Dear Editor,
The year 2007 marks the bi-centennial of the abolition of the trade of African captives. This year is of enormous importance and significance to persons of African descent whose ancestors were enslaved and transported to the New World.
Commemoration activities are being planned throughout the Diaspora- in the United Kingdom, USA and the English-speaking Carribean. Linkages are being planned among Civic groups in Guyana, Jamaica, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and University of West Indies at its campuses at Mona, Cave Hill and St. Augustine as well as the University of Guyana at Turkeyen.
A series of events is being planned by Civic groups to commemorate the bi-centennial of the abolition of the trade
The 170th anniversary of Emancipation will also be celebrated in 2008.Conscious of the importance of these historical developments and their impact on African- Guyanese, a Committee has been established with the mandate to formulate a programme for the commemoration of the bi-centennial of the Abolition and Emancipation events in Guyana.
The Committee, which is broad-based and representative of various opinions in the African-Guyanese community, is of the view that the bi-centennial is an occasion for serious reflection on the suffering and subjugation of our African ancestors and of veneration for their sacrifice, struggle and survival as a People.
The activities being planned will reflect on the African presence, their experiences under the brutal slave regimes, their contribution to the social, cultural and national development of Guyana, from the seventeenth century to contemporary times.
The Committee is in the process of formulating a programme commencing on 1st March , with this statement, and extending through to August 2008, the actual month of the 170th anniversary of Emancipation. The primary focus of the Committee, is to re-ignite and heighten the awareness of African Guyanese of their contribution to Independence and nation-building long before 1763. The opportunity must be taken today to put Abolition in its true perspective, for while the anti-slavery societies were important in the abolition movement, it was primarily due to the resistance, revolts and insurrections of captured Africans and slaves that erupted in various places before 1807 that abolition was achieved and countries like Guyana received Manumission and Emancipation.
The awareness initiative of the Committee is destined for schools, churches and particularly young people of African descent in urban and rural areas.
Consultations have already commenced with like-minded groups, and the Committee will soon release a comprehensive programme outlining activities which are expected to commence in March 2007.
At this critical juncture in the history of Guyana, it is imperative that all African-Guyanese join and participate in this important endeavour.
Yours faithfully,
Committee for
the Commemoration
of the 200th Anniversary
ACDA African Welfare
Council
Pan African Movement