Dear Editor,

ON ships we came. In chains we were bound. Like cargo we were treated. Their properties we were. Language forcibly removed from us. Culture forcibly removed from us. Religion forcibly removed from us. Names forcibly removed from us. Human rights forcibly removed from us. Resources forcibly removed from us. All stolen. All denied. De jure but now de facto. Unilateral contract. Our daily pay cheques were rapes, murders, forced labour and whippings. Whipping keloid scars the evidence. Psychological scars still evident. Millions died. Millions survived. Millions fought. Millions liberated. Harriet Tubman. Our ancestors. Our strength. Our driving force.

And this day we celebrate their emancipation. Their physically emancipation. Psychological emancipation far from a reality. How did they do it? Over 400 years of dehumanising mistreatment. Heads held high. Proud people from the African Continent. Doctors. Lawyers. Economists. Accountants et al. Slaves. Enslaved.
Why they did it? Who aided and abetted these heinous crimes? Where were the condemnations from the religious leaders? Where were the condemnations from the moral leaders? Where were our brothers to protect us? Our brothers’ keepers. We know who bought us. We are still uncertain of who sold us. We were sold. We were the de jure properties of the masters. The European countries. The Western nations. Their countries we built. Their Empire built by our sweat and blood. Yes our blood. Now they demand visas of us.

We are no longer being whipped and raped into submission. We are now being shot dead. George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Atatiana Jefferson. Aura Rosser. Stephon Clark. Botham Jean. Philando Castille. Alton Sterling. Michelle Cusseaux. Freddie Gray. Janisha Fonville. Eric Garner. Akai Gurley. Gabriella Nevarez. Tamir Rice. Michael Brown. Tanisha Anderson. 1640 slave descendants murdered in America from 2014-2019. Hundreds murdered under the PPP from 1992-2015. Courtney Crum-Ewing, Ronald Waddell, Yohance Douglas, Oliver Springer et al. Are we free? Are we really free?

Seriously! Are we really free? No longer physical chains on our ankles. Now psychological chains to impede our progress. Systemic racism. Institutional racism. Covert racism. State-sponsored racism. Overt racism. Aversive racism. Cultural racism. Racial segregation. Direct discrimination. Indirect discrimination. Apartheid. Jim Crow laws. They use us to kill us. They teach us to hate us. Our invisible chains.

For these atrocities reparations we demanded. Reparations denied. Apology we demanded. Apology denied. Discrimination they gave us. Victimisation they gave us. Incarcerations they gave us. Death they gave us. Are we scarred for life? We are scarred daily. We continue to fight. Fight for basic human rights. Fight for equality. Fight for equity. Fight for diversity in our workplaces. Fight for a home. Fight to live. Not live to fight. We will never give up. Our ancestors never did. Over four hundred years they fought. They fought for us. Their descendants. Now the baton to freedom is in our hands. Not to be dropped. Stay focus we must. Stay in lane. Prison awaits us. To new heights we will rise. Heights that 182 years from now, our descendants will celebrate us. So my brothers and sisters, hold your heads up high. Chins up. Your lives matter. They matter to future generations. Happy Emancipation struggle.
Regards,
Dr. Mark Devonish