178 years of emancipation…Emancipation energy will develop Buxton–says Dr. David Hinds

Aug 02, 2016 News

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By Jarryl Bryan

One of the first villages ever bought by former slaves after emancipation, Buxton, was

host to a series of pre-emancipation activities on Sunday night.
It started with a complex libation ceremony and culminated in a roadside concert featuring local legend Dave Martin.
The ceremony, which was held at the Buxton Emancipation Monument on Company road, in front of the Market, is performed on the eve of Emancipation Day each year to acknowledge the ancestors of those of African descent.
A designated villager would carry calabash dishes of oil. Wine is poured as a tribute, as well as water and milk, at various spots around and on the statue. Fires are also lit at specific spots. John Herod, who performed much of the libation ceremonies, explained the symbolism afterwards.
“The calabash is from tradition, (representing) the earth,” he said. “We give the ancestors wine so that they can be satisfied and so assist us to meet heights that they did not meet. We give them water to cool their passion, because some of them would have passed and they would have had dreams.”
He explained that the oil was viewed as a facilitator to interactions with other people, while the fire was for relations between husband and wife to be fruitful.
Executive Member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) and Buxtonian, Dr. David Hinds, expressed optimism at the turnout of young villagers, who surrounded the monument site as the libation was being observed.
“These activities are very important, to remind our young people that they come from a heritage and a history and a civilization,’ he said. “Emancipation is always important because it is a process. Although in 1838 slavery ended, the process of emancipation is a continuous process.”
Hinds stated that 178 years later the descendants of the emancipated slaves were still trying to unshackle their minds. He quoted Marcus Garvey, who said that “while no chains were around my feet yet I am not free.”
“The process of emancipation continues. We want to use the occasion as always to inspire our young people to aspire as always. Slavery is not just about the brutality. It is about overcoming the brutality and as a people we have always overcome.
“We have to celebrate the fact that we can still muster the energy to come out here after all that has happened.”
The scholar added that the elders of the village, who had moved on to destinies in foreign lands, were able to do so because of the start they received in Buxton. He was also high in praise for the number of youngsters who gathered, some in African wear, to witness the ceremonies despite the damper which village wide power outages threatened to put on activities.
“Often we say that young people have lost their culture, but here they are in their numbers. This is the most uplifting thing for this year, to see so many young people come to this monument and observe what’s going on.”
Uplifting the community
According to Hinds, Buxtonians stood at the cross roads as a people. He stated that while the village has come through a lot, there was a chance to lift the community. He also shed some light on the programs which village officials and elders had on the agenda for the community.
“The task is for us the elders to take this energy and move it somewhere else. Often what happens is a person comes here, shows an interest and then (they) forget about it until next year. So we want to move away from that and harness that energy.”
“We are thinking about programmes in this village. We want to revive agriculture. The government has committed to developing 600 acres of land for agriculture. We want to pursue that, as well as a night school, possibly the Friendship Primary (School).”
He said that the proposed night school would target individuals who may have attained two or three subjects at Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams, but would need five subjects. He said that the aim would be to offer free tutoring.
“We are collaborating with the Youth Empowerment arm of the Government. We also want to do some literacy work in the village here. The problem of literacy is all over Guyana, but we want to do something about it here in Buxton.”
“We are thinking about training some young people into a literacy brigade so that they can go about (their peers) and help to improve literacy. So this energy that you see here, we are not going to let it die. We are going to use it to help redevelop and restore this village.”
Following the libation ceremony, a stage show organized by the Buxton First of August Movement got underway. It featured legendary performer Dave Martin, who sang some of his biggest hits including ‘Boyhood days’ and ‘Not a blade of grass.’
His stage presence was enough to infuse Buxtonians with excitement, as hit after hit had the crowd cheering. In addition, there were storytelling activities, poems and dances.

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