That song, “Rastaman Chant” by Bob Marley, recalls that spirit of resistance that empowers us.

“Jamaica’s legendary Maroons were a band of escaped African people who escaped slavery and prevailed against recapture by British regiments and became permanently free—six decades before the Haitian Revolution, and over a hundred years before the Emancipation Proclamation.

(Here’s how two centuries of slave revolts shaped American history.)

“The Maroons are the forerunners of Jamaican independence, and the independence of spirit,” says Harcourt Fuller, a Georgia State University associate professor of history and a Maroon from Moore Town. “Maroons say that they would rather die than live in bondage. I get emotional when I say that. It’s such a part of us: never to be bound, never to be subdued, always seeking justice, always striving to survive.”

Read the full article by Ashante Infantry in National Geographic.

Jamaicans have a saying, “we likkle, but we tallawah,” which translates to “we’re small, but we’re mighty.” It speaks to the quintessential disposition of the inhabitants of this Caribbean nation of three million people, which punches far above its weight in influence, with global exports of cuisine, music, intellectualism, language, and athleticism.

WATCH:  THE JAMAICAN MAROONS (2015)

The Maroon legacy gets some credit for characteristics of ingenuity, fortitude, and mysticism, as shown by Jamaicans such as Bob Marley, Usain Bolt, Marcus Garvey, and 18th-century Maroon strategist Nanny.

Special holidays include June 23, when Charles Town holds a Quao Day celebration to mark the signing of the peace treaty between the British and Colonel Quao in 1739. Every January 6, Accompong Town celebrates its 1738 treaty and the birthday of Cudjoe, Nanny’s brother.”