Featured Building: Brazil House, Jamestown.

The Tabom People are an Afro-Brazilian community of formerly enslaved people who returned to settle in Ghana from Brazil. Many of them were originally captured from Yoruba-speaking communities in West Africa and enslaved in Brazil.

The name Tabom is said to come from the phrase “Tá bom” which translates as “Okay” in English. When the first Afro-Brazilian returnees arrived in Jamestown, Accra they mostly only spoke Portuguese and often used that “Tá bom” phrase in conversations with one another. This is why the the Ga-Adangbe inhabitants of Jamestown referred to them as Tabom (Marco Aurelio Schaumloeffel, 2014). The name stuck as they eventually settled in Accra, built houses and integrated into the Ga community as the years progressed.

The Brazil House, as it is known is one of the very few Afro-Brazilian houses that has not sold off and developed for commercial purposes. It is a typical Ghanaian courtyard-type building dating back to 1836. that has a two-storey building facing the south side with a lovely view of the ocean. Behind the main building is a balcony that overlooks the first fishing port in the Greater Accra region. This is believed to be the migratory route of the Tabom.

Does the name Azuma Nelson ring a bell? The leader of the Tabom group at the time of their arrival was a certain Nii Azumah Nelson. Journey with Accra Archive Fellows Divine Fiave and Alice Johnson through one of the last remaining examples of historical Afro-Brazilian architecture in Accra. Music: “Wavin’ Flag” by K Naan