Emancipation deferred!

The Stone that the builder refuse.......

 Recently I have been involved in some renovation work in "my" garden. As the picture suggests I have had to do some physically demanding work.

Now this may not seem to be a momentous event, however, for someone such as myself who has fallen into office work and has managed to avoid strenuous work for several years, it did make me contemplate my journey and that of my forbears.
The fact of the matter is that I found it very difficult to swing my sledgehammer for much more than 6 - 7 minutes at a time. I wanted to stop, take a break, get a drink, whatever. Then I felt ashamed of myself , as I remembered the souls who lived through chattel bondage and colonisation.
Every Time I hear the sound of the whip.........
You may rightly ask where is all this leading, well here it is. Tomorrow 1 August 2014 is Emancipation Day. That is, it is the anniversary of the day in 1833 when the Abolition of Slavery Act  [Emancipation Proclamation] came into force. On this day Afrikans in the British carried beyond were declared free. There was great rejoicing and families gathered together and gave thanks to the creator that they had lived to see this day. Yet, what was the reality of this event. True, they were in some sense no longer compelled to work for their slave master from "can't see in the morning 'til can't see at night." Officially they could govern their own lives, but the actuality was  this, on the Monday morning after the declaration, most had to return to their "former" master and beg for some work, as they were now solely responsible for providing food, clothes and shelter for themselves and their families. No land was handed over to them, no monies were made available to them to get started, no effort was made to assist them in becoming self sufficient. Instead, the planters were given a gift of £20,000,000 as compensation for loss of stock. In fact if you read the Hansard of 24 July 1833 Mr Fowell Buxton said,

 "...he felt the greatest mortification, in common with all other friends of emancipation, in finding this Bill neither a safe nor a satisfactory measure. Important changes had been made in it since it had been first introduced to Parliament, but he was sorry to say that these changes tended all to the benefit of the planter, and the detriment of the slaves."

It is necessary for me to state here and now, that I do not refer to my ancestors as slaves. Enslaved they were and forced to labour without recompense, however, everywhere that I look, I am struck by their ability to maintain their culture and dignity, in the face of the greatest adversity.
So we see that, despite the pleadings of some members of parliament, the Bill which was eventually passed pandered to the planters and in many ways left the Afrikan far worse of.
Getting back to the present, iNAPP  have organised a petition and the Rastafari Movement [UK] along with others plan to march to Downing Street tomorrow 1 August 2014. The petition charges the British Government, Royalty and others with genocide/ecocide. It is demanding that the British State finally makes reparation for the damage they have done to Afrikan peoples over the last 500 hundred years.
As of this morning the tally of those that have signed the petition is 507. The organisers were looking for a minimum of 1000 signatures. There are approximately 500,000 Afrikans of Caribbean descent in Britain and over 1,000,000 continental Afrikans. Where is our voice?

Emancipation Day [Dover 1995]

Sad as it is to say, it appears to me that, we no longer have the will to survive as a people, distinct from all others. We seem to wish to disappear and merge with everyone. Strangely enough, at the same time everywhere on the planet, people are asserting their unique identity, why even Scotland is discussing and voting on becoming an independent country.



Getting back to my starting point we, myself included, have become comfortable in our captivity. We feel so free, whilst still being subject to the will and the wimps of others. We have little or no control over our children and grandchildren' future i.e. employment, accommodation etc. So we live day to day and allow tomorrow to look after itself. I would like you to remember that it takes a village......... and if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.
His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie First said,

"We Afrikans will fight, we find it necessary and we know we shall win, as we are confident in the victory, of good over evil."

The Right Honourable Marcus Mosiah Garvey said,

"Up ye mighty race, you can accomplish whatsoever you WILL."

May the blessing of the Almighty guide and protect you all!