by Kandiss Edwards
November 1, 2025
Cudjo Banquante, an enslaved African royal descendant who fought in the American Revolution, later became Newark’s first documented Black business owner.
Cudjo Banquante, an enslaved African royal descendant who fought in the American Revolution and later became Newark’s first documented Black business owner, is receiving long-overdue recognition through a new historical marker and a week-long celebration and the Honoring Cudjo Banquante! initiative.
The Honoring Cudjo Banquante! project was funded by a $15,000 grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities (HJCH). The initiative aims to restore Banquante’s story to the state’s early history. The celebration, held April 27 through May 4, featured film screenings, genealogy workshops, guided tours and a grave-marking ceremony at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), the location of Banquante’s former burial site. The event was organized by a coalition including the Newark History Society, Rutgers University–Newark, and the Greater Newark Conservancy.
The marker outside NJPAC now anchors the city’s growing network of African-American heritage sites. “This effort connects memory to place,” said NJCH program officer Kimberly Brown. “Banquante’s story reflects how history, when told inclusively, can redefine civic pride.”
“Cudjo Banquante’s life is a reminder that the American story is not complete without the voices of those too long left out. This project brings his extraordinary journey back into public memory. This is the precise work of the humanities and the reason why this exceptional project deserves the Katz Prize,” said Carin Berkowitz, executive director of NJCH, in a press release.
Born into Ghana’s Akyem Abuakwa royal family around 1720, Banquante was captured and sold into slavery. He later fought in the Continental Army, substituting for his enslaver, Benjamin Coe of Newark, and participated in the Battles of Monmouth, Germantown, and Yorktown, according to the New Jersey Historical Society. After earning his freedom, he was granted land on what is now Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, where he established an ornamental-plant business, which historians identify as Newark’s first Black-owned enterprise.
Community leaders say the recognition offers both healing and inspiration.
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