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The economic brilliance earlier Africans brought to this country is phenomenal

Aug 13, 2015 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
Yes we can! If was done before it can be done again.
The economic brilliance earlier Africans brought to this country in chains and having no formal education is phenomenal. No doubt this acumen would have surprised their former oppressors. The fact that the newly freed came up with a system to pool their moneys to purchase land from former enslavers, which we know as the cooperative movement, is a bright spot in African history that needs to be returned to.
This economic success which has influenced Guyana’s tri-sector economy (i.e. private, state and cooperative) laid the foundation for the post-slavery working class society and influenced our country being named the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
If there was confidence in 1763 to fight slavery, in 1838 to achieve emancipation and thereafter buy lands and create villages, in 1966 to achieve independence, in 1970 republican status and 2015 to bring about a change in government, these must not only be markers in history to sit back and tell stories about, but must reinforce, energise, mobilise, and propel the confidence needed to proceed, to want to make our lives better and leave a better world for those who will follow. Yes we can!
Today the Black race is a little battered and bruised. The fact that we are having conversations on this state of affairs is enough inspiration for what we can achieve when we stand up, dust ourselves off, and demand that we be counted as citizens, taxpayers, voters, and that the law works for us and protects us equally as it must for others.
We must overcome. At this important moment in our lives, we need to ask tough questions. Questions such as: what will we do to make today and tomorrow better?
Having contributed in a major way to the election victory of 11th May, we cannot relax and expect our lives will be better or things will fall into place automatically. It is said, God helps those who help themselves, and this means we have to work, probably a little harder, to make our lives better. May 11th offered new opportunities, new beginnings to improve our condition of living. We must seize it!
For starters, the Black family was for years calling on the PPP government to regularise lands bought by their ancestors. In July 2007 a motion was brought to the National Assembly by the late Mrs. Deborah Backer, People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Member of Parliament, to determine the issue of ancestral land rights. This motion was defeated by the PPP who held the majority. This motion or similar must return to the National Assembly in order that this issue can be determined. The First of August Movement and similar Black organisations are encouraged to pursue this cause.
If our ancestors bought lands, and given the culture back then, they did not see the need to have these lands transported, we, their descendants have a responsibility to safeguard their achievements and protect what naturally has been bequeathed to us. When you own land, you own country and control your destiny. Land has economic and intrinsic value, and we must move with immediacy to secure what is rightly ours. Yes, we can overcome.
Sharma Solomon

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