If and when the dead rise again, I can take comfort knowing that it will not be the first time Black folk have been through hell on this soil. When the first Africans crossed the middle passage, the New World was their apocalypse. And they fought.

Ever heard of San Miguel De Gualdape? It was a Spanish settlement, believed to have been established on the Sapelo Islands in Georgia in 1526. It was the first European settlement in North America. The first Catholic Mass was performed here. And, the first slave revolt was launched here. They were brought to help do the heavy lifting in the construction of the ill fated little town. They escaped and began new lives within local native american tribes.

The colony, by the way, lasted about three months. The Africans brought there as slaves probably lasted considerably longer. They were the first American Maroons. And I want to be like them when I grow up.

There is believed to have been about 20 slave revolts in North America., but the numbers are slippery. When the British offered freedom to any Africans who would join their ranks during the Revolutionary War, thousands heeded the call. Some scholars consider that mass exodus to be an act of revolution. If so, it was one of the biggest slave revolts by the Africans in America. Then there were the thousands of smaller acts of rebellion. The individual escapes. The acts of conspiracy and sabotage.

It is impossible to know the magnitude of our resistance, but it is clear that, despite what you learned in your elementary school history class, we fought. We organized, in Florida, the Carolinas, Louisiana and Virginia, and we survived.

They were my ancestors. And they were bad ass.

Rule Number 1 of the Maroon Way: Take responsibility for your freedom. If you are someplace that you don’t want to be, meditate on how you are going to change it. And then, when the time is right, take decisive action.

Note: My people lived their lives by a code that has since been lost. In time, I will reconstruct it. One day, I will live it. But until then, this is a loving act of speculation.