– Graphic Artist and Illustrator, Barrington Braithwaite

AS the words written in ancient Egyptian temples state ‘Man know thyself’, well known graphic artist and illustrator Barrington Braithwaite reminds Afro-Guyanese to be conscious of their history, their present and where they are headed next.

In a Pepperpot Magazine interview, Braithwaite told of the post-emancipation period and the efforts of Africans, newly freed, to build a new nation for themselves.
“Emancipation brought out the indelible fact of the resilience of African Guyanese in that during slavery they were able to work and save money, had the trust between each other and the cooperation to buy villages,” he said.

It was a time where there were low returns for sugar because of changes occurring in London and planters were eager to sell their plantations but, yet, not so eager to sell them to former slaves.

Braithwaite said that the plantation owners, therefore, made it difficult for the Africans to purchase land by stipulating that they could only do so by buying entire plantations.
“Those Africans that were freed were able to put the money in wheelbarrows and pay for those plantations,” he said. “It was phenomena generally during the age of slavery that these people could have assembled the money, assembled the trust that is indicative of tribal people and amass themselves to purchase the first villages.”

The greatest thing he said emancipation permitted Guyana was its villages which saw them receiving properties of their own where they could build and farm to survive.

Access to information
Information such as this, on Guyana and the Caribbean’s rich history, is what Braithwaite hopes will become more readily available in schools
He said that before taking office, President David Granger had published for some 17 years a publication called ‘Guyana Review and Emancipation Magazine’ which is the largest collection of information on emancipation.

Although the publications ended a few years ago, Braithwaite said that there considerations being made for it to resume and be made available in school systems.

“The information is there but what is unfortunate is that he did it during the PPP times and they refused to buy it and put it in the schools although it was available,” he said. “The people need to know those stories; they need to know the details of it.”
Telling more of Guyana’s history, he said that between post-emancipation to the 1940s is one of the most significant periods in the history of the country which marked the “genesis of modern Guyana.”
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Africans in Guyana have passed the worse. What it needs now is a simulation of their talents towards expanding into new horizons,” said Braithwaite as he spoke of his vision for African Guyanese.

He said, however, that for many years prior there were numerous hindrances to progress where the death toll was a daily crisis; picketing was common and there was the mismanagement of education.

“From 1996 to 2010 we went through a period under the previous Government when the state was criminalised, drugs became an industry and lawlessness…the promise was that you didn’t have to qualify to get rich on drugs,” he recalled.

He spoke too to the ‘No Child Left Behind’ programme within the education system which was a failure as it saw many children, not only Afro-Guyanese, leaving school illiterate.
“But we survived slavery so we will make good with this time,” he said positively. “This present Government is doing a lot of training. They have a kind of obsession with training young people.”

Preparing for the future
Still, Braithwaite said that Guyanese must begin to take into consideration the impact of technology on jobs and begin to prepare themselves to adapt, where needed, in new sectors.

He added that he has noticed that efforts are being exhorted in this regard to ensure that young people can earn in the years to come.

“People need to be trained in this time. There’s not much labour work available. So I think they are placing tremendous emphasis on training and I’ve been looking at the amount of money spent into training so that is kind of restoring life skills to young people. They are now interested in things like STEM and those initiatives are bringing young people into the fold,” he said.

For a greater future for Afro-Guyanese and citizens altogether, Braithwaite encourages that more persons grow their own food like former President Linden Forbes Burnham had promoted.

“At one time, Guyanese frowned on local fruits and vegetables. A lot of it was imported and we never bothered to expand growing areas because we didn’t feel it was going to be important, now it is,” he said. “Afro-Guyanese need to grow, everybody needs to grow and manage what they grow. That’s what kept us alive over the years.”

Comfort not pride
When asked what makes him proud to be of African heritage, Braithwaite corrected that it was not what made him proud but rather what makes him comfortable and aware of who he is.

“Pride is a false thing. I am comfortable with myself based on what my ancestors have done. You have to be comfortable with yourself, not proud. What pride does is prevent you from seeing your own errors when you commit them. When you’re comfortable with yourself you examine yourself…and you recognise that you’re subject, like any other creature to make mistakes,” he said. “I’m comfortable with their [African ancestors] efforts and that has empowered me and they persuaded me to learn my history so that nobody can tell you who you are. If you don’t know your history somebody’s going to tell you ‘your people are lazy and useless’. But people who are lazy and useless couldn’t buy villages while in slavery. They had to have courage and many of them died. So when you know these things nobody can tell you that because you understand who you are.”