The Honoree

Benkos Biohó, the former African king of what is now partly Guinea-Bissau, escaped from the slave port of Cartagena, Colombia with ten others. He went on to form an army of escaped Africans. They conquered the area around the Montes de María and founded San Basilio de Palenque circa 1600.

Eventually, the Spanish offered Biohó a peace treaty, which the Spaniards violated by 1619 when they captured Biohó and hanged and quartered him on March 16, 1621. San Basilio de Palenque became the first free town for formerly enslaved Africans in the Americas in 1691.

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Colombia

Its population is heavily mestizo (of mixed European and indigenous descent) with substantial minorities of European and African ancestry. The Black population officially is 26% of the population, experts put it at 36-40% or 11 million. Choco Department is a department of Colombia known for its large Afro-Colombian (85 percent) population.

The Artist's Creative Explanation

“I was inspired, after reading the history of the enslaved African's revolt in Colombia lead by Benko Biohó, to visually interpret the revolt using ink, pencil, and coffee as my media. Coffee is a major export for the South American country, and I wanted the image to be connected to the history of the people as well as the land; that's is why I decided to use coffee as a medium.”

- Artist Hampton R. Olfus, Jr.

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About "From These Shores"

From These Shores celebrates the accomplishments of 18 known and lesser-known Africans in the diaspora across time and geography. The 12 panels hang at the Juffureh Slavery Museum, The Gambia and online. Timbooktoo Bookstore in New Bakau, The Gambia and Mansa Musa Restaurant in Takoma Park, MD USA each display one of the panels.