A poignant reminder of our history, cultural heritage
– GAWU
OBSERVANCES such as Freedom Day, which signals the start of Emancipation Month activities, tend to be multi-purpose in their manifestations.
They remind Guyanese of their history and cultural heritage, and they inspire renewed impetus for introspection and commitments to the promotion of personal and community pride and social development. For after the celebratory events in the groups, villages and towns, these observances must motivate their primary participants to analyse and assess just where the historical moment finds them.

Against those reflections and advisory sentiments, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) joins the nation in recognizing another anniversary of Emancipations which begins (today), 1st August, 2010.

Our Union, which boasts hundreds of members, descended from the emancipated slaves – today’s Afro-Guyanese – holds fast to the conclusion arrived at by an ACDA official a few years ago.

The African Cultural and Development Association official has declared that “without Emancipation, there would have been no Arrival Day.”

This is the truth that all Guyanese should ponder at this time. Historical events revolving around one of our earliest groups have impacted upon all of us in one manner or the other. Whether history bestowed on us a common suffering, a common enemy, collective determination to overcome challenges or the will to triumph eventually as a people united in overcoming the evils of colonialism to form an independent nation, history remains the best teacher always illustrating what can go right, or terribly wrong, depending on how some of our whole behaved.

GAWU, therefore, enjoins the Afro-Guyanese community to contemplate how much of this shared history has thrown up circumstances which determined their status in Guyana today. Study shows how other groups of the population benefitted from the history and lessons of their own fore-parents. If today’s status has been foisted because of unfair or inequitable distribution of resources and opportunity, what can be done to ensure fairer representation and adequate access to resources needed? Is political authority or influences used to deprive one group of economic justice?

If Afro-Guyana finds that some of the above are relevant issues, then this Emancipation should be used to really free-up that which is pent up. Public and private sector entities which benefit from the generosity of Afro-Guyanese must be made to give back.

GAWU recognizes the recent history of division in the national working-class movement. GAWU is still open to reasonable compromise with those who are wont to benefit from working-class differences, in the interest of workers solidarity and representation. After all, freedom from backwardness or standing still which division nurtures is what real Emancipation is all about.

A time to reflect from various perspectives  
– FITUG
WHEN THE British Parliament approved Thomas Buxton’s 1833 motion that the slaves in the British Guiana colony should be set free, the local British plantocracy had no choice but to put in place arrangements for the letting-go of the thousands in bondage.

It was not until August 1, 1834, one year later, that the slaves were actually set free. But even that event, grudgingly done, did not mean complete freedom from the plantations of servitude and suffering, for a system of part-time paid apprenticeship. This lasted for a further four years – up to August, 1838. History also records that the planters were actually paid compensation for some 85,000 slaves ‘freed’ in 1834. Of course, the slaves received nothing for their years of service, servitude and sacrifice.

The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), representing the bulk of Guyana’s workers today, therefore, invites this generation of Guyanese to reflect upon the act of Emancipation, from various perspectives. Who really gained between 1833, 1834 and full freedom in 1838? More importantly, did Emancipation really usher in true liberation for the Africans, whose descendants celebrate the events of those years, over this weekend?

FITUG encourages all Guyanese to use this period of observance to evaluate and contemplate what true full, freedom means. Is it not a state of mind and attitude, as well as the physical, material status of being an independent agent?

FITUG urges all Guyanese to consider carefully which modern-day disguised slave masters would deny workers their civic and human rights. And when government or private sector employers seek to compromise the working-class their just rewards, should not all collective solidarity be labour’s response.

Enjoy the festivities in towns and villages, then analyse the reasons for working-class quality of life as it now is. Then let our representatives, all of them, be made to respond to our needs.

That will be true Emancipation, because those who suffer in any form must be the architects and masters of their own liberation.

A truly pleasant and reflective Emancipation Anniversary to the descendants of the free men and women who laid the foundation for today’s Guyana, and a happy weekend to all Guyanese.

A landmark event in the annals of our history
– PPP
AUGUST 1, 2010 marks 172 years since slavery was abolished in Guyana and the Caribbean.

On behalf of the People’s Progressive Party, I extend best wishes to all Guyanese and to Guyanese of African decent in particular on this day of the most important anniversaries in our history.

This was the first major blow struck for the Independence and freedom of this country.

Looking back over the years and the many struggles that we have had to engage in, we can safely say that the struggles of our forefathers for the abolition of slavery always served to inspire all Guyanese and to spur us on in the conviction that we will overcome all obstacles in our path as we strive to consolidate the gains that our people have made throughout the years.

Today the challenges to our further programmes are many. The world economic and financial crisis in the developed countries, particularly Europe, US and Japan pose problems for smaller economies as our own.

The PPP/Civic administration has so far been able to stave off the worst of the crisis.

On this anniversary of the abolition of slavery let us re-dedicate ourselves towards strengthening our democracy, consolidating the freedoms which we enjoy and work tirelessly towards the building of our country.

This is the most fitting way to honour the memory of those slaves whose sacrifices and whose contributions to our country’s development are immeasurable.

Emancipation the forerunner of new beginnings  
– The Culture Ministry
THE CONVENTIONAL dictionary definition of ‘Emancipation’ has to do with the setting free, releasing persons from all legal, social, political, intellectual or moral restraint.

In terms of slavery, physical and legal ownership had to be removed, for those insidious fetters reduced human beings to mere property; just objects of labour and production for the benefit of others.

The saga of the trade in captive Africans, slavery in the Caribbean and Guiana colonies from the 15th Century up to 1838; of abolition and Emancipation is the history of Man’s inhumanity to man but also of the triumph of the human spirit and of what is good in the human soul. But Emancipation, from 1833/1834 and 1838, was both a culmination and a beginning. Formal physical slavery ended and a dramatic lasting chapter in the foundation and development of today’s Guyana was to begin.

It is against those
sentiments that the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport joins the nation in the observance of another anniversary of Emancipation Afro-Guyanese descendants of the freed slaves must especially exude pride in the knowledge that their forefathers freed themselves after 1834 to survive the post-slavery challenges thrown their way.

Perhaps not enough is repeated about the savings amassed between 1834 and full freedom in 1838; about the village movement, whose foundation was firmly established by the freed men and women; about the agricultural pursuits engaged in, even in the face of drainage and irrigation sabotage by the spiteful planters; along with all the taxes and legislative penalties also imposed.

Afro-Guyanese can also stand tall knowing that all the noble professions were embraced by their forefathers, producing stalwart  pioneers in teaching, law, medicine, the civil service, as well as the trades in which they also excelled.  It is also a now oft-repeated observation that Emancipation precipitated Arrival: The arrival of the other race groups from Asia and Portugal who also lent their presence and human heritage to the population we know today.  Emancipation is therefore an event that impacted on all of us through our ancestors.

Those ancestors shared a common suffering but endured, triumphed and established a modern Republic. Now ours is the glory their eyes did not see.  It is our sacred duty not to let them down. We must set aside real and petty differences to safeguard the legacy which their sacrifices have bequeathed to us.

The Ministry of Culture was and is happy to have contributed to the celebratory and intellectual/cultural aspects of this anniversary observance. Let the programmes be used as reminder of the contributions and rich legacy of one of our earliest groups of Guyanese.
HAPPY EMANCIPATION ANNIVERSARY

‘Our history is vital engine for development’
– PNCR
THE main Opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), in its Emancipation Day message, has urged all Guyanese to remember that their history is a vital engine for development.

“…the exploits and achievements of our Amerindian ancestors, as well as our African, Indian, Portuguese and Chinese descendants, must be remembered if we are to go forward with a confident stride into the future”, the party said.

The PNCR said: “Looking back in history, we note that the descendants of the enslaved Africans forged a social order and a community structure which demonstrated the resilience of the human spirit and their aspirations to live as a free and dignified people.

“Perhaps the greatest manifestation of that resilience was the village movement which emerged after emancipation, as the freed African people combined themselves into cooperatives to purchase the estates of their former masters and laid the foundations for rural and agricultural development in Guyana. This spirit of overcoming adverse circumstances and disadvantageous conditions is embedded in the spirit and consciousness of all Guyanese, of all ethnic origins, and remains a defining characteristic of our people.

“The descendants of slaves were pioneers in many aspects of life in Guyana: in the rise and expansion of basic education; in the rise of a creole peasantry; in the growth and expansion of trade unionism; in the establishment and growth of social and cultural norms.

“In particular, the PNCR wishes to stress the importance that the African ancestors accorded to education and the powerful force that this discipline has exerted, not only for the development of the country but also for building national cohesion and racial amity.

“It is fitting, therefore, that, at this time, the descendants of the African slaves should be joined by the rest of Guyana, as we commemorate the occasion and that we, as Guyanese people, recount the many contributions of the African people for Guyana’s political, economic and social development.

“The celebration of the ancestral foods, music, art, clothing and folklore, which our African ancestors have pioneered, are also an important aspect of generating a society, confident in its diversity.”