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SEPT 24: Culture as a Connector

Sierra Leone • Gullah Geechee • Black Loyalists • Maroons • Krios

19:00–20:30 GMT | 15:00–16:30 EDT | 12:00–13:30 PDT 

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Mohammed Sadiku Dabo (Moderator)

Mohammed Dabo is an experienced educator, 

broadcaster, and accomplished dramatist. His career in education includes teaching at both his 

alma maters; Christ the King College (CKC) in Bo, Sierra Leone, and the Milton Margai Teachers 

College (MMTC), where he lectured for seven years. He earned an Honours degree in English Language and Literature from Fourah Bay College.

 

An A. S. Hornby Award subsequently enabled him to pursue postgraduate studies at the Institute of Education, University of London, where he earned an MA in Education (TESOL). Mohammed was also a freelance broadcaster with the Sierra Leone 

Broadcasting Service (SLBS). His wide-ranging 

roles included newsreader, continuity announcer, 

programme presenter, and disc jockey. He has 

also made a notable contribution to theatre as a producer, director, and actor. Among his memorable stage performances was the title role in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

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Nigel Browne-Davies 

Nigel Browne-Davies is a finance lawyer, historian, and genealogist of the Atlantic World with a focus 

on the African diaspora. He is based at Queens’ College, University of Cambridge, and is 

an Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

His research interests include the transatlantic slave trade, slavery and abolition, the Back- to- Africa movement, the history of empires, legal history, and social, cultural, political, and economic developments in the Black Atlantic World between the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries.

 

His work has been published in the Journal of 

Imperial  and  Commonwealth  History,  the International  Journal  of  African  Historical 

Studies, and the Journal of West African History. He was the 2024 recipient of the Martin 

Lynn Scholarship from the Royal Historical Society.

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Graham Nickerson

Nova Scotian historian, researcher, and descendant of the original Black Loyalist settlers Titus Milner and Henry Gwin, Graham brings both a personal connection and a scholarly lens to the preservation of Black Loyalist history. He serves on the boards of various organizations, including the New Brunswick Black History Society and the Black Loyalist Heritage Society.

 

In 2022, the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission recognized Graham as a future leader. In 2023, Graham was invited to lead Social Justice, Belonging, and Anti-Racism investigations as part of the National Trust for Canada’s Heritage Reset.  Graham is pursuing a PhD in history at UNB, and his dissertation is titled, “To Be Made Majesties Of...:’ Black Loyalist Agency in the Maritime Provinces.” This research was awarded the United Empire Loyalist Association’s research scholarship, and his essay “The Negro Settlements” was recently accepted as part of Charmaine A Nelson’s A Time, a Place, Our Gaze: Re-framing the Subaltern, in Black Maple Magazine.

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Ahmad Ward

Ahmad Ward is the Executive Director for the Mitchelville Preservation Project on Hilton Head Island, SC. The mission of the Mitchelville Preservation Project is to preserve, promote, and honor Historic Mitchelville, the first self-governed town of formerly enslaved people in the United States. Ahmad is responsible for developing and implementing a master plan that will recreate this historic town as an interpretative site. The Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park will convey this important story of freedom and citizenship to visitors from around the country.

Before this position, Ahmad spent fifteen years leading the Education Department at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, Alabama. It is there that he honed his expertise in telling the story of civil and human rights in America, with a focus on historical analysis and application to current social justice issues.  With master's-level training and years of experience in exhibition design, he brings a strong understanding of storytelling and the importance of technology in interpretation. 

 

Ahmad has been responsible for creating programming partnerships with local schools, universities, and organizations; teacher and student resources; written articles, blogs, and essays for local, national and international platforms; as well as the development of public programming for community-at-large in the areas of civil and human rights movements, multiculturalism, and contemporary human rights issues.

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Ing. Melbourne A. A. Garber, CSEng, FIStructE, FASCE, FSLIE

Melbourne Garber was raised in Freetown and attended the Prince of Wales School as well as  Fourah Bay College before proceeding to the U.K. to complete his undergraduate degree. He obtained both his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and mathematics and 

master’s degree in construction engineering from Leeds University.  

 

Melbourne is a proud member of the Krio Descendants Union (KDU), former President of KDU Northeast, and former chair of KDU Global, and is actively involved in the organization's efforts to build a museum and cultural center in Freetown. In March 2025, he was named the Flagstaff/ Trelawney Town Maroons Ambassador to Sierra Leone. He is a member and former chair of the Board of the National Organization of Sierra Leoneans in North America (NOSLINA) and a member of the Sierra Leone Community of New Jersey (SLCNJ) organization. He was also part of the editorial staff for the Journal of Sierra Leone Studies.  Melbourne is a former chair of the Bunce Island Coalition and was actively involved in the preservation and stabilization of the Bunce Island Slave Castle and an advocate for raising awareness of preserving Sierra Leone’s historic sites and artifacts.

 

He is a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers, UK, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Sierra Leone Institute of Engineers. He has been involved with the design of numerous projects, notably the African Burial Ground National Monument, and the United Nations Permanent Memorial to the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave 

Trade in New York City.​

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Akindele T. M. Decker

Akindele T. M. Decker is a Sierra Leonean historian, author, genealogist, and cultural preservationist dedicated to documenting the people and traditions that have shaped Sierra Leone. With researcher Adrian Q. Labor, he co-created the Sierra Leone Icon Series, including 20 Icons of Sierra Leone Who Shaped History and 20 Women Icons of Sierra Leone Who Shaped History. The series brings overlooked historical figures—particularly women—to wider audiences while promoting factual accuracy and cultural pride.

 

Mr. Decker also preserves Sierra Leone’s heritage through folklore and genealogy. His children’s book, Why Mr. Bird Chose the Air: Sierra Leone Folktales, retells ancestral stories passed down through his Murray Town family. His genealogical works include histories of the Carrol and Jarrett families of Sierra Leone.

His commitment to Krio language and culture continues the legacy of his grandfather, renowned linguist and poet Thomas Alexander Leighton Decker, who championed Krio as a distinct language and translated Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar into Krio.

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