
The Choptank Tolomato Legacy Project


Ayub Suleiman Diallo
Community Bus Shelter, Baywood Village
Fish Hatchery Road, Chestertown, MD 21620

In 2022 our nonprofit initiated the creation of a 4’ x 10’ mural featuring
Ayub Suleiman Diallo, an African cleric who was kidnapped and sold into
slavery in the 1730’s. Ayub was the son of a religious and political leader
of Bondu - present day Senegal.
In 1731 Ayub found himself enslaved on a Maryland tobacco plantation where he was discovered by a local lawyer who returned him to his homeland via London. Ayub is one of the few Africans documented being sold into slavery
and returning to their homeland.
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The project was created as part of our Rural Mural Program an arts education program created to provide public arts experiences in remote communities
of Kent, Queen Anne’s and Caroline Counties. During the painting process
the children who reside in the HUD/Rural Development housing community learned about Ayub Suleiman Diallo and his experiences as an enslaved individual on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. This mural is installed on the community bus shelter at Baywood Village near Fairlee, MD in 2023.



