– Eddy Grant on reparations

IN the wake of the killing of George Floyd, protests around the globe have accelerated, but these will not change the course of history, if “the elephant in the room” is not addressed. That issue, according to Guyanese international recording artiste, Eddy Grant, is reparations.

During a half-hour-long impromptu discourse on the ongoing protests in the United States and Britain, as well as other nations, such as Australia, Grant said on his YouTube account that while protesting in the streets is “alright”, it does not take away from the fact that it has never changed the course of history as he noted that “black people” are still being beaten. ”They are beating them everywhere, from Australia to the United States of America,” he said.

He clarified the school of thought which states “we are not black, we are Africans”. He said persons “have been made black,” noting that they are the descendants of Africans.

PROTESTS AND REPARATIONS

Grant, who is known for hits such as “Gimme hope Joanna”, said thousands are marching, based on the fact that they want to change particular social conditions in their own countries. He said there is “no change” adding if there has to be one, “let there be a change of significant proportions.”

He said the white man, who benefitted from the slave trade, should use their conscience and address the issue of reparations. He said hundreds of millions of people were killed, and punished wantonly, all in the name of slavery.

“Tell me that you are in the streets to force your governments to look at the issue of reparations for Africans, the descendants of Africans,” he said.

Grant said the protests ongoing worldwide are like a “fashion”, noting persons have walked past the heinous crime of slavery. ”African enslavement and that which came with it and white empowerment, is the last unresolved issue in the world today,” he said. The “Electric Avenue “ superstar noted that incidents will recur, as he recalled that Rodney King was a victim of the police brutality which has continued throughout time since that incident.

ALL LIVES MATTER

He said what he wrote about the issue of reparations over the years , noting that ”it’s just like you marching through the streets,” and added that, when Africans are financed through reparations, they will be able to have better opportunities such as nations which have managed to have states within states. “This is not just about America and Britain. This is about a world that has made impoverished a set of people, who are equally, if not more valuable, because history tells us, that they created you.”

He said walking in the streets saying Black Lives Matter “it will not cure” the issues. According to Grant, black lives “have always mattered.”

As he opined, the personal interests by those on the protest line, he said that persons can now hang their own personal grouses along with the black people who have genuine grouses. ”You are walking in the streets because you want to get rid of your President; this is your president, Donald Trump,” he said. Grant said persons should go to their governments and say “we don’t want to be fighting black people in the future,” noting that the minority group should be taken to the table to be a part of the conversation.

Social change
Grant said that he wrote songs on reparation issues, many of which have not been played by the powers that be. He said his music has brought out many fans including White South Africans.

He said “white people have already messed up this world,” noting that black people do not make guns. He said all the killings and murders have occurred because the majority have made the ammunition as well as the elements which have destroyed the environment.
“When are you going to do that,” he asked of the white man as regards taking responsibility for actions aimed at destroying the earth.

Grant said Africans have been made poor. “Africans are not poor, Africans have every single thing that God has put on this earth for the benefit of all mankind,” he said.
He said in the US there is no “Black Media” adding that this is why there is so much “black ignorance” in that country where black youth are killing each other in the ghettos. “Withdraw your vote from all these elections and nonsense, they are not from you,” he said adding that even the person seeking one’s vote who is black, is being used.

MANDELA AND PEACE

He said that society has been ostracized. “You had Mandela waiting in prison to be killed. Today, he is like God, how come? “ he questioned, noting that the “right” that Mandela and other black South Africans fought for is there.
He said the world is much less of a world because the white man who engaged in African slavery refuses to deal with the matter “fairly” and “equitably”.
“Let’s decide that we are going live in peace and the only way to peace is that we look after “the outstanding matter, that is the elephant in the room, that is causing the room to stink,” Grant added.

Grant had a message for the protestors. “Now is the time for you, all of you who are in the streets. I know you are not there for us; if you had been there for us, you would be there for the major crime, which has made you careless, arrogant in the world, that would be reparation,” he said.