On May 14th, 2022, Jamestown Foundation was giving their African American Genealogy Workshop. I gave a segment explaining who maroon was and the need for African Americans to include them in their research.
My phone rang. It was Dr. Mildred Chang. A participant from the workshop had called her. I could not believe it. We had not even left the parking lot.
Dr. Chang authored her Doctoral dissertation on the Leeward Jamaican Accompong Maroons. I was so excited she spoke of wanting to expand her research to include Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.
I interviewed Dr. Chang. I could listen to her all day. She has a broad perspective on the "Brave runaway Africans who went seeking freedom." They went deep into "inaccessible regions."
This is Dr. Chang's first interview. My hope is for those who have African ancestors that runaway or are missing they should consider they might be maroon.