So much of the history and culture of the Caribbean is based on enslavement, invasion and domination. Yet, it must be faced head on.
We must decolonize our minds, and seek the truth of our history. Enough with the #WyteSavior bovine excrement. Face it, work through the pain, and find a way to do better.
I am truly horrified to learn that, according to the press, the government children's home in Guyana has mostly indigenous girls as residents. It's the 21st (expletive deleted) century, and we are still doing this nonsense. Obviously, I do not have full details but given the history of such institutions in other countries, this is deeply worrying.
Here in Quebec, the current provincial govenment denies that systemic racism exists. There had been a movement some time ago to recognize a Black cemetary close to the Vermont border as a historic site, but nothing has been done since - not even a plaque. I have driven through St-Armand over a hundred times without even knowing of it's existence. Shame and racism continue to prevent any acknolwedgment of slavery here.
Thanks for sharing Sharon. I’ve been to Barbados a few times and I always refer to it as little Britain. It’s full of history. I’m happy they’re slowly starting to acknowledge the history.
I think it's in bad taste as the exploitation of people even children was a direct result of sugar capital production and those children were less value to the pigs than a sack of sugar.
I live in Washington, DC and enslaved persons literally built the White House - but you have no way of knowing that if you just pop over to take a picture of it.
This piece has made me just stop and pause. Looking at this through Barbados eyes... Thanks Sharon.
Have you heard the Guardian podcasts, Cotton Capital - after their admission that they were founded on cotton money in Manchester. In one of the episodes they talk to people in Jamaica as they hunt for a former cotton plantation called Success, which even the Jamaicans don't talk about.
I hear what you are saying. I have seen this in Barbados and on all of the Caribbean islands I have been to.
I visited Charleston, South Carolina for the first time last year. I am a stranger to the south -- I have been to Atlanta and Miami dozens of times for conferences, but they are big diverse metropolitan cities. In Charleston, I was taken aback by how the entire history is rooted in slavery. Just four generations ago, it was the focal point of the economy, the social life, and everything that went on in the town square and the harbor. All of the evidence is still right there -- I was a little disturbed by how nonchalantly it was managed. I felt that it should be presented as a horror story, the most horrible stain on our planet's history.
Thanks for this insight. I'm working on a project now that has to do with historic preservation of US Civil Rights sites, and it has given me a new perspective on the importance of leveraging these physical symbols for education, and to combat racism denial. Hard to argue that atrocities didn't happen when you have brick and mortar evidence that they did.
I was in Montgomery for the opening of the Legacy Museum. Life changing.
https://museumandmemorial.eji.org/
So much of the history and culture of the Caribbean is based on enslavement, invasion and domination. Yet, it must be faced head on.
We must decolonize our minds, and seek the truth of our history. Enough with the #WyteSavior bovine excrement. Face it, work through the pain, and find a way to do better.
I am truly horrified to learn that, according to the press, the government children's home in Guyana has mostly indigenous girls as residents. It's the 21st (expletive deleted) century, and we are still doing this nonsense. Obviously, I do not have full details but given the history of such institutions in other countries, this is deeply worrying.
Here in Quebec, the current provincial govenment denies that systemic racism exists. There had been a movement some time ago to recognize a Black cemetary close to the Vermont border as a historic site, but nothing has been done since - not even a plaque. I have driven through St-Armand over a hundred times without even knowing of it's existence. Shame and racism continue to prevent any acknolwedgment of slavery here.
https://thewalrus.ca/black-cemeteries-force-us-to-re-examine-our-history-with-slavery/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-nigger-rock-name-change-black-coalition-1.3787740
Thanks for sharing Sharon. I’ve been to Barbados a few times and I always refer to it as little Britain. It’s full of history. I’m happy they’re slowly starting to acknowledge the history.
I think it's in bad taste as the exploitation of people even children was a direct result of sugar capital production and those children were less value to the pigs than a sack of sugar.
I live in Washington, DC and enslaved persons literally built the White House - but you have no way of knowing that if you just pop over to take a picture of it.
Hello Sharon,
Thanks for this piece which leads me to think twice as I travel. While not the negative, here is a link to a website about some of the positive historical moments in our region https://dispatch.happyvalley.com/blog/uncovering-happy-valleys-key-connections-to-black-history. I share this not to negate the negative, simply to say people are delving into history.
Sophie
This piece has made me just stop and pause. Looking at this through Barbados eyes... Thanks Sharon.
Have you heard the Guardian podcasts, Cotton Capital - after their admission that they were founded on cotton money in Manchester. In one of the episodes they talk to people in Jamaica as they hunt for a former cotton plantation called Success, which even the Jamaicans don't talk about.
I hear what you are saying. I have seen this in Barbados and on all of the Caribbean islands I have been to.
I visited Charleston, South Carolina for the first time last year. I am a stranger to the south -- I have been to Atlanta and Miami dozens of times for conferences, but they are big diverse metropolitan cities. In Charleston, I was taken aback by how the entire history is rooted in slavery. Just four generations ago, it was the focal point of the economy, the social life, and everything that went on in the town square and the harbor. All of the evidence is still right there -- I was a little disturbed by how nonchalantly it was managed. I felt that it should be presented as a horror story, the most horrible stain on our planet's history.
Germany did this - and when I heard about it, I finally felt seen https://www.smb.museum/en/exhibitions/detail/the-germanic-tribes/
Thanks for this insight. I'm working on a project now that has to do with historic preservation of US Civil Rights sites, and it has given me a new perspective on the importance of leveraging these physical symbols for education, and to combat racism denial. Hard to argue that atrocities didn't happen when you have brick and mortar evidence that they did.