Submitted by the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC)
The GTUC shares with the world and more so Guyanese the celebration of 1st August which 180th years ago brought an end to chattel slavery in the British Empire. Full emancipation came four years later after the slaves served a four-year period of amelioration (1838). Freedom in its present form is a continuous process of education, putting in place systems, and safeguarding same in order that people and society can be rid of the shackles of that era in whatever form it appears today. One does not have to be physically enchained to be mentally enslaved. The mind is a powerful tool and weapon and when it remains shackled to messages of non-achievements, worthlessness and inferiority, there is no need for physical chains to enslave, oppress and marginalise.
Our African ancestors were brought to the so-called New World against their wishes and through sweat, blood and tears-despite the whips reigning down on their bodies- they contributed significantly in laying the foundation and topography for this land. They built a system of dikes and drainage canals, seawalls and roads network, constructed buildings and factories, laboured in the sugar and cotton estates, planted rice, fruits, ground provisions and other crops with their hands.
Our forebears fought against the oppressive system, with some giving their lives for the cause that led to chattel freedom, indentureship, internal self-government, independence and republican status. It is because of them we have a constitution of our own and laws to protect us from marginalisation and discrimination from any individual, group or system. They have fought the good fight for equality and dignity grounded in the belief that all men and women are capable of acting toward each other in a spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood. This ideal was institutionalised in the 1948 United Nations Human Rights Declaration.
In as much as there were exploitations and their labour was unpaid and undervalued, immediately after emancipation they set about ensuring a society that will have their meaningful participation. Through the cooperative economic model they pooled their moneys and bought villages that started the Village Movement and development of their communities, a system of local self-government, education, health and business ventures, coupled with the values for discipline and family structure with the needed mix of religion and entertainment. The African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child” was not only exemplified in the biological extended family but in the wider community, including the school, church and even on the streets. These foundations are still relevant today.
Even as society becomes more complex these values must not be lost on us. For it is out of and through them the sense of belongingness and fairness are shaped. As Guyanese, irrespective of our racial identity, association, sex, class or other experiences, the foundations laid by others are what we today walk on and must build on. Given that this nation has travelled the path of resistance against domination and oppression- through its various forms- it behoves us today as we commemorate another year of chattel freedom to rise up and re-commit to continue the journey started by our forebears for our inalienable right to equality and dignity.
1834 (Amelioration), 1838 (Emancipation) , 1905 (trade unionism), 1917 (end to indentureship), 1947 (universal adult suffrage), 1953 (internal self-government), 1966 (Independence) and 1970 (Republican status) are significant dates in this nation’s calendar, but these achievements can only have meaning when we not only work to deepen and strengthen the march for freedom, but we also resist the efforts and actions, in whatever form they appear, of those who seek to undermine and undo these achievements.
Less we forget, freedom is not free; it requires eternal; vigilance, struggles and sacrifices to protect what have been achieved and ensure the enabling environment to realise civil, social, economic, cultural and political equality and dignity. Only then as a people all voices can truly ring out, “Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last!” (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) The work began in 1834. It is not yet completed. But the dream still liveth and the hope must never die! There is still work to be done and as brave warriors we must put our shoulders to the wheel and march on….!
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