Mr. Al Gilkes perpetrated a sickening assault on Barbadian historical truth when he used his 9th January 2011 Sunday Sun newspaper column to state as follows:-
"By the end of slavery in the mid-1800s and onwards, Bajans, as we now proudly called ourselves, bluntly and vociferously refused to admit to any association with Africa"; and
"In the 1960s, we stood in solidarity as our brother and sisters in the United States fought for their freedom... But there was one thing we stubbornly refused to imitate... They reshaped their minds and renamed themselves African-Americans... We also reshaped our minds but retained ourselves as Bajans... No African in we"
Mr. Al Gilkes is totally and inexcusably wrong!
Let us begin by examining some of the most prominent black or coloured post-Emancipation 19th century Barbadians known to us today - London Bourne, Samuel Jackman Prescod, Anthony Barclay and Sir Conrad Reeves.
Of these four personalities, no less than three of them were practicing ‘Pan-Africanists’, who, not only identified with Africa, but actively engaged in organising a famous Barbadian ‘back-to-Africa’ movement! Indeed, one of them - Anthony Barclay - actually led a contingent of 346 black Barbadians back to their African ancestral homeland in 1865!
Both London Bourne and Samuel Jackman Prescod (a national hero) invested much of their time, energy and resources in helping black Barbadians realize their dreams of repatriating to Africa. This multi-pronged effort - which overlapped with Barbadian church-men establishing a "mission" in the Rio Pongas area on the west coast of Africa in the 1850's - achieved its most potent institutional structure with the establishment of the Barbados based "African Colonisation Society".
The Society spelt out its goals in February 1850, and used language which evidenced the profound connection which many black Barbadians felt with Africa.. For example, after referring to Africa as "the land of their fathers" the Society declared that:- "in striving to place themselves in a position to minister to the temporal and spiritual wants of their African brothers, the descendants of Africans in this island... reasonably expect that His (God’s) blessing will go with them."
This self-conscious identification with Africa also found expression in 19th century Barbadian newspapers, as this pro-repatriation letter in Prescod’s "Liberal Newspaper" attests:-
"Our mental powers, although shackled by the fetters of slavery, have not been extirpated... Wherever our species is found, there we instinctively feel to be because with them we are identified... The differences in language occasioned by particular localities are not enough to obliterate from our minds the identity of our origin"
Our 19th century black Barbadian ancestors were much more successful than our ‘Commission For Pan-African Affairs’ or our contemporary Rastafari Movement in expressing African consciousness in Barbados! Indeed they were so successful that hundreds, if not thousands, made the arduous oceanic journey back to Africa, and the black Barbadian society of the day supported the Barbadian town of "Crozierville" in Liberia, West Africa as well as the Rio Pongas mission for many decades.
Furthermore, somebody needs to inform Al Gilkes that the crucial scholar and activist who led the 1960's campaign in the USA to convince black Americans to reject terms such as ‘Negro’, ‘Coloured’ and ‘Black’, and instead, to embrace the term "Afro-American", was a black Barbadian by the name of Richard B. Moore.
In 1960 Moore published a book entitled "The Name ‘Negro’ - Its Origin and Evil Uses", and proceeded to launch an eventually successful effort to secure wide-spread acceptance of "Afro-American" or "African-American".
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Request For Support on the Caribbean Political Union
Dear Brother/Sister
The Clement Payne Movement of Barbados is convinced that our Caribbean leaders are giving up too easily on the imperishable dream of political union and the establishment of a Caribbean nation.
Other people have been prepared to struggle for decades and to undergo many sacrifices, including armed struggle and loss of lives, in order to achieve their goals of unity and nationhood. Our leaders, on the other hand, seem to believe that three or four decades of irritating frustrations is enough to justify their abandonment of the dream and the struggle.
Well, we beg to differ, and we are prepared to make an effort to revive and re-energise the quest for a political union of the CARICOM countries.
We really do believe that the time is ripe for the governments of the 15 Caribbean Community nations to commit themselves to a step by step process and a timetable for establishing a political union of our CARICOM states.
To this end, we have come up with the idea of drafting the text of a resolution which we propose to make available to Parliamentarians in all of the CARICOM nations. We further propose to request them to table a country specific version of this resolution in their national Parliament with a view to securing its adoption by their legislature during the year 2011.
We are sending you the text of the draft resolution – in its Barbadian guise - and are requesting that you consider this matter and give us your feedback, advise and support. The draft resolution is as follows:-
UNION OF CARIBBEAN STATES RESOLUTION
Whereas the people of the 15 member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) share a common geographical space, history, kinship and cultural identity, having undergone almost identical processes of European conquest and colonisation, forced migration from the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe, slavery, slave trade, indenture-ship, resistance to slavery and colonialism, Emancipation, labour rebellion and organization, de-colonisation and the conscious development of a Caribbean variety of political and cultural nationalism;
And whereas these common and shared realities have long impelled the people of these territories to conceive of the value and desirability of welding their relatively small separate states into one large unified multi-territory nation state under a Federal system of government;
And whereas this popular conception of geographical, political, economic and cultural unity was embraced and nurtured by the early pioneers and architects of the Caribbean Labour Movement, and found its most forceful expression during the decades of the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s in the multiple demands of the ‘Caribbean Labour Congress’ for the de-colonization and self-government of the British West Indian colonies under a unified, multi-territory Federal system of government;
And whereas the progressive political wing of the Caribbean Labour Movement gave autonomous expression to these demands with the formation in 1956 of the West Indies Federal Labour Party, a coalition of labour oriented political parties based in the various British West Indian colonies;
And whereas this deeply felt authentic popular desire for the establishment of a sovereign, independent, federated nation state of the Caribbean was frustrated and subverted through the British Colonial Office’s imposition of a colonial, non-self-governing British West Indian Federation between the years 1958 to 1962;
And whereas ever since the collapse of the British West Indies Federation in 1962 the people of the member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have been embarked on a collective journey back to realizing the unitary independent Federal nation state vision of the pioneers and architects of the Caribbean Labour Movement, a vision that is implicit in the work and ideals of the earliest craftsmen of Caribbean independence and nationhood – the leaders and statesmen of the Haitian Revolution;
And whereas, to date, the most significant landmarks in this collective journey have been the establishment in 1968 of the Caribbean Free Trade Area (CARIFTA); its transformation in 1973 into the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM); the 1981 establishment of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS); the 1989 Grand Anse Declaration committing CARICOM to the creation of a Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME); the work and the 1992 report of the independent West Indian Commission; and the inauguration in 2006 of the Caribbean Single Market;
And whereas these institutions and measures of economic integration, intra-Caribbean trade facilitation, functional cooperation and coordination of external economic relations have been important achievements, yet they fall short of the ultimate goal of political union and collective nationhood, and do not provide the people of the Caribbean Community states with a strong enough mechanism for protecting their welfare and advancing their collective economic, cultural and political objectives;
And whereas the world has entered an era fraught with dangers and disadvantages for small developing nations, and characterised by a fundamental dislocation in the European and North American based international capitalist order and a relentless system of economic globalization that is forcing small developing nations to expose themselves to the full blast of international competition;
And whereas it has become absolutely clear that the only mechanism potent enough to protect the well being and welfare of the people of the Caribbean Community states, to create a concrete and practical basis for the development of new regional industries and structures of production, to deliver enhanced economic and life opportunities to the masses of our people, to maintain the cultural uniqueness and integrity of our Caribbean region, and to ensure the continued existence of the sovereignty, independence and dignity of our people, is the merging of the separate nations of the Caribbean Community into one strong regional nation state.
It is now hereby resolved that the Government and people of Barbados:-
Agree in principle with the idea of transforming the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) into a multi-territory politically unified, nation state existing under a Federal system of government.
Commit themselves to participating in a Constitutional Convention of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states to be held in one of the said CARICOM states commencing in the month of February in the year 2016, for the purpose of devising and agreeing upon the structure and Constitution of the said nation state, as well as the formula for ratifying the said Constitution and bringing the said nation state into existence;
Commit themselves to utilising the years and months between the adoption of this resolution and the month of February 2016 to engage in a comprehensive national consultation in the Island of Barbados, designed to prepare the Barbadian people for their integration and participation in the new nation state, and to discuss, devise and agree upon the ideas and proposals that the Barbados delegates will put forward at the said Constitutional Convention;
Agree that the location and specific dates of the said Constitutional Convention shall be decided upon by a majority vote of the CARICOM heads of government assembled together in a CARICOM heads of government summit; and
Agree that each Caribbean Community (CARICOM) state that participates in the said Constitutional Convention shall be represented by a national delegation consisting of a maximum of 10 persons, of which number five shall be representatives of the governing political party, two shall be representatives of the political opposition represented in Parliament, and three shall be representatives of civil Society.
(This resolution is dedicated to the honour and revered memory of the giants of the Caribbean integration movement – Captain Arthur Cipriani, T.A. Marryshow, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Sir Grantley Adams, Robert Bradshaw, Richard Hart, C.L.R. James, Dr. Eric Williams, Forbes Burnham, Elma Francois, W.A. Domingo, Richard B. Moore, Wynter Crawford, Sir Frank Worrell, Ebenezer Duncan, William Demas, Sir Arthur Lewis, Lloyd Best, Norman and Michael Manley, Walter Rodney, Tim Hector, George Odlum, Maurice Bishop, Bob Marley and Rosie Douglas – and to the Haitian fathers of Caribbean independence and nationhood – Toussaint L’Ouverture, Jean Jacques Dessalines, Henry Christophe and Alexander Petion.)
The Clement Payne Movement of Barbados is convinced that our Caribbean leaders are giving up too easily on the imperishable dream of political union and the establishment of a Caribbean nation.
Other people have been prepared to struggle for decades and to undergo many sacrifices, including armed struggle and loss of lives, in order to achieve their goals of unity and nationhood. Our leaders, on the other hand, seem to believe that three or four decades of irritating frustrations is enough to justify their abandonment of the dream and the struggle.
Well, we beg to differ, and we are prepared to make an effort to revive and re-energise the quest for a political union of the CARICOM countries.
We really do believe that the time is ripe for the governments of the 15 Caribbean Community nations to commit themselves to a step by step process and a timetable for establishing a political union of our CARICOM states.
To this end, we have come up with the idea of drafting the text of a resolution which we propose to make available to Parliamentarians in all of the CARICOM nations. We further propose to request them to table a country specific version of this resolution in their national Parliament with a view to securing its adoption by their legislature during the year 2011.
We are sending you the text of the draft resolution – in its Barbadian guise - and are requesting that you consider this matter and give us your feedback, advise and support. The draft resolution is as follows:-
UNION OF CARIBBEAN STATES RESOLUTION
Whereas the people of the 15 member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) share a common geographical space, history, kinship and cultural identity, having undergone almost identical processes of European conquest and colonisation, forced migration from the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe, slavery, slave trade, indenture-ship, resistance to slavery and colonialism, Emancipation, labour rebellion and organization, de-colonisation and the conscious development of a Caribbean variety of political and cultural nationalism;
And whereas these common and shared realities have long impelled the people of these territories to conceive of the value and desirability of welding their relatively small separate states into one large unified multi-territory nation state under a Federal system of government;
And whereas this popular conception of geographical, political, economic and cultural unity was embraced and nurtured by the early pioneers and architects of the Caribbean Labour Movement, and found its most forceful expression during the decades of the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s in the multiple demands of the ‘Caribbean Labour Congress’ for the de-colonization and self-government of the British West Indian colonies under a unified, multi-territory Federal system of government;
And whereas the progressive political wing of the Caribbean Labour Movement gave autonomous expression to these demands with the formation in 1956 of the West Indies Federal Labour Party, a coalition of labour oriented political parties based in the various British West Indian colonies;
And whereas this deeply felt authentic popular desire for the establishment of a sovereign, independent, federated nation state of the Caribbean was frustrated and subverted through the British Colonial Office’s imposition of a colonial, non-self-governing British West Indian Federation between the years 1958 to 1962;
And whereas ever since the collapse of the British West Indies Federation in 1962 the people of the member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have been embarked on a collective journey back to realizing the unitary independent Federal nation state vision of the pioneers and architects of the Caribbean Labour Movement, a vision that is implicit in the work and ideals of the earliest craftsmen of Caribbean independence and nationhood – the leaders and statesmen of the Haitian Revolution;
And whereas, to date, the most significant landmarks in this collective journey have been the establishment in 1968 of the Caribbean Free Trade Area (CARIFTA); its transformation in 1973 into the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM); the 1981 establishment of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS); the 1989 Grand Anse Declaration committing CARICOM to the creation of a Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME); the work and the 1992 report of the independent West Indian Commission; and the inauguration in 2006 of the Caribbean Single Market;
And whereas these institutions and measures of economic integration, intra-Caribbean trade facilitation, functional cooperation and coordination of external economic relations have been important achievements, yet they fall short of the ultimate goal of political union and collective nationhood, and do not provide the people of the Caribbean Community states with a strong enough mechanism for protecting their welfare and advancing their collective economic, cultural and political objectives;
And whereas the world has entered an era fraught with dangers and disadvantages for small developing nations, and characterised by a fundamental dislocation in the European and North American based international capitalist order and a relentless system of economic globalization that is forcing small developing nations to expose themselves to the full blast of international competition;
And whereas it has become absolutely clear that the only mechanism potent enough to protect the well being and welfare of the people of the Caribbean Community states, to create a concrete and practical basis for the development of new regional industries and structures of production, to deliver enhanced economic and life opportunities to the masses of our people, to maintain the cultural uniqueness and integrity of our Caribbean region, and to ensure the continued existence of the sovereignty, independence and dignity of our people, is the merging of the separate nations of the Caribbean Community into one strong regional nation state.
It is now hereby resolved that the Government and people of Barbados:-
Agree in principle with the idea of transforming the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) into a multi-territory politically unified, nation state existing under a Federal system of government.
Commit themselves to participating in a Constitutional Convention of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states to be held in one of the said CARICOM states commencing in the month of February in the year 2016, for the purpose of devising and agreeing upon the structure and Constitution of the said nation state, as well as the formula for ratifying the said Constitution and bringing the said nation state into existence;
Commit themselves to utilising the years and months between the adoption of this resolution and the month of February 2016 to engage in a comprehensive national consultation in the Island of Barbados, designed to prepare the Barbadian people for their integration and participation in the new nation state, and to discuss, devise and agree upon the ideas and proposals that the Barbados delegates will put forward at the said Constitutional Convention;
Agree that the location and specific dates of the said Constitutional Convention shall be decided upon by a majority vote of the CARICOM heads of government assembled together in a CARICOM heads of government summit; and
Agree that each Caribbean Community (CARICOM) state that participates in the said Constitutional Convention shall be represented by a national delegation consisting of a maximum of 10 persons, of which number five shall be representatives of the governing political party, two shall be representatives of the political opposition represented in Parliament, and three shall be representatives of civil Society.
(This resolution is dedicated to the honour and revered memory of the giants of the Caribbean integration movement – Captain Arthur Cipriani, T.A. Marryshow, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Sir Grantley Adams, Robert Bradshaw, Richard Hart, C.L.R. James, Dr. Eric Williams, Forbes Burnham, Elma Francois, W.A. Domingo, Richard B. Moore, Wynter Crawford, Sir Frank Worrell, Ebenezer Duncan, William Demas, Sir Arthur Lewis, Lloyd Best, Norman and Michael Manley, Walter Rodney, Tim Hector, George Odlum, Maurice Bishop, Bob Marley and Rosie Douglas – and to the Haitian fathers of Caribbean independence and nationhood – Toussaint L’Ouverture, Jean Jacques Dessalines, Henry Christophe and Alexander Petion.)
Saturday, January 1, 2011
REPARATIONS (11)
(Excerpts from the book Marching Down The Wide Streets of Tomorrow)
If the people of Africa and the African Diaspora are to move forward there must be a fundamental restructuring of the international economic system. There must be wide-spread foreign debt cancellation, massive technology transfers from North to South, substantial capital inflows from Europe and North America, reconstruction of the major international economic and political institutions in order to make...Buy the Book and read more...
REPARATIONS (1)
(Excerpts from the book Marching Down The Wide Streets of Tomorrow)
Recently, there has been a lot of talk about 'Reparations'!
Some are saying that reparations are owed to Black or Africans people and nations and that the achievement of reparations is a path out of the debt, unemployment and poverty that plague so many of our people.
However, other persons maintain that it is impractical to pursue reparations and that the campaign for reparations will only sow...Buy the Book and read more...
Recently, there has been a lot of talk about 'Reparations'!
Some are saying that reparations are owed to Black or Africans people and nations and that the achievement of reparations is a path out of the debt, unemployment and poverty that plague so many of our people.
However, other persons maintain that it is impractical to pursue reparations and that the campaign for reparations will only sow...Buy the Book and read more...
The 'House Negro'
(Excerpts from the book Marching Down The Wide Streets of Tomorrow)
LEGENDARY artist and civil rights activist, Harry Belafonte caused quite a stir in the United Sates with his denuciation of then Secretary of State Colin Powell, as a 'house Negro'who slavishly does the bidding and curries the favour of the white ruling class as represented by President George Bush.
Mr. Belafonte's internationally publicised statement has brought about the rebirth of a descriptive term - 'house Negro' which was....Buy the Book and read more..
LEGENDARY artist and civil rights activist, Harry Belafonte caused quite a stir in the United Sates with his denuciation of then Secretary of State Colin Powell, as a 'house Negro'who slavishly does the bidding and curries the favour of the white ruling class as represented by President George Bush.
Mr. Belafonte's internationally publicised statement has brought about the rebirth of a descriptive term - 'house Negro' which was....Buy the Book and read more..
The Inconvenient Truth About Wilberforce
(Excerpts from the book Marching Down The Wide Streets of Tomorrow)
Two hundred years ago, when the United Kingdom Parliament abolished the British trade in enslaved Africans, the English 'establishment' indulged in an 'orgy' of self-congratulations!
They positively wallowed in smug and sentimental self-satisfaction and declared to themselves and to the world at large that they...Buy the Book and read more...
Two hundred years ago, when the United Kingdom Parliament abolished the British trade in enslaved Africans, the English 'establishment' indulged in an 'orgy' of self-congratulations!
They positively wallowed in smug and sentimental self-satisfaction and declared to themselves and to the world at large that they...Buy the Book and read more...
Bicentenary Blues
(Excerpts from the book Marching Down The Wide Streets of Tomorrow)
The Government of Barbados commemorated the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British trade in enslaved Africans by having Barbados' Minister of foreign Affairs, Dame Billie MIller, made a speech in which she stated that we Barbadians should take pride in the fact that 'Barbadian slaves' were 'among the most industrious'!
She also proclaimed to the world that we...Buy the Book and read more.....
The Government of Barbados commemorated the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British trade in enslaved Africans by having Barbados' Minister of foreign Affairs, Dame Billie MIller, made a speech in which she stated that we Barbadians should take pride in the fact that 'Barbadian slaves' were 'among the most industrious'!
She also proclaimed to the world that we...Buy the Book and read more.....
Cultural Schizophrenia (11)
(Excerpts from the book Marching Down The Wide Streets of Tomorrow)
Thank God for George Lamming!
Once again our great West Indian novelist has publicly expressed a critique of our Barbadian society, so enlightening and truthful, that it has sent our local agents of conservatism and anti-intellectualism rushing into print to attempt to defend the indefensible.
On this occasion, Mr. Lamming was giving the final lecture in a series of lectures organised by....Buy the Book and read more....
Cultural Schizophrenia (1)
(Excerpts from the book Marching Down The Wide Streets of Tomorrow)
A few years ago, the great Caribbean writer, George Lamming sparked off a national debate on the issue of black consciousness and black culture.
I firmly believe that the finding of the correct 'answer' to this issue will be of crucial importance to the future progress of this young nation, and grateful to Mr. Lamming for having raised this subject.
The starting point of any examination of the culture and consciousness of the Barbadian, must be our historical experience of...Buy the Book and read more...
A few years ago, the great Caribbean writer, George Lamming sparked off a national debate on the issue of black consciousness and black culture.
I firmly believe that the finding of the correct 'answer' to this issue will be of crucial importance to the future progress of this young nation, and grateful to Mr. Lamming for having raised this subject.
The starting point of any examination of the culture and consciousness of the Barbadian, must be our historical experience of...Buy the Book and read more...
The Roots of Emancipation in Barbados
(Excerpts from the book Marching Down The Wide Streets of Tomorrow)
SUNDAY, April 14, 1816 saw the occurrence of one of the most important events in the history of Barbados, an event that ultimately led, 150 years later, to the historic happenings of November 30,1966 - the political independence of Barbados.
On that fateful Sunday, thousands of enslaved and exploited black Barbadians rose up in open rebellion against the bloody - minded, repressive, slave-holding elite that dominated Barbadian Society. This rebellion, popularly known as Bussa's Rebellion, began....Buy the book and read more.
Back To The Future
(Excerpts from the book Marching Down The Wide Streets of Tomorrow)
Nations, like social groups and individuals, have choices to make. And one of the most important choices they face is the choice as to what aspect of their historical heritage they should seek to identify with and valorise. This is an extremely important matter for an individual or a nation, since it determines the outline of the type of personal and national culture that will be developed in the present and the future.
Let us be clear about this: historically, Barbados was one of the most oppressive societies in the world, and the oligarchical slave-ocracy of Barbados was one of the most cynical and wicked ruling classes ever produced. Buy the Book and read more....
Nations, like social groups and individuals, have choices to make. And one of the most important choices they face is the choice as to what aspect of their historical heritage they should seek to identify with and valorise. This is an extremely important matter for an individual or a nation, since it determines the outline of the type of personal and national culture that will be developed in the present and the future.
Let us be clear about this: historically, Barbados was one of the most oppressive societies in the world, and the oligarchical slave-ocracy of Barbados was one of the most cynical and wicked ruling classes ever produced. Buy the Book and read more....
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