Marking the end of colonial slavery in the British Empire

Aug 01, 2022 Letters

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…An Emancipation Message
Dear Editor,
I begin with this Sumer Legend. The stranger approached the old man sitting on the banks of a mighty river and asked him, “What happened to the great black civilisation of Sumer? The old man pulled on his pipe and said awh my friend, they lost their history and so they died.”

August 1st marks another year since the end of the most brutal and cruel experience inflicted by one set of humans upon another set with a different skin colour and hair texture, denoting the end of colonial slavery in the British Empire.
The Descendants of those Manumitted Africans along with all Guyanese need to learn from the lessons of the past and act to ensure that earlier mistakes, cruelties and acquiescence are not repeated so that next year all of us would not merely observe this date but thanks to our combined efforts to be able to truly celebrate Emancipation.
We fully support the recent call by our Amerindian Brothers and Sisters for justice and equity. By the same token we seek their support and that of all fair-minded Guyanese for reparation and the availability of African ancestral lands. These must be non-negotiable.
My message this year 2022 deals with profound issues.
First, that Afro-Guyanese, that is those with even a few drops of African blood must continue to love all our Brothers irrespective of their race, religious beliefs or political affiliation, knowing that in Guyana today there are very good and decent Amerindians, very good and decent Chinese, Portuguese, East Indians, fellow Africans but also persons of mixed parentage. All who are a credit to our society.
Afro Guyanese need to appreciate that they are faced with monumental difficulties.
Due to an age-old belief, noticeable in all our history, that somehow the place for black people is at the bottom rung of the ladder.
If this is not dealt with then we’ll see nothing wrong calling an ordinary Afro-Guyanese woman a black monkey and spat upon. Even after seeking legal means for justice she is denied this opportunity to be heard.
This demonstrates the existence of a belief among certain folks that the teachings by our erstwhile masters is still alive and well.
Remember Black stays back, Brown sticks around, If White, you’re alright.
Look around our Guyana and we are witnessing a replay of earlier history which is a ruling Quartet constituting an emerging oligarchy in control of our natural resources, the collection and distribution of the billions collected and supported by the cadre of men and women similar to the House-slaves who enjoy the comforts and perks provided by Massa and ignoring the plight of their kith and kin. Is history repeating itself?
So we go to a traditional African Village, Ithaca and behave like Santa Claus, ignoring that Ithaca would have been a thriving self-sufficient community had the PPP government not rejected an earlier engineering study, which was recommended because of soil conditions, less distance and a calmer river that the preferred location for the Berbice Bridge should be from Stanleytown on the East to Ithaca on the west. But this would have provided economic and other advantages for Ithaca and the contiguous areas in what are traditional Afro-Guyanese communities.
One can only assume that this feasible project which would have cost much less was rejected by the then Government because Ithaca is considered a community of Afro-Guyanese.
You go to certain villages and you share out fanfare and publicity, three-pound hampers and share out 10-pound hampers in other areas. Go to Black Bush Polder and witness the plight of that part known as Zambia.
Be wary of the Greeks bearing gifts. Three cheers for One Guyana.
Emancipation must persuade the Descendants of slaves, not to sell their birthright for a mess of pottage nor to be tricked into acquiescence.
This is not a time for polite words and language of deception. It is a time to think, a time for unity and a time to let those in charge know that we have no intention to be re-enslaved.
Whenever we have stood up to the machinations of might we are being accused of unnecessary agitation.
As a people we have always been made to feel ashamed of our leaders who seek justice and a fair share of the national cake. We only need to look around the world and note agitation in Suriname, agitation in Sri Lanka, and agitation in Great Britain.
When we agitate and protest wrongs done to us we are told that to protest is wrong forgetting that if the colonists of the great Unites States of America did not protest against the imposition of taxes by King George III, there would have been no great US today. Americans are proud to recall the Boston Tea Party.
The world would have not been as it is today, had it not been for people writing, proposing new thinking and protesting against wrongdoings.
The chemistry of our world shows that popular uprisings have led to improvements everywhere, England – 1642 – 1649; America – 1776; France 1789; Russia 1917; China 1911-1949; Iran 1978 – 1979; Afghanistan 1979-2001; the American Civil Rights Movement 1954-1968.
Agitation of protests are the rights of people everywhere when faced with discrimination, corruption and rising cost of living.
If we are to be true to our noble ancestors, we must with one voice identify and speak up against wrong doings.
A technique used in Guyana in reviewing the past has been to promote slavery and indentureship as being the same.
SLAVERY AND INDENTURESHIP – vastly different.
Over time, this clumsy calumny that Slavery and Indentureship are similar has been peddled by politicians on both sides of the political divide. This nonsense still resonates even in academia.
Perhaps this explains why our President stated that we all came here for betterment. Granted that he made a correction when this absurdity was expressed.
The President has a number of highly paid Advisors, PR Personnel and Researchers and this Statement taken from a prepared text should not be seen as accidental, but is either that the President is being ill-advised or he himself is unaware of the history of this country.
Recalling one of his predecessors in the PPP who told a gathering of mainly Afro Guyanese that they should forget the past. Every year we commemorate Enmore Martyrs’ Day to remember five Estate workers, all Indo Guyanese who was shot and killed by colonial police but we are told to forget the seven weeks TransAtlantic journey in miserable conditions made by West Africans who were kidnapped, tricked and housed in the several slave palaces in the Gold Coast before being packed like pigtails in a barrel in ships with no sanitary facilities and no mercy.
Many realising their plight jumped overboard where their bones at the bottom of the Atlantic are rattling and pleading with those of us to ensure that there is justice and decency.
Records show that on arrival in Guyana, they were weak and had to be nursed back before being placed on a platform for sale like cattle and crops to their new owners, and we are told to forget the sufferings and humiliation of our ancestors. The Europeans were careful to separate the Africans from the same tribe so that communication became difficult.
Of interest one of the large double decker ships that transported our martyred ancestors was named “The Jesus.”
Only a few days ago, the Pope in Canada apologised to the Indigenous people for the mistreatment of native Indians by some church groups including the Catholics, but a Guyanese leader tells us to forget the past.
Thanks to the several slave uprisings and the advocacy of several fair thinking Christian Englishmen. The likes of William Wilberforce, Fowell Buxton and John Newton, who wrote the words for the popular song, “Amazing Grace,” we witness the end of colonial slavery.
The Emancipation Act was passed in 1833 and took effect in August 1834. However, the plantocracy did not free the slaves until the 1st of August, 1838. The intervening period being referred to as Apprenticeship. The British compensated slave-owners handsomely but not one cent to the slaves and today, we see ancestral lands being taken away.
During slavery when the slaves fought and sought for their freedom they were beaten, broken at the rack, had their heads cut off and put bleeding on poles as a lesson to others as was in the case in 1823. Others were tied to poles alive and burnt to death. For centuries they completely cut off their ancestral cultural roots.
Destroying the roots of a tree calls for enormous resilience for it to grow. It is that courage of resilience we need today to advance. Neither the Immigrants nor our Indigenous people suffered any of the above horrors and cruelty.
We must remember the machinations of an elite in charge of things. Remember how our Amerindian Brothers were used as head hunters and paid well to bring back the severed right hand of runaway slaves. Unpleasant, but we need to learn how much damage is done by a ruling group consumed with greed and the belief that they have the right to do as they please.
There is an old wisdom that says “those who do not know and remember the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat those mistakes.”
This year must be spent sharing information, sharing knowledge and generally educating our people, young and old irrespective of race, colour or creed so that the Descendants of Manumitted Africans will elevate their spirituality and allow us to agitate and demand a fair share of the enormous wealth available to us so that hopefully next year we not merely observe but celebrate Emancipation as a liberated people.
As you go about August, the wearing of African garb is useful but know that if we are to justify the suffering and humiliation of our ancestors, we have a lot of work to do including avoiding the insidiousness of mental slavery.
Finally, as we observe Emancipation, we ask that parents make whatever sacrifices are necessary to ensure that their children embrace education in its general sense, for today many parents are losing that interest, zeal and enthusiasm for education.
To all parents, no sacrifice can be too great to keep your children in school and to let them know that there is no substitute for good education using the home, school community and our religious bodies to produce a good character and an elevated sense of morality.
If we are to be competitive at home or abroad, let me add this caveat that I appeal to all Mothers and in particular to Fathers to practice deferred gratification and not allow ourselves to be distracted by planned merriment by those who wish to re-enslave us.
Again, I lean on history, several efforts by the slaves to be free were frustrated because of disunity, the ease for frivolity, frolic and consumption of alcohol.
Today, note similarities (1) a group of house-slaves (2) imitating alien cultures. I hear we now have j’ouvert and some of us even speak with a non-Guyanese accent.
From this day forward let us support our political, social and religious leaders. We must now speak with one voice on the fundamental issues for the way forward.
Discussions with young and old must generate ancestral piety, a pride to be who you are, to develop a passion to improve ourselves in a swift changing world of technology and science and so accept the responsibility to bequeath to succeeding generations the country that is prosperous, respected internationally and truly liberated.
To all Guyana, no matter what the cost, never be afraid of the truth, the pathway to lasting freedom.
I end with a quote I used more than thirty-seven years ago, ‘Truth is the key to unlock the door to let in light, love and liberty.’
THOUGHTFUL EMANCIPATION DAY 2022.

Hamilton Green
Elder

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