‘As the late Walter Rodney never failed to remind us in his several writings, we need to free ourselves from what he referred to as mental slavery if we are to fully enjoy the fruits of the collective labour and sacrifice of those who came before us. Regrettably, there are still those in our midst who continue to fan the flames of ethnic distrust and insecurity out of narrow self-interest. Such individuals and tendencies must be spurned upon, if only in the memory of our fore parents who dreamt for a cohesive and free society for all regardless of the colour of skin.’
GUYANESE recently celebrated the emancipation of Africans from slavery. This is indeed a good time for us all to reflect from whence we came and the trials and tribulations which we suffered at the hands of our erstwhile colonial masters, more particularly that of the planter class who came to the colony in search of wealth.

According to our historians, the lure of a wealthy and mineral rich country captured the imagination way beyond the introduction of slavery into the colony and started with the arrival of the legendary Sir Walter Raleigh who came in search of the fabled Golden City of El Dorado.

As it turned out, such a city never actually existed but Sir Walter Raleigh took back with him a different kind of gold, what is referred to as ‘black gold’, a country rich in potential to grow food due to its fertile soil especially on the low coastal belt.

It did not take much effort on the part of the Europeans to begin investing in agricultural crops in particular cotton and sugar, both of which were in demand in Europe at the time. Cotton production did not turn out to be as lucrative as sugar and did not survive for too long. Sugar cultivation, on the other hand, proved to be much more profitable and therefore was given more time and resources by the early colonizers.

What is not known by many Guyanese today was the large number of sugar plantations which existed during the early period of colonization during which the country changed hands from a number of colonial powers until it finally became a colony of Great Britain.

Sugar plantations were set up in several areas along the coast of Guyana, stretching all the way from Skeldon on the Corentyne right up to Anna Regina on the Esequibo coast.

One fact that the sugar planters understood quite early in their business operations was that sugar cultivation required a large and disciplined labour force which was not available at the time in the colony.

In those days, the only people who inhabited the country were the Amerindians whose numbers were too small to satisfy the labour requirements of large scale sugar cultivation.

Moreover, Amerindians were only readily available on the coast since the vast majority of them lived in the hinterland and deep riverain areas. In addition, Amerindians were not temperamentally inclined to work as plantation labourers and resisted any attempt to force them into such forms of servitude.

A way had to be found therefore to get labourers to turn the wheels of industry which at the time was driven more by manual labour due to the labour-intensive nature of the production process. Such labourers could not be found from among Europeans. It was against such a background that Africans were brought into the colony to provide labour for the planters.

The Africans were literally ‘bought’ by the planters from merchants who traded Africans as commodities, completely devoid of any human consideration.

The Africans were sold as slaves and were brought to the shores of Guyana and the West Indies against their will.

Many of them died on the way to the plantation due to the long and hazardous nature of the travel in which they were chained to their cabins out of fear that they would ‘rebel’ or jump overboard.

The so-called Middle Passage remained until this day a horror story. On arrival to the colony, they were sold to the planters and sent to the plantations to provide labour under the most brutal and inhuman conditions imaginable.

Space will not allow me to go into the details of the sufferings inflicted by the plantocracy on the Africans.

Suffice it to say that they were virtually stripped of their humanity and were subjected to some of the most inhuman condition. After decades of struggle for freedom by the slaves aided and abetted by many philanthropic groups in and out of the colony, the slaves finally gained their freedom on August 1, 1838.

Many of them upon emancipation opted to leave the plantations and set up their own villages, the first of which was Victoria which was bought by the combined savings of a number of freed slaves.

It is true that we cannot live in the past. It is important however that we draw lessons and inspiration from the valiant and heroic efforts of our African people to fight for their freedom led by indomitable leaders such as Cuffy, Accabre, Quamina and others.

These names are indelibly written in the sands of time and are honoured by every generation of Guyanese. The Cuffy Ideological Institute was established in honour of the memory of Cuffy as well as the Accabre College of Political and Social Sciences which is the ideological College of the ruling PPP. Several streets are named after these heroic figures including Quamina Street in Georgetown.

As we reflect on our past we must spare some thought for our Africans who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can today enjoy the freedoms associated with liberty and a life free from bondage.

We must also in their honour and memory strive to create a society that is harmonious and inclusive, where every Guyanese, regardless of race, ethnicity or political affiliation have an equal opportunity to develop his or her potential to the fullest.

As the late Walter Rodney never failed to remind us in his several writings, we need to free ourselves from what he referred to as mental slavery if we are to fully enjoy the fruits of the collective labour and sacrifice of those who came before us.

Regrettably, there are still those in our midst who continue to fan the flames of ethnic distrust and insecurity out of narrow self-interest. Such individuals and tendencies must be spurned upon, if only in the memory of our fore parents who dreamt for a cohesive and free society for all regardless of the colour of skin.

I take this opportunity to salute all Guyanese, more particularly our African brothers and sisters on the observance of yet another milestone in our long and painful history.