A few weeks ago, Barbadians erupted in nationalistic pride when a tweet from African American racial justice activist, Samuel Sinyangwe, about the Emancipation statue in Barbados went viral. Sinyangwe was in Barbados and posted two pictures of the statue commenting that he had never seen anything like it in America, this type of monument displayed prominently and designed specifically to symbolise the breaking of chains and the power of black liberation. In his series of tweets, Sinyangwe stated that the story of abolition in America is whitewashed, celebrating people who fought to keep black people enslaved and erasing the efforts of black people who dared to resist. He concluded that “the fact that the conversation in the USA is about keeping/ taking down pro-slavery monuments, not building anti-slavery monuments, speaks volumes”.
The tweet attracted significant attention with many people posting similar monuments from around the world. This morning, someone on Facebook shared an article from Vox that Sinyangwe wrote yesterday about Bussa and the absence of similar statues in the USA. After those tweets in July, I did not find any follow up posts about his experience in Barbados and this article on Vox does not shed any further light beyond his feelings about Bussa, so I am unaware about Sinyangwe’s overall view of Barbados. As a racial justice activist and someone who appears to have an intricate understanding of racism and the effects of colonialism and slavery across the colonised world, I believe that Sinyangwe would have discerned beyond the symbolism of the Emancipation statue had he dug a bit deeper.
I know I will face a barrage of criticism from my fellow Barbadians for what I have written here and I know some of my friends and family will sigh and say “here he goes again, inviting controversy with his provocative views”. I even delayed publishing the article until I saw this Vox article but I am used to being controversial and the disapproval of my countrymen, whether they are of African, Indian or European descent, is nothing new to me. So here goes.
I do not get the impression from Sinyangwe’s tweet that he stopped at the Emancipation statue. Had he done so and read the inscription on it, he would have noticed the “Ode to Jin Jin”. It has been said that this short refrain was sang by the enslaved when they heard news of Emancipation. It salutes Queen Victoria (Jin Jin) for setting the slaves free. The irony of this inscription on a statue commemorating Emancipation is that it takes all agency away from the enslaved whose revolts against the institution of slavery were a major cause in its termination and places it solely in the hands of the white saviour, the benevolent Queen Victoria.
Statue of Lord Nelson in Heroes Square, Barbados. Photo courtesy of barbados.org
If Sinyangwe had ventured a short drive to the centre of Bridgetown, he would have encountered the statue of Lord Horatio Nelson, defender of British imperialist interests. Nelson sailed nearby but never visited Barbados and wrote disdainfully of the island. His statue was erected by white Barbadian colonists even before their counterparts in London had built theirs in Trafalgar Square. Some years ago, the Government of Barbados had changed the name of Trafalgar Square in Bridgetown, where the statue of Nelson is situated, to Heroes Square. Yet it was not courageous enough to move the statue that celebrates the British colonial and imperial enterprise. You see, the voice of opposition to unseating Nelson is too loud. It is led by white Barbadians and receives support from a significant number of black Barbadians. Sinyangwe would find parallels in the arguments espoused in defence of keeping Nelson statue where it is with those in the US protesting the taking down of monuments honouring a brutal past. They range from the farcical ones such as tourists come to Barbados to visit the statue so moving it does not make economic sense to the insidious ones about not erasing our common history, as if the oppressed are obligated to idolise their oppressors. The truth is that most of the people who oppose Nelson’s current location are not calling for the destruction of the statue and would find his repositioning to another area or to a museum acceptable. Meanwhile, in Barbados’ Heroes Square, a space meant to honour those Barbadians who contributed to the progress of the nation, there is one statue, that of Lord Horatio Nelson, defender of slavery, imperialism and colonialism.
This hostility to the mere mention of removing Nelson is symptomatic of the mental toll that the British colonial project continues to exert in Barbados. One only has to glance at the plethora of streets and institutions that pay homage to British royalty. Any calls to rename them to something more apt are met again with accusations of revisionism and erasure of history. Likewise, one only has to look at what the Barbados National Trust focuses its preservation work on to witness how those who command sway on the island feel about its history. If it is a plantation or great house exulting in whiteness and the grandeur of the lives of the enslavers, then expect the Trust to be at the forefront of conservation efforts. Anything venerating blackness, black Heroes and their contribution is left to the wayside by the Trust. Unsurprisingly, one of the past Presidents of the Trust is Sir Paul Altman, real estate developer extraordinaire and a man acclaimed by Barbadian politicians and most Barbadians in general as evidenced by him being awarded a knighthood in 2016. Altman is responsible for the sale of huge swathes of Barbadian land to rich white foreigners, many of them from the UK. Since his land development ventures have led to the environmental degradation of the island, the displacement of black Barbadians and the heinous overpricing of land on the island to the detriment of the average citizen, his claims of being a proud Barbadian are obviously limited to a white elitist Barbadiana.
Altman is not alone with his formidable position and his ability to influence black Barbadian politicians. Numerous white Barbadians employ comparable clout as a result of their lasting economic control. Naturally, when white economic power is spoken of, white Barbadians cry racism and point to black businessmen and Barbados gaining independence in 1966. Yes the island is independent and there are black businessmen. Some of them are indeed very well off and some of them engage in the same corrupt practices of influencing public servants and politicians. Nevertheless, this does not negate the fact that white people in Barbados carry on doing as they please because 300 plus years of economic dominance with its concomitant structural inequalities allow them to. A justice system that treats white people, and rich Indians for that matter, totally differently to blacks is not unique to the USA.
The Europeans created a socio-economic, cultural, political and racial order in their colonies that ensured European pre-eminence and tyranny. This is not something that is simply overturned by a legal independence document. Neither is an arrangement in place for over 300 years just disassembled in a few decades, especially when there is an absence of any concerted effort to do so. Indeed, Barbadian and Caribbean academics including Bedford, Beckles and Carmichael have written about the smooth transfer of rule from the UK to British educated elites in the Caribbean, the confidence of the British in granting independence because they felt secure that the order they fashioned would persist, and the fact that after independence, the state did not embark on a radically altered form of relations with its citizens.
Whiteness, the hegemony of whiteness, the confidence of it, the centrality of it, underpins how everything in America works. While it is on full display there, it operates in a much more sinister form in places like Barbados where the population is majority black and the country is presided over by black people. We have a few white Bajans who try to disguise their racism and the structural racism entrenched in the country in academic terms. They assert that people in Barbados who speak about racism on the island are exaggerating especially as the island has been black led for over half a century. As if the brutal history of white reign and the structures engineered to enslave and exercise supremacy over black people can be erased in a few decades. They claim that it is improper to draw parallels between different countries like Barbados and the USA, as if the European colonisers were disjointed entities participating in separate colonial and imperial ventures at distinctive stages in world history and as if race was not an integral aspect in the colonisation of the world by Europeans. These are the white Bajans I like to call “the contextualisers”. They like to contextualise slavery and colonialism and excuse the genocidal actions of their white ancestors by contending that what occurred during those times was within a period when it was the norm. Therefore, people should desist from looking back into history with sullied 21st century eyes since when they do this, they will obviously regard everything that happened in negative terms. Then we have the Bajan whites who find themselves on social media, unable to resist the “freedom” the platform affords them to spout the most racist and bigoted diatribe against blacks, Muslims and minorities in general. Like Trump supporters they see nothing wrong with their heinous views but are quick to cry out racism and play the victim anytime the topic of race is raised in Barbados. Nonetheless, history reveals that wherever white people have been minorities in areas with a majority of non-white people, they have been the oppressors and not the victims. Barbados is not an exception to this stark reality. All the while, white Barbadians in general fence themselves off in enclaves, socialise among themselves and live a much removed existence from most Barbadians.
I return to street names and institutions that salute the British colonial link alluded to above. When it became independent in 1966, Barbados made a calculated decision not to become a Republic even though it was possible, as other former British colonies had done, to be a member of the Commonwealth whilst being a Republic. The thinking behind this decision was conservative in nature. Barbadians by and large wanted to retain the Queen as Head of State and maintain the ties with the motherland. Moreover, it was undertaken to reassure white Barbadians about their place in society. This did not matter for many of them, who unable to tolerate residing in an independent Barbados with black people theoretically in full charge, migrated to countries like Australia and New Zealand. Their choice of these particular two former British colonies was telling.
Barbados marked fifty years of independence in November 2016 but it is no closer to becoming fully independent. In the mid-1990s, the then Barbados Labour Party administration touted the idea of becoming a Republic and proposed a referendum on the issue. However, there has been no serious momentum to replace the current Governor-General who is the representative of the Queen of England with a Barbadian Head of State. Many black Barbadians are opposed to it with some considering it an unnecessary distraction in the midst of wider socio-economic problems, while white Barbadians are overwhelmingly opposed to it. The price tag for the Government’s activities to observe the island’s fifty year anniversary was hefty, amounting to about 7 million Barbados dollars, and many Barbadians questioned the need to spend this amount in times of austerity. What I found the most objectionable was that at its commemoration of fifty years of independence from the UK, Prince Harry, representing his grandmother, was the focus of attention and commanded centre stage at the behest of the Government of Barbados.
Thus, fifty years after becoming independent, important institutions like its police force and prison service maintain the moniker “Her Majesty’s” in their titles. Furthermore, sovereign decisions such as accreditation of High Commissioners to/from other Commonwealth countries including even members of the Caribbean Community require the permission of the Queen of England. Although this is a formality, I find it offensive that because the Queen remains its Head of State, Barbados must ask for her approval to accredit a High Commissioner to a sister Caribbean island.
The pride in this colonial relationship is deep-rooted and may take another few generations to disappear. The generation that was an eyewitness to independence is definitely not the one to modify the status quo. I remember an occasion a few years ago when a UK delegation met a former Ambassador and me to solicit Barbados’ support for a UK candidate seeking election to a UN body. The subservience displayed to the UK by the Ambassador who was in his 60s and the pride with which he spoke about Barbados being a former colony was not only nauseating but also reflective of the attitudes I have recognised in so many people of his age group. Similar sentiments stressing the positive values Barbados inherited from its British colonial masters were emphasised in varying degrees by former and current Barbadian politicians and civil servants I had interviewed for my Master’s thesis. The thesis had examined how Barbados’ identity, shaped by its colonial relationship with the UK, influences its foreign policy.
The current generation’s allegiance to the British colonial relationship perseveres. I had a few colleagues who saw nothing wrong with Barbados writing to the Queen to obtain permission to give accreditation to a High Commissioner of another Caribbean country. Admittedly, this type of mind-set in younger persons is infuriating and it bothers me when I read the ignorant comments of persons in their 20s, 30s and 40s regarding Barbados becoming a Republic. Some of their arguments are economic and based on a shocking and absolute lack of knowledge of how a Republic works, for example, that Barbados will lose the financial assistance it receives and depends on. Others are farcical pseudo-political claims such as the Queen being the fulcrum on which Barbados’ stability is based and her removal would trigger the descent into chaos of Barbados akin to Jamaica, Trinidad and African countries. Then there are the sentimental and frankly pathetic musings about a supposedly glorious colonial past. One thing is certain- they are all rooted in a serious lack of pride in self.
Barbadians will be aghast at this assertion about lack of pride. After all, we have Crop Over, that ultimate annual display of culture and national pride. Yes, Crop Over, that ode to the days of plantation when the white slave masters would allow the enslaved to celebrate the end of the crop. The end of the crop, signalling bountiful profit for the planters and a few hours reprieve for the enslaved from their arduous labour. Crop Over, the excuse for debauchery where anything goes in the name of culture and anyone who dares raise an objection to people practically having sex in public or to the objectification of women that is normalised by Crop Over music is labelled a prude. Fifty years after independence, the Emancipation Day march and remembrance that culminates at the Emancipation statue struggles to attract people. In contrast, Crop Over events at the same time of the year are sold out affairs even with their exorbitant price tags in harsh economic times.
Yes national pride where fifty years after independence, the wearing by black people of their natural hair in a black majority country remains contentious. Fifty years after independence, black students can be singled out for “unruly hair styles” that are actually just normal natural black hairdos whereas white and Indo Barbadians sport their hair as they please without censure. Fifty years after independence, the Royal Barbados Police Force insists on a dress code for its officers whereby natural hairstyles of black people are banned and treated as offences subject to sanction. The irony in this is that in the UK such a policy does not exist! Neat, unruly, orderly and such type of words are used to demand compliance with standards of beauty wedded to European concepts and are masks for the belief that natural black hair is unacceptable.
The impression one may derive from what I have written is a Barbados plagued by racial strife. That is not my intention. Barbados has undeniably made socio-economic progress since independence with quantifiable gains in the areas of education and health. The island boasts an extremely high literacy rate and there is a growing middle class. Political stability is a hallmark of the island. Even so, the fact is that the conservative nature of Barbadians has also nurtured an environment where questions of race have failed to be confronted frontally, openly and honestly. The term social contract has been used by some to explain why an island with such a brutal past has not erupted into violence and instability. I argue that the social contract is in reality a tacit agreement between economic and political elites to preserve the status quo albeit in a modified form. Economic elites maintain their grip on the major cogs of the economy and even allow some new entrants, particularly from the small Indian community. These relative newcomers some of whom have amassed much wealth and apply their own form of economic dominance and manipulation, add another dimension to race relations on the island. Theirs, though, is a story that has to be told in a separate article. Black Barbadians hold political control and socio-economic advancements have benefitted black Barbadians for the most part. Even so, at its core, the construct of the island in a way that advantages whites endures. I believe strongly that this structure could have been dismantled after independence to bring about a truly transformed society functioning in the image of its people and that this could have been achieved without causing political instability. However, Barbadians in general and especially those with political authority are conservative so the social contract was the method purposely used as the island proceeded into the post-independence era.
Fifty years after independence, we have an island in economic ruin where the rich, overwhelmingly white and Indian, insulate themselves from economic hardship and all of its associated inconveniences. The much vaunted black middle class lives in a state of astronomical debt. Unemployment figures continue to climb steeply. A large proportion of the island’s land is owned by rich white foreigners and Barbadians pay stupendous rates if they wish to own a piece of the rock, as they refer to Barbados. Much of the coast has been destroyed by tourism based
133 responses to “Barbados: The Harsh Truth Behind the Symbolism of an Emancipation Statue”
US is famous for honoring brutal criminals from their white cu6kture of murders, rapes, enslaving, kidnapping stealing, lying, hating and just being plain old evil….white culture.
…you may find little memorials to Harriett Tubman ,there is a statue of Tubman in Harlem, there is a statue of her in Niagara, Canada for her work with the underground railroad in the US…to free slaves, here and there you will find statues, mostly in museums.
But the statues of enslavers racists and murderers litter the US landscaoe, they are an abomination and should be in museums.
Barbados is a disgrace. ..a black majority country, supposedly independent and it’s black leaders keep antiquated laws and practices alive that discriminates against the black majority and treat them like they are still slaves with very little freedom to have wide ranging education in schools about African culture..
No black governments should stop it’s majority from their own personal freedoms to enjoy their African culture, hairs styles etc, the island has a very nasty reputation and black leaders see nothing wrong with that….clowns.
Mohammed Degia
It is very seldom that we get to agree with every nuance of an article.
We find your reading of the past, present and maybe the future of Barbados accurate
And the comparisons of the typology of racism both in Barbados and the USA as properly conjoined within the context of the first global system as they were, are
We have always contended that Barbados and the USA were indeed fascist states pretending to be elected dictatorships. Maybe Charlottesville and the election of Trumps proves our point.
We believe that the political science literature defines fascism as the twining of the political and economic elites.
We would like to direct your attention to a study by the UN, circa 2000, which defines Barbados as a crypto-racist society. Of course, such a study has been buried. For neither the political nor economic elites want to face such an indictment from the highest lawmaking institution in the world.
If there is one underestimation it maybe your references to the likelihood that generational changes are likely to create more just conditions, we are less optimistic we are afraid.
Afrikan peoples must now know that we cannot depend on any other people in dealing with institutional racism. This has to be our fight and ours alone. Our interests have been ignored for far too long. And White and other progressives in the USA, and maybe Barbados as well, are currently seeking to make statutes the objective of Black people when reparations’ time has come.
Couldn’t find the UN report on crypto racism but this link validates that the report exist. There was little debate on the findings we recall.
https://www.un.org/press/en/2005/rd992.doc.htm
sounds like your wanting a bajan mugabe
Thanks David
We have a hard copy which fell off a truck
Otherwise, would provide.
Reblogged this on Guyanese Online.
How could we have guessed that Well Well I’m A Racist Moron would be the first on with his poison? I wonder if he is a muslim too – he would fit in well, well indeed with their modern murder, rape and enslavement.
[…] Barbados Underground […]
45fraud…as the fraud in the US, the racism, the lies, the disrespect of black and indoan indigenous peoples and descendants of African slaves, the evil of white culture is being dismantled and removed in the US, so too will the black slave society that benefits a few lowlife minority bajan whites and other minorities be dismantled and permanently removed from Barbados…..one step at a time, so if you plan on continuing to be a parasite on the backs of black people permanently, you and your descendants, for anither 50 years, better start getting your lazy asses up and starting fending for yourself, find other hosts to rob….it will not last much longer.
This here is a national disgrace and should be exposed for the scam and theft against the taxpayers that it really is, perpetrated by government slave ministers and minority scam artists.
http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/99822/seeing-red-blue
“EXPLAIN THE DEAL! That’s what Government should do regarding the joint project between Government and a local entity to redevelop the Blue Horizon hotel, local hoteliers are saying. Last week, this newspaper revealed Government had partnered with Blue Development Incorporated, operated by local businessmen Philip Tempro and Bjorn Bjerkhamn, who would be pumping just over $5 million to redevelop the Blue Horizon property at Rockley, Christ Church, as a Hard Rock Hotel.”
Lawson…do you see what is happening in the US, or are you so shocked you cant believe it and going into denial, well let me tell ya, the native Indian and black Americans are seeing the shift and are emerging to take their rightful place…….so too will the Native Canadians, you cannot stop it, you squatter.
So you can try invoking 50 Mugabes into the conversation, it won’t work, your fraud master trump is being successfully isolated and stripped by his own people….deal with it.
Symbols of white evil, hate, racism and those who enslaved black people to be taken down world wide, so fitting that it has to start in the US, the biggest criminal after the UK of slavery for profit, you do not honor and celebrate evil, you honor the victims of evil..honoring evil goes against the very rules and tenets of nature.
The people are taking a stand…Black people in the Caribbean, particularly in Barbados, must stand up and learn how to take a stand for their universal rights.
This animal Sims experimented on black female slaves without anesthetic, the horrors he performed on them were legendary…..white evil commemorated a statue to him in his honor for being a criminal…..in central park no less, I passed that statue many times before realizing the symbol of evil it is meant to represent and peroetrate on the black psyche.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/protesters-slam-nyc-statue-doctor-experimented-slaves-article-1.3426690
“Protesters slam NYC statue of doctor who experimented on slaves
BY ESHA RAY DENIS SLATTERY
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Sunday, August 20, 2017, 3:34 AM
From left to right: Darializa Auila-Chevalier, 23 ,Jewel Cadet, 29, Rossanna Mercedes 27, Alexis Yeboah-Kodie, 23, and Jamilah Felix, 21, demand the removal of a statue of Dr. J. Marion Sims from Central Park. (HOWARD SIMMONS/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
A controversial monument to a doctor who experimented on slaves became the target of protesters who rallied at Central Park on Saturday.
The national conversation about Confederate statues following the violence in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend led activists here to renew their push to tear down the bronze likeness of Dr. J. Marion Sims.
“Memorializing of imperialist slaveholders, murderers and torturers like J. Marion Sims is white supremacy,” said Rossanna Mercedes, 27, a member of Black Youth Project 100.
“We will no longer allow government institutions like the New York City Parks Department to passively allow symbols of oppression.”
@ Mohammed Degai,
I too concur with much of your sentiments. Barbados has never been an independent country. The events of 1966, the year of our independence, was merely a form of window dressing designed mainly to appease the British government who were desperate to extricate themselves from the responsibilities of running their colonies; which had become economically unviable and politically and socially volatile.
Our first Prime Minister, the disastrous Right Honourable Errol Barrow, who governed Barbados in the manner of the traditional House Negro was the man who set the tone for the future of our country. Here was a man who was happy to take over the reign of power and its trappings but refused to implement the changes required to bring revolution to Barbados: the expulsion of Barbados white population and to remove the cancer of colourism which discriminated against darker shade people in favour of their lighter skinned counterparts.
Mohammed, the Negro, especially the Bajan one has been socially conditioned to accept their lot in society. You can keep using and abusing them without drawing a reaction from them. They have a high level of tolerance to pain. You and your ilk, and the other minorities living in Barbados are safer in this black majority country then you would be in the country of your descendants!
All i would ask from you and your people is to leave a piece of the rock for my Negro brothers and sisters as you take control of the island. You may find the article below very appropriate.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6981864.stm
Well Well – what a tirade of hate from the prime racist – a clearly unemployable rabid black man being eaten alive by hatred. He actually admires mad Bob Mugabe – LOL.
I also admire this 45fraudster…what happen, ya getting scared, news flash, ya not even half way there yet.
“You can talk about #whitesupremacy all day if you want but, if you, as a Black man, love, honor and respect Black women and respect and protect the Black family, a lot of the problem will go away. And if you get active and join an organization of like-minded people, more of the problem will go away. And if you spend more of your money with other Black people, even more of the problem will be eradicated. And if you more carefully monitor the education of your children, we will be getting there. And all of this is accelerated by knowledge of self. We can do this thing. But you first need to know who you are, what you have done, what has been done to you and what you are capable of. This marks the beginning of the end of white supremacy.” ~ Runoko Rashidi”
“All i would ask from you and your people is to leave a piece of the rock for my Negro brothers and sisters as you take control of the island.”
Talking Loud….you do not ask anyone white or indian to leave a piece for you of what is rightfully yours….it is your island…..YOU TAKE BACK what is yours and share with those whom you know care for you, have respect for you, your people and your country…only if you so desire.., do not beg for what is yours as a black person, that also reduces, demeans and denigrates you in the eyes of everyone….particularly your children and grandchildren.
..
…..those who have stolen from you and your descendants …are still stealing from you and your descendants, should be brought to their knees and chased away, along with the black slaves of parliament who enable, condone and help them…
Do not beg anyone for what is yours, stand up, man up.
The great black American Dick Gregory has just passed away.
https://www.democracynow.org/2012/6/19/full_interview_comedian_activist_dick_gregory_on_racial_profiling_the_death_penalty_and_obama
The first step for the majority black population in Barbados, is to spend their money with each other, financially empower yourselves and each other…..get over the bullshit of believing that you must enrich minorities for the economy, that is crap and an evil lie…perpetrated by the black slaves of parliament to enrich their minority masters who bribe them to keep the majority black population in poverty and debt.
You must enrich yourselves and each other to save and keep your country…or you will always be a slave society.
Lawson……..yall racists git chased out of Vancouver yesterday, no one likes or wants racists or racism…go away yall blight and curse on the university.
It’s Barbados’ turn to rid the island of its ugly minority racists and all forms of racism still be practiced against its black majority population, chase them out, make sure their money pool dries up very soon, let them go to the bigger countries and look for honest work, they are thieves, criminals and parasites who have attached themselves on the lives of the majority population on the island fir 40 years, get them off..they are blights and will continue prevent the island and its majority propulation from progressing.
“thousands in Vancouver
Several outnumbered far-right protesters escorted away from crowd, one in handcuffs
CBC News
8 Hours Ago
Vancouver far-right rally confrontation
A man, who identifies as Brendan, left, was one of a few far-right protesters at Vancouver’s City Hall on Saturday who were confronted by thousands of counter-protesters. (Chantelle Bellrichard)
20k shares
Around 4,000 people showed up at Vancouver City Hall to protest against a far-right rally on Saturday afternoon.
Tensions rose briefly as protesters from opposing sides began yelling at each other, but Vancouver police quickly escorted several far-right demonstrators away from the crowd. One protester was in handcuffs. “
Lawson……..yall racists git chased out of Vancouver yesterday, no one likes or wants racists or racism…go away yall blight and curse on the UNIVERSE.
I say to Police man
you got a bad attitude
am not a criminal
WW you are like the child that cried wolf, so when you cry for help people tired of your branding wont give a damn. I see water has found its own level. I remember when you were treated as second class citizens in the US now you are third the hispanics are the fastest growing community in the states and I see how you are trying to tie yourself to them but they are not easily fooled, hard working as well. I always remember my mom saying idle hands do the devil’s work but in your case its addle hands, get a job.
When that dunce maxine waters calls alan dershowitz a racist it just shows how mentally unbalanced you leftys are becoming. And as he said being black doesnt give you a right to call someone racist.
Can anyone here on BU guide me toward an understanding of the origins of the Barbados National Trust? I ask because some of the explanatory plaques that I have seem on heritage buildings are embarrassingly racist.
Those who sold us out should be given 50 lashes with the cat and then forced to read this in Heroes Square. Those who remain silent in the midst of social and moral decay should be sentenced in the court of public opinion to hard labor.
Wanna need to blame the political class.
Dr David Estwick and over priced projects he gave and continues to give Innotech. How could David Estwick live such a lifestyle on $18,000 salary monthly.
Michael Lashley who could not rub two cents before getting into parliament now he brags about how much money he has. His surrogates who hold his property need locking up.
Do wanna think the ugly big nose prime minister ain’t know of the corruption and bribery.
Donvile Inniss the righteous is a big subltle wheeler dealer.
Darcy Frog Boyce is a professional expert at hiding money offshore and was used by Owen Arthur and BLP offshore.
Dennis Lowe who could not pay $80 child support now have millions in a bank account and condo in Canada.
John Boyce allows just like George Payne and Michael Lashley the thieving of money for permits. Licensing Authority is used by Pandor and board members as a piggy bank for the sale of permits. Over $72M yearly in Michael Lashley have access to. Ask the ZR or taxi men how much you gotta pay Michael Lashley and his surrogates.
How much the clown Stuart gets for his silence.
Wanna think crooked Mia of the thieving Mottley clan give two wuckups when Chris Sinckler get the yacht Amazing Grace and a condo at Port Ferdinand. Chris Sinckler gave Mia the legal work from Four Seasons and Mia made sure her cousin Avinash got big bucks also.
Fucking bandits and racketeers in government
Peter,
I am not sure of the history, but it is there to preserve the history o the plantocracy. Think Charlottsville.
Lawson…, shut up..Dershowitz is an idiot, while I dont see why either of them are squabbling, he did bring up the topic of ethnicity in the democratic party like the idiot he is, and of course Waters being tired of the racism, took the bait, you cloens call anyone who is fighting racism, a racist….
in true form you are only telling half the story, if anyone has the right to call you demons racists….it’s black people, native americans and native canadians.
North America was ethnically diverse thousands of years before any of you criminal europeans washed up on its shores….none of you should mention or notice it’s increasing ethnic diversity.., ya did nit put the countries there ya parasites.
The Caribbean was ethnically diverse thousands of years before the UK threw out all its rejects and criminals and Barbadosed most of them in a penal colony.
Lawson….yall got tossed out of Europe too as criminals and rejects, put on ships headed for ya penal colony in Canada and ya tief the native Canadian’s land, even the name Canada is native, unlike yall thieves, but being the greedy pigs the UK have always been, they turned around and colonized the criminals they deported and imprisoned, in both US and Canada…deal with that.
Hispanics are marching head and shoulders with Blacks and intelligent whites, that must be eating out the ugly hearts of racists….lol
Gotta make this clear for white pretenders.
The Caribbean was ethnically diverse thousands of years before the UK threw out all its WHITE rejects and criminals and Barbadosed most of them in a penal colony.
Donville inniss is on social media begging Dennis Kellman to stay off his keyboard for a month…lol
Please have the nurses at black rock up your medications
Talking about up medications, this is all racists know, they should be banned from traveling.
“Facebook has banned the Facebook and Instagram accounts of a white nationalist who attended the rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that ended in deadly violence.
Facebook spokeswoman Ruchika Budhraja told the Associated Press on Wednesday that the profile pages of Christopher Cantwell have been removed as well as a page connected to his podcast.
Cantwell was featured in a widely viewed Vice News documentary released Monday, in which he denigrated black and Jewish people, embraced violent protest tactics, and declared the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer at the rally as “justified.”
“I’m carrying a pistol, I go to the gym all the time, I’m trying to make myself more capable of violence,” he told Vice correspondent Elle Reeve.
Cantwell even disputed Reeve’s suggested description of the movement as “nonviolent.”
“I’m not even saying we’re nonviolent,” he said. “I’m saying that f—— we did not aggress. We did not initiate force against anybody. We’re not nonviolent — we’ll f—— kill these people if we have to.”
Later in the documentary, Cantwell predicted that “a lot more people are going to die before we’re done here.”
Knowledge is Power…
“Rarely do I chime in on my father’s social media platforms. However, I’d like to take a moment for proper calibration. Dick Gregory is chronologically 83, but his true age is closer to 103. Born in 1932, in utter poverty, he was exposed to the ugliest expressions of racism and hatred for half his lifetime. He achieved critical acclaim and success then says no, I’m going back to the frontline, not for a photo op but to reside on the frontline. A life of selfless activism is what follows: Two cross-country (west coast to east coast) runs, the equivalent of two marathons a day, all to point a spotlight on hunger. He became a early pioneer in understanding the concept of holistic health and was a beacon for many to improve their diet and lifestyles. He fasted ad nauseam, not for his health, but as a catalyst for change. As his son, physician, dear friend and someone who loves him to life I can tell you, the physical and mental detriment of his selflessness is real. His anger is rooted in many things. First, the obvious state of affairs in the country and the world.
Second, in the real emotional and physical damages from a lifetime of extreme activism.
My message is this: be less focused on the exasperated tone and more focused on the message. If your house was on fire (which theoretically, it is) the tone of the first responders is inconsequential. It is a gift and a blessing to have a sharp, gifted, witty and humorous man that has endured so much, still here with us. Dick Gregory is not just living, but he is full of life and love. Many of the online clips are snippets from 10 plus hour interviews with egocentric or self-motivated interviewers. Sit anyone down for a 10 hour interview with asinine questions and many times you’ll get a powder keg. May I suggest we enjoy this living legend while he is still with us, not just vital signs, but still a vital information giver.
Dick Gregory is not a scientist, he is a self-proclaimed intellectual agitator– agitating folks to be independent thinkers. So one does not need to apply rigorous scientific analysis to his statistics and information. In aggregate, it is designed to make you think and do your own homework. Education is not power, information is power. If you don’t need any intellectual agitation, great, move on. However, for those of us who continue to enjoy and become inspired by his wit and wisdom, those of us who are not hypersensitive about tone or language but are more so sensitive about the current state of affairs, allow us to relish in the unapologetically black realness that is Dick Gregory.
Respectfully,
Christian Gregory”
What happen Lawson and the other BU resident racists…are none of you going to condemn the racist Cantrell, who now has arrest warrants out for the white supremacist scum that he is…
I must be the only person on the blog not suprised that the known racists refused to condemn him, but you got the nerve to be on BU condemning Maxine Waters who has suffered racism in the US…for decades..and myself who never did, but know how to cuss you useless racists…you really got some nerve.
The other social sites are not tolerating any of you….you know that right.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1916033078636083&id=1798425827063476
Are there any anecdotes that you can relate about you and Mr Gregory, from all your postings it is obvious you know dick.
One can only wonder if some of you read Degia’s submission with understanding.
David August 20, 2017 at 12:01 PM #
“One can only wonder if some of you read Degia’s submission with understanding.”
@ David
I had similar thought as well.
From a total of 38 contributions you had 17 contributions from one contributor that do not have any relevancy to the topic.
I want some of you to go on the BU link on facebook, on this same topic and post something, all the talk you have on here, the link is on facebook…especially you ARTAX.
I will be watching.
“Justin Trudeau condemns ‘angry, frustrated group of racists’ in Canada.”
Someone on facebook asked why there were no comments on the BU link of this topic on facebook, yall got a lot of mouth on BU for each other, like to count each other posts and act like little sissy women instead of real men..
Facebook is the real world…where is all your talk for those on facebook..
Go and take on some real bloggers for once in ya lives.
“The problem with Tulsa aka, “Black Wall St. aka “Little Africa”, was that it was fiercely INDEPENDENT, SUCCESSFUL and WEALTHY.
It is said that a dollar in the Tusla community was passed around 100 times before it left.
.
The problem with most black communities today is that they don’t know or are unable to conceive that a place like Tulsa actually existed.
Hence, the now depend on welfare, a patronizing, watered down version of “his-story” and so, a dollar only lasts just about15 minutes within the community.
The attack on Tulsa wasn’t just the KKK as some would have us to believe, the fact is that Tulsa was BOMBED BY US MILITARY AIRPLANES, all because it was “too successful”, even better than surrounding towns.
Ever wondered why this isn’t taught in schools?
Ever wonder why nobody talks about compensation / repatriation for the surviving families of this?”
Any of you post counters want to go on facebook on the BU link and answer this blogger and give her talk….ah want to see the brave ones among you..lol…how abiut you Artax.
“What is the government doing about taking down Nelson’s ugly statue in Bridgetown, a daily reminder of the evil slave trade, perpetrated against the ancestors of the descendants of the majority black population in Barbados.”
it seems there is some truth in the old adage “the truth hurts.”
What hurt what, you are showing up your own weak self….what have you contributed to this topic besides counting my posts….nothing, ya dont have the know how to hurt anyone, because you focus on the wrong things, I want ya to take on that particular facebook commenter and see what blogging is really about Art.
Sitting on BU counting posts is not blogging, if you had spent the last week on 5 or 6 blogs, you would know what blogging is, now contribute something worthwhile, like you are known to do sometimes, stop making me the centre of your world.
Why dont you call for the removal of that shit stained Nelson statue as the facebook blogger did, ah bet you it will be a white Canadian or US blogger calling for it’s removal instead of a BU blogger.
Ah so sorry Lawson, Chadster and 45fraudster don’t use their real names on BU, they would be famous stars on Facebook now….lol, lol.
By the way, am not the one posted the link to facebook, someone else did, if ya checked ya will see who did…lol
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People across the globe are no longer willing to tolerate white supremacy – racism . South Africans took down the statue of Cecil Rhodes . In the USA are confederate statues are falling fast . Barbados will be next, the youth will rise up & dump Lord Nelson into the sea, where he belongs.
I do read the titles of articles
https://youtu.be/LeLRhlFrGCk
Lol…..keep counting.
The national trust as PLT was querying is the usual minority crap trying to make themselves look good, preserve the racism and disenfranchisement on the island and keep the black psyche limited, something like Art’s, Carson’ s, Angela’s, and a whole lotta blacks with limited intellect and not a whole lot to offer each other to push back or pull themselves up and out of the stranglehold perpetrated by black governments and overseen by minorities,……
……in other words, it’s designed to see that blacks remember that they are still thought of as less than human by them and should continue to think of themselves that way, keep blacks in their place where they believe they belong……
….. it was not designed to educate the majority population about their history or enlighten them about a way forward, out of slave society mode. ….or show them that they can do much, much better….that they may or may not one day have to do for themselves.
Did I get that right Art, hope I did not forget anything, ya always complaining about the same thing.
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