Lusosphere: The origins of the American Banjo in Africa

Emerson Santiago [pt] writes at Patafurdia Magazine about akonting, the musical instrument found in Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau in West Africa. “The Portuguese colonizers and the North American slaves owners began to call the instrument “Banjo”, coming from the Quimbundo word “m'banza” (language of the second largest ethnic group in...