THE Coalition of the 1823 Parade Ground Monument is against the selection of Carifesta Avenue as the site for erecting the memorial to the 1823 martyrs, instead of the renamed Independence Park on Middle Street, also in Georgetown, as was initially agreed. Against this backdrop, the group, on Sunday, staged ‘An Afternoon of Reflection and Knowledge Sharing, at the latter location where they declared categorically: “Not in our name will the marginalisation and disrespect of African Culture be tolerated.”
“We will accept only one official site for our Monument to the 1823 Martyrs, the Parade Ground, where our foreparents were murdered, beheaded, bodies hung on poles, heads displayed on staves and left to be consumed by crows!” they reaffirmed.
Making this stance emphatically known was part of their education and sensitisation programme that attracted a large gathering of persons from diverse backgrounds.
Among them were Mayor of Georgetown, Mr. Hamilton Green, Guyanese historians and other academicians, trade unionists, cultural workers, University of Guyana (UG) students and representatives of African organisations who interacted with other members of the public.  
One of the key personalities who spoke, Dr. Melissa Ifill, of the UG academic body, said the purpose was to start a process which seeks to fill the knowledge gaps in Guyanese history as it relates to the resistance of African people used as slaves on the plantations of British Guiana.

Special focus         
There was special focus on the Demerara Revolt of 1823 and, explaining the significance of the choice of Parade Ground for the erection of the symbol, the speakers pointed out that “enslaved Africans with a thirst for freedom, staged a rebellion on the Demerara Estates (Success, La Bonne Intention (LBI); Le Ressouvenir, Bachelor’s Adventure) between August 18 and 22, 1823 and about 13,000 slaves were involved.”  
“Yes! It was bigger than Cuffy’s 1763 Berbice Uprising. It was the largest, most significant fight for freedom anywhere in the Caribbean,” they claimed.
They said, after the revolt was quelled, ringleaders were taken to Parade Ground, beheaded and their heads nailed to posts around there and along the roadside from Plaisance to Mahaica, East Coast Demerara.
The Coalition wants to make it known that the issue is that African rights/cultural groups, other stakeholders and the government agreed to put the monument at Parade Ground and that the official sod turning ceremony took place on August 1, 2000, with then President Bharrat Jagdeo officiating.
The Coalition is incensed that, according to them: “In secrecy, without consulting stakeholders and against all reasonable pleadings, government has decided, on their own, to place this monument opposite the Guyana Defence Force ground on Carifesta Avenue.”
The Coalition affirms that this act is disrespectful to the heritage of the people of African descent and the wider Guyanese populace, as well as another act of bullyism.  
     
Their ancestors                   
They are calling on others to join them in demanding that this attitude be discontinued and that the Monument to the 1823 Martyrs be taken to the Parade Ground, in honour of their ancestors, the Demerara Martyrs, who died while seeking their freedom.
The Sunday programme began with a libation ceremony, conducted by Dr. Irvin Rudy Guyana and one of the initial speakers was Chairperson, Ms. Charlene Wilkinson, another Coalition member.
The session was highly interactive and included dramatic readings.
At the venue a replica was put up of poles on which the headless bodies of the slaves were hung and displayed in public view.