Dear Editor,
Saturday 12 October 2024 is the 532nd anniversary of African Holocaust Day. It is the single most important day on the Global African calendar. African Holocaust Day or the MAAFA is commemorated on 12 October because it was on this day in 1492 that Christopher Columbus arrived in the region, signaling the unbridled decimation of indigenous cultures and peoples throughout the world.
MAAFA is a Kiswahili term for “disaster” or “terrible occurrence”. MAAFA is also the word that best describes the 532 years of suffering of people of African and Indigenous descent through genocide, slavery, imperialism, colonialism, invasions, and exploitation. The MAAFA uniquely refers to the subjugation, contamination, and loss of Indigenous and African cultures, languages, and spiritual beliefs and encompasses the historic and ongoing commercial exploitation of Africa’s human and natural resources through enslavement, colonization, and neo-colonialism.
The Catholic Church is at the center of the MAAFA. It was Pope Nicolas V who issued the Papal Bull, Dum Diversas on 18 June 1452 to King Alonzo of Portugal. Dum Diversas essentially declared as ecclesiastical law that all persons who were not Christians could be enslaved, and their property seized. This along with two other Papal Bulls, Romanus Pontifex in 1455 and Inter Caetera in 1493, collectively known as the Doctrine of Discovery that led Europeans to enslave others in Africa, Asia and Latin America, leading to today’s world of White imperialism and destructive capitalism as seen through our climate change and other crises.
African enslavement was twofold. The Arab or Muslim Slave Trade that went on for 11 centuries and the European or Christian Slave Trade that went on for 4 centuries. Many Africans today don’t know their history as they have adopted their slave masters’ religions of Islam and Christianity.
The Guyana Reparations Committee (GRC) also calls for October 12 to be remembered as a day of mass murder and slavery of African people. The GRC also calls for all Guyanese of goodwill and dignity to attend ACDA’s African Holocaust Day which will be held at the Bandstand beginning 10 am on Saturday morning. It must be remembered that 473,000 Africans died during slavery in Guyana.
As I commemorate the African Holocaust, I am reminded by the selective memory and deliberate intellectualism of Clement Rohee and other politician’s politicians and ethnic entrepreneurs, both Indian and African. Clement Rohee wrote about the Summit of the Future in yesterday’s newspapers and focused on external issues such as reform of the UN etc. What he did not address were points # 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 of the Preamble; points 13, 14 and 20 of the Guiding Principles; and points 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 33 of the Commitments; and points 36 and 40 of the Actions.
Indeed, for example, Preamble 6 stated “recognizing that the decisions, actions, and inactions of present generations, have an intergenerational multiplier effect, and therefore resolving to ensure that present generations act with responsibility towards safeguarding the needs and interests of future generation”. What he did not discuss was Guiding Principle 20 “The elimination of racism, racial discrimination. And related intolerance, as well as the achievement of racial equality and the empowerment of all people, are required for a prosperous and sustainable future”.
What Rohee did not discuss was Commitment 25…” Eliminate all forms of historical and structural inequalities, including acknowledging, addressing and remedying past tragedies and their consequences, and eradicate all forms of discrimination”. As African Holocaust day is commemorated this Saturday October 12, I hope Clement Rohee takes cognizance of Ralph Ramkarran’s and Dr. Bertrand Ramcharan recent articles which acknowledge exclusion of African Guyanese and the need for a different type of constitution to enable inclusion of all in Guyana’s sustainable development.
Rohee has always spoken about Cheddi Jagan’s desires for an inclusive Guyana. Why is he not writing about this? This country is not about the PPP/C, PNC+R or AFC, it is about Guyana. What is your legacy Clement Rohee? Is it that you are PPP/C or Guyanese?
Sincerely,
Eric Phillips
Chair, Guyana Reparations
Committee
1990-91 White House Fellow