GUYANA joins with the rest of the Anglophone Caribbean in celebrating another Emancipation anniversary. We take this opportunity to salute our African-Guyanese brothers and sisters as, with the rest of Guyana, they celebrate what is easily the most important day on their calendar, and by extension the Guyanese calendar.On August 1, 1838, the wall of formal slavery was shattered, bringing to an end the most inhuman institution in the history of humanity. Emancipation Day, then, is an important moment, for it represents a new beginning for a people whose cultures and identities were forcefully interrupted. The institution of slavery had not only bound people against their will, but had introduced one of the most destructive ideologies: Racism, which eventually became a defining mode of social, political and economic organization, and would go on to outlive slavery itself.

Slavery was a global phenomenon designed and executed by Europeans in pursuit of accumulation of the wealth upon which present-day European development was built. This is a critical aspect of the Emancipation story, as it explains the current disparity in development among countries. It was this theory that was so ably articulated by our own Dr. Walter Rodney in his famous book, ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’.

Our developmental challenges in Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean can be linked directly to the slavery phenomenon. Haiti, which dared to overthrow slavery in the most dramatic way, still pays the price for that act; its extreme poverty ultimately is a result of retaliation from France and other Eurocentric powers.

Another significance of Emancipation is that it not only draws attention to the horrors of slavery, but represents in a profound way the overcoming of slavery. It is often a forgotten aspect of the Emancipation narrative. Resistance to enslavement was an integral part of the period of enslavement. Whether it was the runaway slaves or the numerous slave uprisings, the enslaved Africans did not surrender to slavery. Here, in Guyana, the famous uprisings of 1763 and 1823 are inscribed in our consciousness. Emancipation, therefore, came not through the slave masters’ change of heart, but by the persistent resistance of the enslaved.

Emancipation also became the springboard for the historic Village Movement. Mere months out of bondage, the freed Africans bought lands and turned them into villages. In so doing, they transformed Guyana from a slave castle to a bastion of civilization. What we now know as the Guyanese nation can trace its practical roots to the Village Movement. This movement is unique to Guyana; it was not replicated in other parts of the African Diaspora — it is African-Guyanese gift to Guyana and the world.

While Emancipation is an African-Guyanese-grounded experience, it has had wider consequences. When African-Guyanese won their freedom, they ensured that other Guyanese who arrived after Emancipation would not come in chains. Emancipation freed all Guyanese from slavery. It is therefore more than an African-Guyanese phenomenon; it is deeply rooted in the evolution of the Guyanese nation.

Finally, we wish to emphasise that Emancipation is both a moment and a process. The moment in 1838 closed formal slavery, but the legacy of enslavement still haunts Africans all over the diaspora. What Eusi Kwayana calls “the scars of bondage” are still vey raw in some regards.

The challenges facing African-Guyanese in 2016 can be traced right back to the period of enslavement; so overcoming those challenges requires, first and foremost, recognition of their origins. So, as we observe another Emancipation anniversary, let us as a nation redouble our efforts to wipe away the blood and tears of slavery, and make Emancipation a reality of freedom, equality and justice for the sons and daughters of the enslaved, and for all Guyanese, regardless of race, ethnicity and culture. In the end, our diverse Guyana is enriched when each ethnic group overcomes.