After 178 years of Emancipation… Afro-Guyanese still to unshackle their minds – WPA Executive Member

Aug 01, 2016 News

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• Says, “There has been no bigger sinner against the Blackman since Emancipation, than the Blackman himself.”

While 178 years after Emancipation, African-Guyanese have a lot to be proud of, Executive Member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), Dr. David Hinds insists that they still have a lot of work to do to emancipate themselves from self-hatred and cultural blindness, or simply put –“Mental Slavery.”

In his recent writings, Hinds said that African-Guyanese are guilty of derailing the foundation left by their ancestors. He said that somewhere along the way many Afro-Guyanese lost their way, lost their faith in their ability to overcome, dumped the emancipation spirit and stripped themselves of their cultural clothing.

The University Professor said that every group has its strengths and they must be celebrated. He noted however that progress is premised not only on the celebration of strengths, but on the recognition of and struggle against weaknesses.

He stressed that this is one of the most profound lessons of Emancipation.

“So, as we observe Emancipation, we must be conscious of the challenges facing the African-Guyanese community; they are enormous,” Dr. Hinds added.

The political activist said that it pains him to see Afro-Guyanese run from their “blackness.” He said, too, that there has been no bigger sinner against the “Blackman since emancipation, than the Blackman himself.”

“Some Black people don’t seem to understand that you can be all you want to be; socialist, capitalist, Muslim, Christian, non-racist, multiracial and still be Black.”

Dr. Hinds said that in a highly race-centred world, identity is a central part of one’s existence, especially when that identity happens to be a historically subjugated one. He opined that while he believes in the brotherhood and sisterhood of mankind, his “brotherhood” to those of another ethnic group would be a sham if he denies his own ethnic identity or, worse yet, hates it.

“It pains to see and hear some Black people trying to act whiter than whites. As the calypsonian, Chalkdust, so accurately puts it in one of his most profound calypsos ‘Though slavery done…there are some black people still providing whites with jokes…How can a Barbadian be more Yankee than a Yankee…Them people laughing at we.”

With the aforementioned perspective in mind, Dr. Hinds said this Emancipation anniversary is a good time to start correcting some of those wrongs. He said that the Afro-Guyanese must begin the task of self-love today.

“He must begin sending his children to school again. She must begin to engage in productive economic activity, both individually and collectively. He must support Black endeavours, not out of spite against another race, but out of genuine intra-group solidarity. She must join African cultural organisations.”

Professor Hinds said that whether in Guyana or the Diaspora, the African man and woman must organise not simply to put a party in power, but more importantly, to recapture their cultural balance.

He said that they must fight not for racial or political domination, but for equality of opportunity, equality in management and equality of outcome. He stressed that being insulting and aggressive to, and jealous and contemptuous of other races will not lift up Afro-Guyanese.

Significantly, Dr. Hinds emphasized that after the emancipation celebrations, members of ACDA, Cuffy250 and all the Pan-Africanists-Afrocentric elites and believers must get to work. He said that the task of emancipation is constant.

On this note, the political activist said that the Cuffy250 Organization sets the ball rolling on August 7, when hundreds of African- Guyanese are expected to meet at the Critchlow Auditorium for the fourth annual State of the African-Guyanese forum organised by the Black Consciousness organisation Cuffy250. The forum will be addressed by President David Granger and others.

The Cuffy 250 Committee came together in 2013 to observe the 250th anniversary of the Berbice Revolt, led by Cuffy, against the Slave System. According to Dr. Hinds, the group wanted to celebrate and draw inspiration from those who resisted slavery.

“We wanted people to remember that though enslaved against their will, they did not sit down and do nothing. They did not accept that they were born to be slaves. They resisted and fought back. But more than that, we wanted to draw attention to the deteriorating economic, political, social and cultural conditions in the African-Guyanese community today and to say to our people that just as your fore-parents struggled to change their situation, you can do so today.”

This year’s forum is being held under the theme: African-Guyanese Self-Realisation: Challenges and Prospects for the next 50 years. The forum will discuss the way forward for African-Guyanese and help chart an African-Guyanese Cultural and Socio-Economic agenda as part of the larger national thrust for the next 50 years of independence.

Among the topics to be discussed are: The Restoration of the Village Economy; Reparations; African-Guyanese and Entrepreneurship; African-Guyanese and Social Cohesion; Education and African-Guyanese Empowerment; African- Guyanese Self-Activity; and Centreing African-Guyanese in Guyana’s Socio-Economic Agenda.

The proceedings begin at 9am at the Critchlow Labour College. Registration is $300. Apart from the President, other speakers include Eric Phillips, Judy Semple, Vincent Alexander, Dr. Simpson DaSilva, Norman Ng a Qui, Norwell Hinds, Dr. Grantley Walrond, Floyd Haynes, Estherene Adams, Elsie Harry and Dr. David Hinds.

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