Speech Given at launch of Governments Reparation Initiative First let us give thanks unto His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I. He is the perfect example for man in this time. By his example with the Italians in 1941, upon his return to the throne, we now know how to deal with those who have once hurt us as Africans collectively. Give thanks unto the elders of the Rastafari Movement, more specifically the Theocracy Reign Order of the Nyabinghi, for giving me the opportunity to represent them on the National Reparations Committee and ensure their concerns are met in the process. Finally I would like to pay special homage to our ancestors; those who lived and died, toiled, fought and suffered, for I and I to be here today. I am grateful to be their voice and speak for those who suffered in dungeons like El Mina; those who endured the rape and torture of vessels of victimization, like “The Good Ship Jesus” captained by hooligans like John Hawkins; only to be mutilated on plantations like those owned by Lord John Rolle in Exuma or the Johnston or Whylly plantations of New Providence, where no amount of benevolence could ameliorate the brutality of the despotism. It is their voice that needs to be heard in this whole reparation exercise. It is them whose honour we work for in this Committee. In that vein let us have a moment of silence in honour of our ancestors, those whose blood ran like rivers from lands like these, across the Atlantic and back to Africa our home. While we are silent call, in your mind, the names of any ancestor you would like to remember... Our memory is their veneration, especially family members... There is no better way to pay tribute our ancestors than by using the gifts they have left behind for us. Therefore I would like to start with the words of one of our greatest local ancestors, Sir Lynden Pindling. He visited the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation in 1965, and these were his words, “For the last three centuries a powerful ethnic minority has, with the support of the United Kingdom Government controlled the political, economic and social life of the country and silenced all opposition... The Bahamas, which has been under the domination of European powers since the landing of Christopher Columbus in 1492, were often represented as a tourist paradise: however they were anything but a paradise for the indigenous population... For three centuries the British have never introduced any development plan... to improve the situation of the people both socially and or economically and we are now paying for centuries of neglect....” These words put the British Government square in the seat of responsibility, for colonialism and slavery, along with the locals elites, who benefitted. Today we begin the process of holding them accountable as we Africans are still suffering, ‘paying for centuries of neglect...”; even to the point of turning on ourselves through crime. We have not created this system though. The British Government and the local elites created a desperate situation for the enslaved African and crafted a legacy to permanently disadvantage their descendants. They created a system in which: 1) The cost of living was high (to make it harder to rise out of poverty). 2) Social conditions were poor (to keep one trying to survive instead of live). 3) Educational system was insufficient (focused more on keeping the people ignorant of opportunities). 4) Social mobility limited (heavily contingent on one’s ability to deny indigenous/African culture). 5) Economic opportunity monopolised (establishing a local Kleptocracy). 6) Local culture suppressed (relegating it to exotic, but unwelcomed in officialdom). 7) All the land was hoarded (by this same elite). We Africans have had to endure this scenario from we were first forcibly introduced into to this New World of Misery. From then to now, power, locally has consisted of a concocted arrangement negotiated between the British Government (its agents and agencies) along with local Whites (and now a minority of assimilated negropeans). They have conspired to permanently oppress the enslaved African and his descendants; permanently depress our aspirations; while permanently suppress our culture and its impact on the trajectory of national development. It is the systematic nature of this crime against humanity, which vilifies its perpetrators for eternity. After centuries of resisting this scourge and its metamorphosis (colonialism to neo-colonialism; imperialism to globalisation; capitalism to socialism; slavery and racism to liberalisation) we have come to know certain truths... We Africans have and will continue to excel, despite being disadvantaged. Yes! We will go farther on our own laurels and efforts than their remuneration could ever take us! However we must never forget that a debt is still owed. This is because the British Monarchy is still considered the Head of State, the benefits of which were evidence by the recent visit of Prince Harry. The local bourgeoisie maintain the old regime in which, those who wish to excel must either suck up to those who monopolise both power and resources or suffer in silence, as they seemed to have even induced all of the contemporary leaders of institutions that traditionally helped and fought for the masses of Africans, the descendants of the enslaved. The boys club still exists. From Roland Symonette to Brent Symonette, the same people still run the economy. So we the descendants of the enslaved need to know who these people and their descendants are who benefitted for our tragedy; from our forced labour without compensation; from appropriation of our lands; from the rape of our mothers, sisters and brothers. Yes the rape of some of our brothers. It needs to be aired that it was H.G. Christie who initiated the incarceration of those three brave women in Cat Island who resisted his appropriation of land they used to feed their families. It was the Colonial Government who supported him and sentenced them to prison for refusal to apologise to him and surrender their birthright. Only Majority Rule freed them. It needs to be told that the developers of Lyford Cay removed Ann Deveaux, who lived and worked that land in the 1930s. The abuse began in the 15th century but continued straight through to the 21st century. Those who benefitted and their descendants are still here. They now use their wealth and their benevolence to obfuscate but could never eliminate the inextricable truth of our narrative. They cloak themselves in secrecy; hiding in plain view of our ignorance induced admiration. We, the sufferers of the Stockholm syndrome, have forgotten about the Deveauxs, the Wells, the Deans, the Rolles, the Pritchards, the Kellys, the Roberts, the Solomons, the Symonettes; but our ancestors have not. I know there are many would who like to continue to forget ourstory. It’s the easy things to do. I know there will be those who object to this initiative. I ask them: If your mother (and really envision the face of your real mother) was kidnapped, forced to work for John Masters, who raped her and got rich from her free labour, thereby affording a life of opulence for himself and his generations to come, while your mother and her future generations, meaning you, had to work exponentially harder than John Masters and his lineage, for a mere survival. Then you had to work for John Masters and his family and fight them for fair treatment and wages so you could buy the land from him that your mother worked for free. Wouldn’t you want someone to acknowledge and repair the damage and pain; not only for that of your mother, but for what you have to endure also? Wouldn’t you feel someone owed you something, while you worked for your own development? Well for almost everyone one in this region with melanated skins; this is our story. This is what happened to our mothers and fathers. All we are saying throughout the Diaspora is not that we want your things; your wealth, cars, houses and belongings. We have full confidence to do it ourselves, we did it for you. What we want through reparations is to repair the historical damage and to reverse the social, economical, and cultural disadvantages that linger as a result of the comprehensive nature of this system we have now inherited. So pervasive is this system that even our African elite who have inherited it have been duped into reinforcing and upholding it as opposed to, as our youth say, “Mash it down”! So what we seek on behalf of our ancestors and ourselves is healing, is restoration, is advancement and development. What we seek is reparations! The Jews have been compensated for their holocaust. What they endured is a Sunday walk in the park, in terms of duration, severity and pervasiveness compared to our Maafa. The reparation that we seek also includes the Jews, who benefitted as financers of many of those vessels of victimisation. The reparation that we seek is one that comes from penance of an apology; redress of past wrongs; remuneration for damages; expiation of exploitation; and restitution of what was lost. It is that we seek from both partners in that marriage of mischief and mayhem between colonial/imperial and local powers. According to Sir Randol Fawkes, another great ancestor, “It is our conviction that colonialism in the Bahamas... impedes the social, economic and cultural development...” He furthers, “According to the United Kingdom, we are not Africans....We study British history...British Culture, even British weather but about ourselves we have no past- and in colonialism, no future...” Through these words to the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation we see that in officialdom there was no room for African cultural identity. This cultural racism forced even those who inherit it to conform to colonial cultural traits as the yardstick. This is the trajectory of oppression and neglect the Bahamas was put on from Columbus landed in 1492 and continued by the Eleutheran Adventurers who came looking for personal freedom but continue the subjugation of the Africans who too survived the tragedy and probably saved some of them. It was exacerbated by the Loyalists. Before the Loyalist brought their enslaved Africans it was said that most of the settlers had become lazy. Nassau was a dirty little run down city with overgrown bush, narrow unpaved streets, and the only stone buildings were Vendue House, a church, a jail and the House of Assembly. All this changed with the coming of the Loyalists; brand new House of Assembly, new forts new churches new settlements in the Family Islands. All courtesy of the free labour of the enslaved Africans who had been brought along with the Loyalists. It is said The Loyalist changed the landscape and prosperity of the islands of the Bahamas. It is even said the greatest impact was the introduction of so many enslaved Africans. It is not said how the accomplishments and contributions of these Africans would not be recognised, nor would their pain and suffering; from then to now. As a result of this trajectory the Bahamas’ development has been retarded, ignoring its most vital resource, and the majority of its citizens, the Africans, descendants of the enslaved, must struggle to find identity, culture and heritage. As we continue this journey of the displaced, finding ourselves, what we are asking for our brothers and sisters in humanity is acknowledgement of the truth and repairing those damages to even the playing field and continue the Bahamas and the world on a path of true development. Failure to do so, for us all will mean more of the same; the same moral decline; the same social decay; the same economic instability. Through penance comes healing. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable on thy sight...Haile I Selassie I Jah Rastafari!
Posted on: Sun, 15 Jun 2014 17:59:12 +0000
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