Jacko

Describe as being "born in Guinea" on the west coast of Africa, Jacko was transported to Dominica and enslaved on Castle Comfort Estate under Chevalier Beaubois in the late 1760’s. Very soon afterwards he escaped into the mountains and established his camp on a high plateau near Belles in the centre of the island in the area still known as Jacko Flats. From there he led maroon raids and provided refuge for enslaved persons who were escaping from the plantations on the coast. He provided leadership for other younger maroon chiefs such as Balla, Congo Ray and Pharcell who were also fighting the cause of liberation in the eighteenth century. During The Second Maroon War 1812-1814 he was killed, shot dead in July 1814 by Rangers after having been in the forest, "for upward of forty years".

As the senior maroon chief of this era, Jacko has been chosen as the maroon hero to represent the many other maroon chiefs who fought to undermine and destroy the institution of slavery and to provide liberation and self-determination for their people.

Article by Dr. Lennox Honeychurch

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