The Mende song that survived 300 years of Slavery: A Make Sierra Leone Famous Podcast Finale

June 19, 2021 Vickie Remoe

If we knew our history, then we would know that Sierra Leone is not its beaches (that you can find anywhere) but our cultural heritage (which is unique to us).

Over the past 12 months, my team and I have been producing a podcast that attempts to make good on my 2019 promise to Make Sierra Leone Famous.

The podcast is an offshoot from The Vickie Remoe Show - a TV and digital travel, culture, and business documentary series I rebooted three years ago after a seven-year hiatus.

We have just released the season finale of the Make Sierra Leone Famous podcast—a history lesson and reflection on slavery and our deep cultural connections to Americans.

To those who know the story about how American demand for the rice farming expertise of indigenous Sierra Leoneans fueled the slave trade on Bunce Island, then the facts of this episode will serve as a reminder. If this is your first time hearing about the Mende song that survived 300 years from slavery to emancipation in the American South, then listen. You're in for a fascinating narrative.

Thank you to my amazing production team in Freetown, who began this journey to explore Sierra Leone's history, culture, and identity in the middle of a pandemic. A big thanks to producer Frankvin Bob McEwen without whom none of this would be possible (he wrote a guide about making a podcast from Freetown). Thank you to the show's content marketing lead Lamin Kargbo for spreading the word and creating a digital footprint for the podcast. Lastly, to our audience, I appreciate all your feedback, the reviews, and your subscriptions.

We are going on a production break from June to August and hope to return to your podcast feeds in September with fresh perspectives, new voices, and stories to Make Sierra Leone Famous for all the right reasons. Una tata!

If you missed the first year of the Make Sierra Leone Famous Podcast here is every episode for the latest to the first. Listen. Learn. Leave a Review. Share with a Friend.

The History of Bunce Island: Rice, Slavery, and the Sierra Leone-American Connection

June 19, 2021

Sixty Years of Independence with Mr. Sierra Leone

April 23, 2021

Who Is Who? Sierra Leoneans Who Shaped History

March 16, 2021

Masculinity & Male Identity in Sierra Leone

January 01, 2021

Sierra Leone’s Civil War - A Center For Memory to Honor Our Trauma Forever

December 14, 2020

How Sierra Leone invented the world’s first self-adhesive stamp and Other Independence Years Stories

October 29, 2020