The significance of Emancipation

TODAY is Emancipation day – a day when Guyanese, in particular, African Guyanese, observe the ending of chattel slavery and the dawn of freedom from servitude. We take the opportunity to salute our African Guyanese brothers and sisters as they celebrate with the rest of Guyana what is easily the most important day on their calendar and by extension the Guyanese calendar.
Emancipation day on August 1, 1838 was an important day, because it brought a formal end to perhaps the most inhuman institution in the history of humanity. Of course this institution was a global phenomenon designed and executed by Europeans in pursuit of accumulation of wealth upon which present day European development was built.
This is a critical aspect of the Emancipation Story as it explains the current disparity in development among countries. It was this theory that was so ably articulated by our own Dr. Walter Rodney in his famous book, ‘How Europe underdeveloped Africa’.
Another significance of Emancipation is that it not only draws attention to the horrors of slavery but it represents in a profound way the overcoming of slavery. It is often a forgotten aspect of the Emancipation narrative. Resistance to enslavement was an integral part of the period of enslavement. Whether it was the runaway slaves or the numerous slave uprisings, the enslaved Africans did not surrender to slavery. Here in Guyana the famous uprisings of 1763 and 1823 are inscribed in our consciousness. Emancipation eventually came not through the slave masters’ change of heart, but by the persistent resistance of the enslaved.
Emancipation also became the springboard for the historic Village Movement. Mere months out of bondage, the freed Africans bought lands and turned them into villages. In doing so they transformed Guyana from a slave castle to a bastion of civilisation. What we now know as the Guyanese nation can trace its practical roots to the Village Movement. The Village Movement was not replicated in other parts of the African Diaspora – its African Guyanese gift to Guyana and the world.
While Emancipation is an African Guyanese-grounded experience, it has had wider consequences. When African Guyanese won their freedom, they ensured that other Guyanese who arrived after emancipation could not come in chains. Emancipation freed all Guyanese from slavery.
Despite the above, many African Guyanese scholars and cultural leaders have argued that emancipation is both a moment and a process. The moment in 1838 closed formal slavery, but the legacy of enslavement still haunts Africans all over the diaspora. So as we celebrate another Emancipation anniversary, let us as a nation redouble our efforts to wipe away the blood and tears of slavery and make Emancipation a reality of Freedom, Equality and Justice for the sons and daughters of the enslaved and for all Guyanese regardless of race, ethnicity and culture.
Happy Emancipation Day to all Guyanese, and to all of our readers!

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.