NOW, when it comes to African History in the Caribbean, I will always have a lot to say, so much so, that I happily jump into DMs when I see people post things like “Reparations aren’t necessary”. It is because of these experiences, where I see my peers so incredibly misinformed, that I believe we must continue to forge ahead with rewriting our history.

A few years ago, I would’ve happily restated that after about three centuries of living under an incredibly monstrous system of chattel slavery, enslaved Africans were granted their freedom on August 1, 1838. That became widely known as Emancipation, and it is something we celebrate each year, rightfully so.

The African brothers and sisters were, oh so benevolently, granted their human right to freedom and agency, and to live their lives away from the rigorous plantation system– but lest we forget, the efforts that were made subsequently to stymie the development of their livelihoods and make living almost akin to the plantation life. We must acknowledge the fortitude it took to forge ahead, in spite of these barriers. And importantly, in my opinion, it is these efforts of forging ahead that should be celebrated even more.

I attended a lecture by African historian, Dr. Kimani Nehusi, who tried convincing youths that they should take a greater interest in knowing their history- the actual history of their people- instead of the rehashed stories presented to them.

“If we don’t know our history and if we are unaware of our culture, then we are confused. And you enter onto the journey of life in a confused state,” he said. He later highlighted that African people have been subjected to years of discrimination and prejudice that would have caused them to believe their culture is inferior.

“The destruction of Africa wasn’t only physical violence, it was intellectual violence also and many of us are very ignorant of who we are and these lies have been perpetuated through institutions we follow,” he emphasised.

And Dr. Nehusi further contended that Africans belonged to a highly civilised society, long before they were transported to other parts of the world. And even as they were uprooted and forced to grow elsewhere, he highlighted that the Africans still managed to show their resilience by forming a “civilised alternative to plantation barbarism”- through which villages were established and the people began rebuilding their lives in the new spaces. You know, that fortitude I alluded to earlier.

I will continue to express my appreciation that CAPE history offered me an opportunity to learn about my shared history, not from the people who wanted to dictate what parts of history I knew, but from the people who have an interest in presenting the facts outside of the narrative of the colonisers. Full credits to Sir Hilary Beckles, Verene A. Shepherd, and the rest of the team that crafted the CAPE History syllabus.

It is easy to believe that Africans were inferior people who were colonised so that they could be saved. I mean, just think about how much easier it would be to justify something so wrong if you showed that you had some noble reason. And as history would show, it is this same level of thinking that precipitated America’s massive civil war. But now, we know better, or we should know better and we should continue to demand better.

A few days ago, on Twitter, I saw that the trailer for the film on Harriet Tubman was released. Now, if you know anything about enslavement in North America, you know Tubman was, as people my age say in our vernacular, “De BADDEST”. The comments under this trailer, however, might have curbed my excitement and caused me to think a bit deeper.

Many persons, Africans in particular, expressed that they were tired of seeing the same portrayals over and over. According to them, it seemed as filmmakers were only concerned with highlighting (and profiting from) those stories that showed Africans struggling under the whites and reminding Africans over and over of the torture their ancestors faced. And that these filmmakers thrive off of the emotional ‘feel-good’ or sympathetic sentiments garnered.

Instead, these Twitter users said they’d much rather see stories like Black Panther which celebrates and amplifies their culture and heritage, and which highlights how the African societies might have developed massively without foreign influences coming to take away the ‘resources’. Black Panther might have been fictional, but there is growing evidence to show just how sophisticated the African society was. (For some reading on this, from Guyanese authors, you can check out Walter Rodney’s ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’ and Ivan Van Sertima’s ‘They Came Before Columbus’).

So, my point in all of this, is to emphasise the importance of knowing our history- not just for the sake of knowing our history but for understanding the importance of how we got to where we are today and how this should guide our efforts moving forward (you know, like getting reparations so that development of African people can be truly fostered.)