Every year we celebrate Emancipation and still some people are yet to be free. The perpetual cycle of rituals creates a sense of security in some. Comfortable are many in the illusions of freedom. Words are spoken without actions to match. Have we regressed since the early days of walking off the plantations? Are we comfortable in the arms of the oppressors working unapologetically on tightening the new chains?
Spiritually, how are we? Do we only kneel and raise our hands hoping that a saviour will come and rescue us? Are our many prayers sufficient for our survival? Are we waiting for a seat in heaven beyond the clouds without thinking about how we can create heaven while the breath of life is in us? Weak are those who know not how to help themselves. Lost are those who forget where they have come from. When we turn our backs on the God that is in us, our power to be and knowledge of self, we are like ships drifting at sea without a sense of direction.
Culturally, how are we? For many, Emancipation Day is just a fashion show. Yes, the fashion, the food, the dancing, and the music are an integral part of enjoying freedom, but we must also focus on the changes needed to sustain us. The disharmony, the desperation for relevance at the tables where one’s brothers and sisters are not welcomed while undermining them will never be to the advancement of the collective. What is left of who we once were? The ways of our ancestors that they managed to preserve after the ships, the dehumanisation, the revolutions, and freedom, how much do our children know?
We pour libation and some call it demonic. We stand at the ocean and honour the millions who were sent across the waters and the numbers who attend are few. Women dressed in white and singing songs are not called angels but are mocked and demonized. The misunderstandings and demonization of African religiosity grows deeper with time. Drums beating no longer speak to many of us. We choose to fight against ourselves trying not to resemble those who walked off the plantations, those who drown at sea, those who dirtied their hands to the detriment of their people, those who mourned for the stolen ones and those who were never lost.
People of African descent must stand strong in their Guyanese identity. However, to amalgamate should not mean that we must dissociate from that which made our ancestors great. We are one human race. We evolved into diverse groups of people more similar than different. Through our diversity there is strength. When we stand firm in our ways that make us different, we are respected and valued in the collective.
Our African ancestors long before the ships and colonisers secured their place on this Earth. They created, invented, and progressed, but they were not only admired and envied, but also hated by some. Self-love sets people free.
Economically, how are we? We sit on ancestral lands, yet some of us are homeless. Still, some of us must squat. With every coin that our ancestors spent to secure plots for their descendants, the reality now is that some of us would have been bulldozed from our homes. The disrespect is rife and some of the oppressors faces look like us. Men walk around being controlled like robots. Children cry, women wail, and men express their anger, but they do nothing to untie their hands, and yet some believe that we are all free.
In this season of hope and promise in Guyana, black gold flows through the veins of those with their hands in the pot. The two Guyanas are evident. There are gated communities and new housing schemes while dilapidated dwellings are feet away and the poor who live there are ignored and forgotten. Friends and family of those who sit in the seats of power seem to be benefitting the most in this season. What place where all are free, respected and treated equally would only a small circle benefit the most from our resources? This, while poverty would not loosen its grip on the necks of some.
Freed people work with the system expecting that it would be fair to them and give them what they need to live a comfortable life, but the system seeks to continue to oppress them. The cycle of working against the advancement of each generation continues. Like the teachers of Guyana calling for respect and living wages. It is a crime for people to be expected to just exist and not live. But the people are often treated like criminals here. Deemed too bold and too greedy for just asking for what they deserve. The hands of those who make the trillion dollar budgets, who return to parliament for billions tell the people of this country that 6 and 7 percent is what they deserve. What would our ancestors say?
Are we unified?
On this Emancipation, even groups that are supposed to be for the interests and advancement of people of African descent seemed to participate in the undermining of the people standing as one. The Association of People of African Descent (APAD) which was formed last year created their own Emancipation activity in Georgetown. Many believe it was an attempt to undermine the annual Emancipation festival that is hosted by the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) which is usually held in the National Park. APAD’s event was supposed to be held at Malteenoes Sports Ground, which is near the National Park, but then was moved to Sophia Exhibition Centre.
On this Emancipation, we saw who is for unifying the people and who seeks to continue to carry out the mission of divide and conquer. Standing together will always be a strength of people who truly want to be free. Division only works to the benefit of those who want to tighten the chains.
Let us be reminded, that it was not cowards who fought for freedom. They were resilient, brilliant, and courageous. They knew the importance of unity and empowering the next generation. They pooled their resources to purchase lands and create villages around this country. They looked in the faces of their oppressors and demonstrated that they knew who they were. Today, 186 years later, do we know who we are and what freedom really means?
