Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey "Only the best is good enough for Africa."
Kwame Nkrumah "The independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa."
STEVE STRUNSKY After getting off work, Christopher Seals was enjoying a sunny afternoon in the plaza outside the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. He hadn’t noticed the historical marker a few feet away, almost hidden among a row of saplings, honoring Cudjo Banquante, an enslaved Black man born in Ghana of royal blood […]
PRESS RELEASE Contact: Dan Armstrong (847) 749-9675 darmstrong@njhumanities.org October 8, 2025 NJCH Awards 2025 Stanley N. Katz Prize for Excellence in Public Humanities to “Honoring Cudjo Banquante!” Project The weeklong project brought to life the little-known story of Cudjo Banquante, an enslaved man who fought in Washington’s Army, gained freedom and became Newark’s first documented […]
As the Trump administration exerts pressure on countries to aid in its mass deportation efforts, some nations in Africa have agreed, prompting legal battles. MATHEW MPOKE BIGG When the British government asked some African countries if they would accept deported migrants in 2021, it got a cold shoulder from all but Rwanda. When the Trump […]
When the enslaver and slave ship captain John Newton encountered violent turbulence at sea, he called on God to help save the ship. Thereafter, he revitalized his faith and turned to an Anglican minister, after which he penned the epic Christian hymn “Amazing Grace” in appreciation and gratitude to God. Many slave merchants and […]
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 […]
KOFI AYIM Blurbs “This is a riveting historical account of an early enslaved African in New Jersey on par with the narrative of Olaudah Equiano. Cudjo, or Banquante, is an extraordinary person who enters our history in this book with a much fuller portrait and historical account than has been possible. The author’s work is […]
NIMI PRINCEWILL In a sealed plastic jar, the remains of a fetus with severe birth defects are preserved in formalin for scientific research. The transparent jar, around 70cm tall, sits along the back wall of a pathology lab at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. More than a dozen other […]
CONCLUDING OUR SERIES ON THE BOOK: JACK CUDJO. NEWARK’S REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER & FIRST BLACK BUSINESSMAN by Kofi Ayim Contrary to commonly peddled falsities, the victims of slavery in the New World did not meekly accept their fate and live happily ever after, working the cotton and sugar plantations in the day and then retiring to […]
Continuing our series on the book: Jack Cudjo. Newark’s Revolutionary Soldier & 1st Black Businessman Slavery in the Gold Coast was not effectively abolished until after the British‐Asante War of 1874. Historians of African slavery usually glossed over a minor yet important practice of slavery. There were instances that stubborn members of family, royals inclusive, […]
The late Newark City historian and Director of Special Collections at Newark Public Library, Charles F. Cummings researched Newark’s Jack Cudjo’s life for over twenty years and concluded that his other name Banquante was either of African or Caribbean origin. Elsewhere, Jack Cudjo was purported to have been named for an African‐Caribbean hero that was […]