TOMORROW marks the 180th Anniversary of the historic occasion of the Emancipation of Slavery that occurred on August 1, 1838.

It brought to an end in excess of 400 years of the most brutal and inhumane system ever created by Man for the treatment of his fellow men, because of the prejudiced and unsupported view that the colour of one’s skin rendered him sub-human, and that such a perception therefore rendered him to be subject to dehumanisation.

It has long been determined that such a ridiculously false and jaundiced theory cannot be sustained by any rational, scientific study and evidence.

Slavery, as an experience of Africans being categorised as beasts of labour with absolutely no human rights, has been well chronicled with innumerable revolting accounts of a system that expunged all forms of personal control from the millions of hapless humans, whose further status as commodities rendered them as chattel property.

And this was whether on plantations in the then British West Indies, other parts of the British Empire, or in North America.

In this denuded state, African slaves became dehumanised in every form, and were subjected to the most unspeakable horrors and unimaginable cruelties. This was an abhorrent institution that began with the terrifying horrors of the Atlantic Crossing, where millions of Africans opted to commit suicide by throwing themselves overboard rather than face the unknown, to the millions that were crushed by the unceasing cruelty and demands of plantation slavery.

The well-known truism and understanding that Man was born to be free gave full expression in the dozens of revolts that epitomised the natural spirit of Man, to rebel against such forms of physical oppression.

The seminal African slave rebellion of St Dominigue, re-named Haiti, and led by Toussaint L’Ouverture; that of Berbice in 1763, led by our national hero, Cuffy, and in 1823, led by Quamina and Jack Gladstone, are examples of the resistance of African slaves to their unnatural condition as enslaved humans.

This unceasing expression of the human will to be freed, allied with the gradual support of abolition and some evangelical groups that were convinced of the immorality of this atrocity of slavery, the influence of the enlightenment; global economic changes that resulted in a decline for the need of slave labour in the Caribbean, eventually led to the abolition of the iniquitous trade in 1807.

This was followed by the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833 that became effective on August 01, 1834, and finally, full emancipation in 1838.

Of course, Emancipation did not bring any benefits in terms of compensation for the tens of thousands of African slaves, inclusive of those in the then British Guiana; instead, it resulted in the compensation of the slave owners for the loss of their slaves and labour.
It is against this background that the descendants of enslaved Africans’ demand for reparations have to be understood as just, given the hundreds of years of free and uncompensated labour, at such great human cost, which not only built and contributed to the wealth of the western industrialised countries, but which has also created defined socio-economic disparities in the global economic balance of power.

In Guyana, reference is made to the many canals that were manually dug by slaves and the seawall, the sea defence built by slaves to keep out the roaring Atlantic Ocean.
It is only apt that we refer to the still continuous, daily battles against racial discrimination that are experienced by Africans in many regions of the world. In Guyana, Afro-Guyanese are in the process of repositioning themselves after over two decades of marginalisation, driven by race-influenced socio-economic policies that have resulted in their being at a marked disadvantage.

But nevertheless, Afro-Guyanese can proudly proclaim and celebrate their rich culture that has become an indelible part of the national family, as well as their sterling contribution to the many facets of what is now a modern Guyanese nation. And this, of course, must begin with the Village Movement that has resulted in the national communities and village geographic structure; every avenue of what has evolved into the national education system; industrial science; medicine; the arts; the legal and judicial systems; trade unionism and politics; agriculture; entertainment; and sports. Truly, they deserve their place in the national calendar, as a main pillar of the Guyanese nation.

To this segment of the nation, one must extend fullest appreciation for the toil, sweat and blood, and great suffering of our Afro-Guyanese forbearers, especially their battle to forge an independent and self-sufficient life in the difficult and hostile environment of post-emancipation life.

To the wider context of the nation, emancipation greetings are extended as ONE PEOPLE, ONE NATION, ONE DESTINY to also mean freedom from all forms of prejudices, hatreds, fears, and selfishness that have become obstacles of a better understanding of us and greater appreciation of each other as Guyanese, and as a nation.

For these are the ills that are self-defeating, and can only restrict us in our spiritual and material advancement.

Most important is that the negatives, if not expunged from our psyche, prevents us as individuals and collectively from doing the very best for our country.