Our story
About Griott
Griott is a community-curated digital archive dedicated to preserving the rich, layered history of Zimbabwe and the African continent — one story at a time.
Our mission
"To make African history accessible, verifiable, and alive — by empowering communities to document, preserve, and share their own stories."
The name Griott is inspired by the West African griot — a storyteller, historian, and keeper of oral tradition. In many African cultures, the griot was the living library of a community, carrying genealogies, histories, and wisdom across generations through spoken word.
We built Griott because too much of Africa's history exists only in fragile oral traditions, scattered colonial records, or behind paywalls in foreign institutions. We believe that history belongs to the people who lived it — and that communities should have the tools to document and share it on their own terms.
Every submission on Griott is reviewed by human curators before publication. We use a certainty labelling system — Oral Tradition, Sourced Claim, and Firsthand Account — so readers always know the nature of what they're reading.
We started in Zimbabwe, but our vision is pan-African. If you're from anywhere on the continent and have a story, a family history, a cultural practice, or a local event worth preserving — Griott is for you.
What we stand for
Community ownership
History should be documented by the people who lived it, not just by outside observers.
Radical transparency
Every entry is labelled with its certainty level. We never pretend oral tradition is the same as a sourced document.
Curatorial rigour
Human curators review every submission. Quality and integrity matter more than volume.
Open access
The archive is free to read. Knowledge should not be locked behind subscriptions.