Latest update April 1st, 2025 5:37 PM
Martin Luther King Jnr, Nelson Mandela remembered
…at pre-emancipation day Libation Ceremony
Calls for unity and an appeal for the maintenance of Afro-Guyanese culture were sounded as spiritual and cultural activities ushered in Emancipation Day.
These ladies were part of the audience at the Libation Ceremony held in the compound of the Parliament building last evening.
It has been 176 years since enslaved Africans gained their freedom from slavery. They had been plucked from their homeland and transplanted to this part of the world to produce for the colonial masters.
On Thursday night, the National Emancipation Trust (NET) held its annual event in the forecourt of Parliament Buildings under the theme “Commemorate our freedom; recommit to build a better Guyana.” The venue was Public Buildings, across the road from where they hanged some slaves who rebelled against the system.
The five-hour long activity saw addresses from Afro-Guyanese leaders urging their people to reflect on African history as well as the struggles and achievements of their foreparents. The event included the libation, drumming, dancing, praying and singing.
The keynote speaker at the event was the Prime Minister Samuel Hinds who said that the activity was one to mark the end of 250 years of slavery. “The people of Africa were taken to provide their sweat and labour for the continents of the New World which included the North and South American continents as well as the Caribbean Islands in between.”
He said that the Africans who were taken and converted to property for the development of this New World, have made a huge contribution to the development of this region.
“When we hear slavery we tend to think of African slavery but if we recall, Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers and if we look through history we will find that in every country there was a time when slavery was instituted for some time.”
The Prime Minister said that slavery has been one of the most common institutions among mankind where the strong has always taken advantage of the weak; taken the weaker into slavery to do the work that needed to be done.
He said, “Even though slavery was abolished and ended 176 or 180 years ago (depending on where you count from), there are some of the effects of slavery around.” He said that from that period to now there have been advancements.
The Prime Minister spoke about the achievements of Martin Luther King Jnr, Nelson Mandela and President Barack Obama. He said that these are all black men who were acknowledged as some of the most powerful men in history.
He challenged Guyanese to be the best people they can be. He called on them to recall their ancestors in that four-year period of apprenticeship where they worked and paid for freedom.
Leader of Yoruba Singers band Eze Rockcliffe and local singer Charmaine Blackman.
The Prime Minister said that Guyanese should bear this in mind and should remember that with freedom comes responsibility.
During the ceremony, 10 noteworthy Afro-Guyanese were acknowledged for their sterling contributions.
Leader of the Yoruba Singers band, Eze Rockcliffe, singer Charmaine Blackman and late saxophonist Harry Whittaker, were recognized for their contributions in the field of entertainment.
Filmmaker Bonny Alves and HGP TV owner and CEO for ‘Halagala Records’ the late Terry Nelson aka Nelson Fraser, were awarded for the significant roles they played in the development of culture in Guyana.
Founder of African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) Eusi Kwayana; cultural icon the late Lynette Dolphin; Iconic Guyanese artist and sculptor the late Philip Moore who created the 1763 Monument (Cuffy) were also honoured during the proceedings.
Also acknowledged were the former Commissioner of Police, the late Carl Austin and the late Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham who was hailed as the “man who led Guyana to independence and Guyana’s first Executive President.”
At end of the evening seven leaders, among them two women, sat around a table holding candles as Vincent Obinweze from the Igbo tribe in Nigeria presided over a Libation.
In his native tongue, Obinweze prayed and asked for the intervention of their ancestors. He focused on the people of Guyana for the years gone and for the years to come.
A libation was then poured for their ancestors as the names of past and present leaders were called.
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