In the occasion of the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, I bring you the following brief message from the Caribbean Community to the world:
The fact that the commemoration of this occasion echoes across so many cities, states, island nations and continents is testimony to the pervasive and persistent influence of that most insidious period in human history. The theme of this commemorative event organised by the Government of Guyana, to mark the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade – The Middle Passage to Nationhood – is most apt but there is an awful lot of water – rough waters in between.
Words can never adequately describe human slavery as a concept, or the slave trade as a practice. The Trans-Atlantic slave trade in Africans – let us call it what it was – with its repulsive and inhuman character, was a human atrocity of global proportion organised to satisfy an economic need (mainly of European Society). In that process, it relegated human beings to property – chattel. It justified widespread, systemic and prolonged African enslavement, for profit, through an ideology of racism, resulting in virtual genocide.
The 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade is therefore a historical milestone which presents us all with an opportunity for reflection, for teaching; for healing, and for building a better world.
CARICOM’s theme for the observance of this Bicentenary – CARICOM Reflects…..Never Forget – should probably be enlarged to also add – … And Never Again in the history of mankind! Let us therefore use this opportunity to recall the facts of this protracted period of enslavement and oppression for the information of the younger generation; for those who may have forgotten; and for those from whom perhaps it was hidden. Among these facts are:
• Some four centuries of this nefarious trade mainly by various European powers, beginning in the late 1400s;
• Warfare, abductions, and over 25 million Africans forcibly removed from the continent;
• One-third perishing in the arduous journey in the Middle Passage from Africa to the Americas which came to be synonymous with death, depravity, degradation and dehumanisation;
• Holding cells, Coffles and chains;
• Stripping of language and culture, religion and identity.
Without doubt this period of slavery profoundly altered the course of human history through the transformation of the economic, social, racial and cultural landscape. No corner of the globe was left untouched. Indeed much of the early industrial capacity of large parts of Europe, for example, owes its origins to this system.
Four centuries later, we the offspring, the descendants of those who survived the Middle Passage, are here, reflecting together as free peoples. Along with others brought to these lands, we continue to emancipate ourselves from the mental shackles imposed over those centuries which spawned a resilience and creativity enabling the creation of a new civilisation – a Caribbean Civilisation of which we are justly proud.
We must as a Community, in the building of that Civilisation resolve to stand firm against any form of human slavery – be it human trafficking, especially of women and children; drug trafficking; child labour; and other such nefarious activities and violations of human rights.
It was because of these convictions; and in memory of those who died in the Middle Passage, in resistance and revolt; and those who experienced a lifetime of slavery, that yesterday, at 12:00 noon on 25 March, the Caribbean Community was united in a synchronised minute of silence that announced to the world that we shall and must never forget!
The late great Bob Marley, Caribbean cultural icon and prolific songwriter, speaks profoundly to us today in his composition “War” from the album “Exodus,” – named Album of the Twentieth Century by Time Magazine in 1998.
In it he brings into sharp focus the issues that are at stake:
• historical truth;
• acceptance of individual and collective responsibility; atonement;
• apology; and
• a moral obligation to provide effective remedies to those against whom these crimes were perpetuated.
Marley rightly cautions:
That until that day
The dream of lasting peace, world citizenship,
The rule of international morality
Will remain but a fleeting illusion to be pursued,
But never attained.
There is therefore a mandate for the international community to act. The United Nations last November started the process at the 61st session of the General Assembly. It is for us as a Caribbean civilisation to remember that “none but ourselves can free our minds”.
The process already begun, must now be strengthened. We shall never, must never, and can never afford to forget!
