as a private in the American Revolutionary War, substituting for his master’s son Benjamin Coe V, and was later rewarded with his freedom and an acre of land.
Though over 70 by this time, he started a new life for himself in his years of freedom, building a prosperous business as a grower and importer of exotic plants.
Fitting with the occasion, author Kofi Ayim, one of the event’s organizers, has just issued a revised edition of his biography of Banquante, Jack Cudjo. Ayim is also the author of two other books: The Akan of Ghana and a biography of an Akan notable, The Legendary Kwasi Akuffo.
Sponsored by the Morristown chapter of the New Jersey DAR and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, the marker reads: “Cudjo Banquante, early Black business owner granted freedom & land for service as a substitute soldier when enslaved. Buried near here 5 March 1823.”
The NJPAC gathering was part of a week-long series of events commemorating Banquante, observing the 250th anniversary of the Revolution’s opening battle at Concord and Lexington.
Celebrants could be seen in colonial American costume as well as traditional Ghanaian attire, and reenactors representing Banquante’s unit, the 3rd New Jersey Regiment or “Jersey Blues,” were on hand.
The ceremony opened with traditional Ghanaian drumming by the Akuma Cultural Ensemble. As Banquante was descended from the Akyem group of the Akan nation of Ghana, a procession of Akan royalty in colorful traditional attire entered the room and took their seats up front.
They were followed by a procession of flags, courtesy of students from Irvington and Hillsdale High Schools belonging to the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC).
The Reverend Timothy L. Adkins-Jones, PhD, pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Newark, delivered the invocation, and then Pat Sanftner, Stacey Baffour-Danso, and Kylin Tisdale led the singing of the US, Ghanaian, and African American national anthems, respectively.
Hosting the event in Banquante’s honor were Carrie Efinger, Honorary Regent of the Morristown Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and National Vice Chair of DAR Good Citizens, and Dr. Linda Caldwell Epps, founder and CEO of 1804 Consultants, which works with educational and cultural institutions, as well as past president of the New Jersey Historical Society.
Unexpectedly, Dr. Epps found herself being feted as well: City Councilwoman Rev. Louise Scott-Rountree, alongside the expected resolution honoring Banquante, brought proclamations from both the City Council and Mayor Ras Baraka commending Dr. Epps for her decades of service in the preservation of New Jersey’s Black history and the “foundation of ethical values” that she exemplifies.
A number of welcome addresses were heard, including those from John Schreiber, President and CEO of NJPAC, and DAR State Regent Diane Waugh Oliver. Nina Hoban, Regent of the Morristown DAR chapter, conveyed greetings from the DAR’s national president, Pamela Edwards Rouse Wright, and Bobbi Bailey, State Chair of the DAR’s Historic Preservation Committee, was credited for her support of the affair.
Dr. Tim Crist, President of the Newark History Society, spoke of the importance of remembering both Newark and New Jersey’s vital part in the revolutionary struggle through the war’s entire span: at least 15 skirmishes were fought in Newark, as well as 38 in Elizabethtown, and several buildings in Newark were used as military hospitals.
On November 22, 1776, General Washington’s troops reached Newark after a disastrous retreat from Fort Lee, camping in miserable conditions.
Dr. Zachary Yamba, President Emeritus of Essex County Community College, noted that Ayim’s research on Banquante fit in with a larger initiative by Newark librarians to uncover the forgotten histories of significant Newark figures.
Dr. Yamba recalled that about two and a half years ago, a delegation of Akyem Abuakwa royalty led by their king, His Majesty Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin came to Newark and visited Essex County College, where the king spoke.
In the course of the visit, when Dr. Yamba presented the king with a copy of Ayim’s book Jack Cudjo, whereupon it was learned that Banquante’s father’s name was part of a surviving oral tradition in Ghana that remembered royalty in the dark days of capture and enslavement.
Dr. Epps addressed the gathering, mentioning that Banquante’s garden made enough of an impression that newspapers were still referring to it forty years after the entrepreneur’s decease, and that he played a part in beautifying Newark and probably made a lasting difference in what flowers can be seen here now.
She quoted from W. E. B. Du Bois—“There is in this world no such force as the force of a person determined to rise; the human soul cannot be permanently chained”—and remarked that there are still others who deserve to have their stories told, including Ona Judge, an escaped bondswoman from George Washington’s plantation.
Dr. Epps concluded with a quotation from Frederick Douglass: “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is in an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob, and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”
Author Kofi Ayim spoke at length. Ayim reported that write-ups on Banquante appeared in the local press in 1864 and 1878, and that Charles Cummings called attention to Banquante more recently in a 2004 column in the Newark Star-Ledger.
Ayim said he found it interesting that the British had chosen to set fire to Benjamin Coe’s house in November of 1775; combined with the fact that the adjacent street was renamed Washington Street, Ayim wonders whether George Washington was headquartered in the Coe house for a time.
Ayim further remarked that the Battle of Brandywine, in which Banquante fought, lasted eleven hours: approximately the length of time as a flight from JFK, New York to KIA, Accra, Ghana takes. Ayim referred as well to a 14-week, 680-mile trek in which Banquante, over 50 years old at the time, took part, leading to the decisive Battle of Yorktown.
Ayim was followed by education and reenactor Noah Lewis, portraying Black Revolutionary War soldier Edward “Ned” Hector, a teamster (one who transported gunpowder) and a bombardier (one who fired cannons) who distinguished himself in battle at both Germantown and Brandywine.
“I am the voice of the Black soldiers and the Black community that are forgotten,” he told his audience, noting that between three and five thousand Black soldiers served the Patriot cause, between seven and ten thousand fought with the Loyalists, and that between 10 and 25 percent of George Washington’s army at the end of the war were soldiers of color.
Black servicepeople besides Banquante made significant contributions, including a group of Black sailors from Marblehead, Massachusetts, who saved General Washington from capture.
Lewis (as Ned Hector) lamented that it was another 150 years before the nation’s armed services were desegregated, and observed that in the schools, there’s American history and there’s African American history, but they’re often taught as separate topics. “African American history is American history,” he insisted. “If you are an American, you share in African American history.”
Carrie Efinger, after reminding the audience that “everyone in this room is the descendant of someone,” introduced Nikita Taylor, a descendant of the event’s honoree.
Ms. Taylor expressed regret that so many other descendants of enslaved Africans have no way of knowing their ancestors’ life stories, saying, “it’s been snatched from us.” She expressed the hope that this event would encourage all her listeners to “be the best that you can be” and “do the best that you can do.”
After she spoke, Nikita Taylor was presented with a replica of the painting Heat of the Battle by John Phillip Osborne, depicting Banquante in the June 1778 Battle of Monmouth. The original is on display at the Newark Art Museum for two years.
The gathering then moved outdoors to the plaza, where the marker will permanently stand. After brief words of congratulations from State Senator Renee Burgess, Dr. Kwame Anyane-Yeboa, a medical geneticist, performed the ceremonial libation.
He took off his shoes and lowered the cloth from his shoulder, explaining that in days of old one lowered his cloth when approaching a chief to show that he was not concealing a knife, and that now it’s a more generalized display of respect.
After performing the ceremony in his native language, he said, “I spoke to the ancestors, to the gods of Ghana. We are very blessed to have this occasion.”
Kofi Ayim directed the audience’s attention to Ghana’s acting consul general, and then local attorney Gayle Loftis led a call-and-response, affirming the values of patriotism, of E Pluribus Unum, and the remembrance of Cudjo Banquante.
Valentine Koltunowicz of Buglers Across America closed the ceremony with Taps.
After the ceremony, the Akuma Cultural Ensemble performed traditional drumming and dance. Attendees then adjourned to an indoor reception. The whole affair was informative and inspirational.
This was part of a whole week of events honoring Cudjo Banquante that kicked off on Sunday afternoon, April 27, with a reception, concert, and art and history exhibit at the Newark Museum of Art.
Persons interested in learning more about Banquante and his times can visit the New Jersey Historical Society at 52 Park Place in Newark, where an exhibit on Banquante will be up through September.
The Newark Museum of Art at 49 Washington Street has an exhibit on New Jersey’s enslaved persons and soldiers of color who fought in the Revolution, and at the Greater Newark Conservancy, 32 Prince Street, visitors can view a display of the types of plants that Banquante is likely to have sold.
Kofi Ayim’s book, JACK CUDJO. NEWARK’S REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER & FIRST BLACK BUSINESSMAN is available at kofiayim.com
Event video at https://kofiayim.com/pages/press-interviews