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Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Black History Month: The Kru People

In the mid-1800’s, West Africa’s Kru tribe was known among slave traders and colonialists for their resistance to capture and enslavement. During the 1700’s they were vital in the trade between Europe and other nations due to their skillfulness  navigation of small ships in the choppy coastal waters.

The Kru settled in the region now known as Liberia and the Ivory Coast and in some portions of Sierra Leone, most notably Freetown.

They were infamous for fighting for their freedom,reducing their value to slave traders who found them too difficult to tame for slavery. If captured, the Kru would simply kill themselves, rather than become property.

In 1856, the Kru clashed with The Republic of Maryland, Liberia’s former name. The Grebo people, a subgroup within the Kru ethnic group, assisted in the resistance and their victory over the Maryland settlers became the stuff of legend.


Today, the Kru largely exist in the same areas as they did then, employing tribal hierarchy systems independent of one another. One of the most well-known Kru descendants is Ivorian soccer star Didier Drogba, the all-time top scorer for the Ivory Coast national team and a feared striker for his former team, Chelsea. Drogba helped his nation’s team qualify for its debut appearance in the 2006 World Cup event.

https://blackamericaweb.com/2017/02/01/little-known-black-history-fact-kru-people/

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