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Open Letter to Prime Minster Mottley and Minister King

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Open letter to The Hon. Mia Amor Mottley, Q.C., M.P. (Prime Minister) and
 The Hon. John A. King, M.P.(Minister of Creative Economy, Culture and Sports)

 

Dear Prime Minister and Minister of Culture,

John_King
Minister of Culture, John King
mia_mottley
Prime Minister Mia Mottley

I am sure by now you are aware that people in Bristol removed the statue of slave trader, Edward Colston, and deposited it in a nearby river. With this act, people in that city sent a clear message to the world that they would no longer tolerate the glorification of accomplices in the commission of crimes against humanity and those who grew rich from their sordid involvement in human trafficking.

In the present climate when there is a heightened global awareness of the need for zero tolerance towards racism and its symbols, it is unconscionable that in Barbados, a country where over 95% of its citizens are descendants of enslaved Africans, that a monument like Colston’s in Bristol, sits in the heart of our capital city. It is an affront to the people of Barbados and to those all over the world who are standing up to speak out against racism that Nelson’s monument continues to sit in the heart of Bridgetown. It is long overdue that this odious tribute to racism be removed.

There are no longer any excuses that can be made for your government’s failure to remove it. I am therefore writing to you as a concerned Bajan to call on you to do the right thing and remove this affront to the people of Barbados and to all those who today are courageously raising their voice against racism.

It would be very fitting, if it was replaced with a tribute to Nanny Grigg and to the many thousands of unsung Bajan women whose self-sacrifice, ingenuity and struggle have played a decisive role in our people’s progress from the pit of degradation that the English slave masters threw us into.

Yours

Tee White

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595 responses to “Open Letter to Prime Minster Mottley and Minister King”

  1. Wily Coyote Avatar
    Wily Coyote

    HISTORY CANNOT BE ERASED no matter how many ststues are destroyed, slave huts destroyed, removal of all plantoccrat edifices etc. Narrow minded thinking is the problem, author included. Thinking inside the box is a big issue and regressive.

  2. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    “In the present climate when there is a heightened global awareness of the need for zero tolerance towards racism and its symbols, it is unconscionable that in Barbados, ”

    If the writer of the above feels that the demonstrators represent the silent majority he should rethink his position. Keeping a lot of noise, looting, arson and beating of people certainly do not endear support for a movement. Sure, people are angry at the manner of death of Floyd. but racism is a given that passing laws cannot solve. Take for example the aside by representative Engels( a democrat) in New York when he assumed that the mike was turned off. He was only present because he was facing elections in November. China and Russia are talking about America’s racism: cases of the pot calling the kettle black. The expressions of support are about ninety-percent fueled by politics. A couple of months from now after the November elections ,no one is going to give two farts about how blacks are viewed. The situation in which blacks find themselves has been engendered by their own black elected representatives, who seem only interested in feathering their own pockets.(In Trinidad BLM protest degenerated into confrontation with the police which seems to be the norm with BLM ).
    As for the removal of monuments one cannot rewrite history. Of course there is going to be talk of symbolism. The events in the UK are examples of a recent immigrant society trying to tell the native population what is should do. Are these people for real? Blacks need to take education seriously and elect their own black representatives who are interested in improving their plight.

  3. Tee White Avatar
    Tee White

    Remove Lord Nelson’s statue from Bridgetown
    Sign the petition
    http://chng.it/7BLFmFxTtM

  4. David Avatar
    David

    @Dr. Lucas

    You are bordering on being dishonest. A few looters compared to the large numbers engaged in peaceful protest is what it is. At the root of the protest is to expose the scourge of racism and similar acts. There are enough documented cases to support. You maybe aware people from all backgrounds have been using this moment to call for reform. Some of us are also aware that people with black pigmentation will be traitors to the cause.

  5. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    What about Christopher Codrington? Look at his gift to the people of Barbuda and what a black government is trying to undo. Look at Codrington College and what that institution has contributed to the development of Barbados. We cannot re-write history; our generation must put that awful history in context.
    Instead of rewriting history we should be guardians of our current democratic institutions. In the 1960s, those of us who were around got used to military coups, but contemporary dictators no longer have military coups, they win general elections (Trump, Erdogan, Fujimori, Vargas, Chavez, et al). They won and continue to win because they are perceived as popular and charismatic; it is only when you oppose them that the fangs come out.
    Their methods are capturing the state by appointing the judges, the head of police, the military, by compromising parliament, amend the constitution to fix a deal – do all of these mean anything to Barbadians?
    But an essential part of capturing the state is to capture hearts and minds; and the language of capture is that of loyalty, of Barbadian nationalism; of deliberately interpreting the question of party loyalty with loyalty to the state, the flag, the national anthem.
    Once bogus policies are put in the narrative of saving the nation, of we are all in this together, of Barbados First, then the people march like rats behind the Pied Piper.
    We do so at the expense of our historic mission, which is not just to see the world, but to under stand it and learn from it. But how can we do so if we reject everything European, or North American, or Asian? Ever since Herodotus, we have learnt that history must mean something, or it means nothing.
    It is in the interest of the New Authoritarians to package everything in nationalist terms when it suits them, to preach finding our own answers for our own problems, ignore the rest of the democratic world, because it serves their purpose.
    Contemporary politics is a moving target, it does not stand still. To analysis it, we need the tools of history. We know, from recent experience, that authoritarian leaders always wat to do good, they tell us they love the people. They are not devils with horns. It is when we question their policies that the anger rises up and the opponents are disposed of.
    So, we remove Nelson and replace him with a Bajan; then another generation decides we will replace them with another Bajan and the hero worship goes on round and round.
    The Christian Bible tells us about worshipping false Gods: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…..

  6. David Avatar
    David

    Some people are of the opinion the history of a bygone era is just that, new history is also being created in the present. If the now generation wants to send a loud message that some symbols that repress an oppressive past must be less visible, that is history too.

  7. Ordinary Black Man Avatar
    Ordinary Black Man

    Lord Nelson din own slaves. He fought fuh he King and Empire which was built on slavery but all historical characters complex.
    Gandhi din like blacks in South Africa. Yuh gine stop quoting he den?
    King jr was a serial womanizer who clearly din have tuh much respect fuh women. Yuh gine stop quoting he and ask to have he day up in Merca remove?
    Barrow sold weapons to South Africa under harp. We gine guh cross de rivah and tek down he statu too?
    I ent know tuh much. But I got two grandchildren and de girl real bright. She gine get more degrees Dan Baje. She does tell me dat history bout learning from de past fuh de present an de future. How ordinary people like muhself gine learn bout em if yuh try to whitewash or blackwash um. De admiral was a historical figure wheder yuh like um or not.

  8. bk Avatar
    bk

    Too much house ni**as in parliament , i can’t believe that this issues is still around, that statue should have been dumped on its head in the wharf every since, either that or sold to a foreign museum. Then we got people talking crap about history cant be erased, when we know full well that the history of African and their contribution to the world on a whole, has been erased, hidden, white washed etc.

  9. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Hal…ya will be a slave till ya die…Codrington was one of the nastiest enslavers to cross the Caribbean, at one time he owned, i believe it was Antigua and a few other Caribbean island, the evil crimes he committed in the Caribbean still ECHOS LOUDLY TODAY…don’t you see the damaged minds as proof, of course not, since you are one….

    and yall agents of colonialism are so damn dumb as i pointed out to one recently, cause when you remove the statues of these evil trash, place them in museums or underwater so people can go and pay to see them, learn their wicked past and all the crimes they committed against people of African descent…. while replacing them with statues of the oppressed…..history will still be intact, so instead of those DEAD scum racists and enslavers in our faces all the time as they have been for far too long, we will see the oppressed which will be more palatable and easier to sympathize with and understand…..

    but we done know that dumbed down, mentally damaged colonial agents can never think that far, you were not created for that purpose…

  10. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @Hal,

    Nice piece. nonetheless Lord Nelson should be removed and replaced with Grantley Adams

  11. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “Too much house ni**as in parliament ”

    they are dirty no good black faces of parliament who deliberately leave it there for shite tourists to take photos, push up their racist chests and tell the Black population how they would starve if shitehounds like them don’t come to the island as tourists…

    that is why they are now worldwide famous, them and their corrupt colonial negro selves and their minority half negros…

  12. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Hal Austin at 8 :13 AM

    A beautiful and insightful master piece which attempts to put the Bristol event in proper context. I concur with your variety of points.
    @ Tee White
    Have you really researched the biography of Admiral Nelson? Do you know why Barbadians of his generation considered him a hero? Do you think Barbados’ development would be what it is today had it been acquired by the French? Is there nothing you learnt from French brand of colonization. Have you learnt nothing from the Haitian experience.?

  13. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    what nonsense are you talking Vincent? are you trying to argue the altruism of one colonial master over the other?

  14. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    The proposal is not radical enough for me. We must, of course, smash not only Nelson, but also all the Barrow statutes, because Barrow’s lifestyle has emulated the old slave drivers.

    I also advocate erasing the names of ALL former slave owners. Therefore our government must rename about 80 percent of all Barbadians with their surname, as well as numerous streets. Since the African tribes originally did not know any surnames, we must resort to historical tribal names. It is then no longer called Codrington College but Biafada College. Instead of Donville Inniss it is Donville Bassa and instead of Chris Sinckler it is Chris Urhobo.

    It would be even better to get rid of all Christian first names, because these also go back to the culture of the slave owners. So Folami Urhobo instead of Chris Sinckler.

    Furthermore, we could blow up all historical buildings, as far as they date back to the time before 1834. Parliament would be a start. A ban on Christian churches would also be conceivable for the same reason.

  15. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “Gandhi din like blacks in South Africa. Yuh gine stop quoting he den?”

    Ghandi was a piece of racist shit, just like Nelson who enabled and condoned racism and slavery and fought to keep it intact into future generations, it is all documented for anyone interested to read…

  16. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Greene

    What is definition of nonsense? I asked questions. Do you also have difficulty in answering them?

  17. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    even the question is nonsense. it doesnt deserve contemplation far less an answer

  18. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Greene

    It only deserves an ignorant comment ftom you. Thanks.

  19. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Tron

    Stop it now. You got me cracking up with laughter. I have said before, you are in the wrong job. |You could be a star writing television comedy. Certainly Barbados lacks such creative talent. I must stop reading up. You send me hysterical. Say hello to Chris Sinckler, the economist and mathematical genius for me.

  20. David Avatar
    David

    Crimes committed by citizens are assigned different punishments based on the weight citizens give to laws. The same is true with issues of a moral type. At this point in our history there is nothing wrong with assessing how symbols of a colonial past are displayed and the decisions that may flow from it. Nothing is static.

  21. Freedom Crier Avatar
    Freedom Crier

    LORD HORATIO NELSON IS CREDITED WITH SAVING BARBADOS FROM SURE DESTRUCTION BY FRENCH INVADERS IN 1805,

    “This island has certainly never before, at least in the memory of anyone now living, been in such a perilous situation and had Lord Seaforth not declared the alarms and the French and Spanish fleets attacked Barbados as had been expected, Barbados might by today have been another province of France, at which time we might well have been taught by our conquerors what martial law is really all about.”

    The rest is history. Lord Nelson to the rescue… The French fleet destroyed at Trafalgar. Barbados saved. Grateful citizens raise public subscription to erect a statue in his honour not the Government. You might remember that many of the older generation named their children Horatio and the name Nelson is a common Barbadian name. We must remember our Hero’s even though their memory becomes dim. Nelson was a Hero to England and the Statue of nelson in Trafalgar was erected before the one in England. He owned no slave and did no transportation of slaves.

    “We with little knowing of the true history of Lord admiral Horatio Nelson he was the protector of the West Indy’s His port was the filthy Collar-era ridden Nelsons harbour in the island of Antigua he protected merchants ships and destroyed the Napoleonic dictatorship of Frances navy at will. We in Barbados had shot cannon ports in the hope the people docking would pay us with materials we could use to protect our island. Without Nelson we would have changed hands serval time from Portage’s, French and Spanish Nelson was stationed in the Caribbean in his youth. He whipped the French in 4 major battles Copenhagen, Port St. Vincent, The battle of the Nile and Trafalgar. Why would you remove his statue. Neil Degases Tyson claims the true danger of today’s youth is not a lack of knowledge but misinformation excepted as irrevocable truth because they wish it was so.

    https://image.slidesharecdn.com/thebattleoftrafalgar-151016114829-lva1-app6892/95/the-battle-of-trafalgar-73-638.jpg?cb=1444996542the

  22. Freedom Crier Avatar
    Freedom Crier

    Freedom does Not Support the Removal of the Nelson Statue, which was Erected by Public Subscription, by a Greatful People. What is Objectionable was the Use of the Symbol by the State of the Erection of the Emancipation Statue to say that we are Free and Emancipated.

    However We continue to Experience Serfdom and Oppression in our Modern Day Existence in Barbados

    What most do not realize is that Serfdom still exist today in the guise of Socialism and Prospers Worldwide and we that are on the Isles of the sea are not exempt. The same Philosophy that wants the Statue of Admiral Nelson removed which was paid for by Public Subscription, gave us the Emancipation Statue while putting us in ECONOMIC SLAVERY. EXCESS TAXATION IS SERFDOM…

    Isn’t it Ironic that you want to take down the Statue that Barbadians felt was reminiscent of the one who Saved them but Celebrate the Emancipation Statue paid for by Government and they are the ones who are Taxing Barbadians into Servitude. People received their Freedom as it was Heralded as something Great they even Erected Statues to Celebrate Emancipation paid for by the Government, and then they proceed to make us Serfs. We have thrown off the Colonial Masters and now we have another one, Big Government and they are Celebrating Freedom with us while making us Serfs to the State!…That is the Ultimate Deception!!
    Don’t you understand that the Ideology of Socialism is Deception?

    I Like the Emancipation Statue but want it to be a Reality where every man can Retain as much as what he works for and not Taken by Excessive Taxation!

    The Yearning for Freedom is Great in a man’s Soul, the idea of Bussa Rising to have Freedom was Good.

    THE BUSSA OF OUR DAY SHOULD BE THE ONE TO BE FIGHTING OVER TAXATION. He is not in UWI because although they Preach Emancipation would Usher in Marxism!

    https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fd/76/87/fd7687dcb82a4a0e42a6af107b60ef8c.jpg

  23. Khaleel Kothdiwala Avatar
    Khaleel Kothdiwala

    Vincent asks quite a few pertinent questions at 8.51. I hope discussion of them won’t be buried in ignorance similar to Greene’s

  24. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Vincent
    @Greene

    Thanks

  25. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    the politics of Paul Kagame after the tacit and not so tacit European assisted genocide in Rwanda is instructive in this debate. kick all of them out and begin anew under your own stated terms. despot or saviour? your choice

    https://newafricanmagazine.com/22114/

  26. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    Nice piece. nonetheless Lord Nelson should be removed and replaced with Grantley Adams
    ++++++++++++

    Following in that vein, we will have to rename Nelson St. Adams Street……

  27. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    lol. maybe that would assist in getting it cleansed if that is what it needs

  28. David Avatar
    David

    @Sargeant

    Nelson Street is not what it use to be.

  29. PoorPeacefulandPolite Avatar
    PoorPeacefulandPolite

    A mob in Bristol vandalizes a sculpted piece of copper. From now things will be better because there is no reminder. “1984” revisited.

  30. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    @ David who wrote ” Nelson Street is not what it use to be ”

    How do you know this ? lol

  31. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ Freedom Crier at 9:18 AM

    Thanks for the excerpts you uploaded. At least you have an appreciation of the questions posed. Just yesterday we had a discussion of cognitive dissonance. Many did not benefit from that article either. Learning is certainly NOT commonsense.

    Some of us are so blind that we do not realise that we have changed one slave master for another.

  32. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    @David, WOW what a treat above…. Mr. Austin… sterling stuff but @Tron your amazingly (humorous) sarcasm much too simplifies the issue….But the first two posts were yet the most ‘alarming’…..taking us back @Mr. Blogmaster to your reminder piece on cognitive dissonance – as you said then – it is magnified here daily.

    In WHAT context can educated folks perceive that the recent event in Bristol; or the removal of Confederate themed monuments in US; the event some two years or so ago when the removal of Rhodes statue at Oxford was trending; or indeed the long standing cry to remove Nelson and the many other such monuments can ever can be an effort to ERASE history….That’s absurd literally and also in any figurative sense.

    As @Tron’s screed suggests and @Vincent encourages the question must be what led to the erection of these monuments in the FIRST place….so the Admiral saved our island-nation in some great battle. Kudos to him…but does his bravery then and these centuries of our history and current life still validate his place of preeminence just outside our democratic assembly… NO!

    Why would the argument be raised that shifting him to ..1) that lovely COW built marina in St. Peter or 2) to the Garrison address of the Museum society, or 3) Gun Hill…or get truly radical and sell it to the Antiguans for Nelson’s dockyard… in short any suitable spot other than ‘Davey Jones Locker’!

    It is NOT “Narrow minded thinking” to advocate a continuing CHANGE as society comes to grips with historical realities… that’s what LIFE demands. To so wantonly hold on to a history that glamorizes and hero-worship people or events that so often demeans life today is UNACCEPTABLE… Give the Admiral his historical due surely but he absolutely no longer needs be in the heart of 2020 Bridgetown… just as *”slave huts” or “plantoccrat edifices etc” do not remain as prominent images of our modern life.

    We CANNOT erase history but we certainly can erase the rose-coloured glasses used to make it look overly awesome!

    I gone.

  33. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ David Bu
    The moderation hick up. Please release.

  34. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    Leh me play Devils Advocate

    Removal of Nelson should be a cakewalk after all being first to erect his statue is lost when compared to the behemoth in London, in any event let Antigua have bragging rights, the beauty of their Nelson’s Dockyard surpasses anyplace in Bim by a country mile.

    Lets have our own cultural revolution, first the politicians they can do some research and change their names to anything from West Africa (not the PM she has already been renamed by some subversive called Piece de something). The ordinary citizens can then adopt names from Ghana as appropriate, we can adopt first names as per their tradition by naming people after the weekday they were born and surnames like Austin would have to go the way of the baccoo. Same thing for place names, who is de Carrington that Carrington Village is named after and do we want to have a Cumberbatch given its historical antecedents? The politician who came up with the name Gemswick should be drawn and quartered.

    Lets ditch the name Barbados and return to the name given by pre Portugese residents (Ichirouganaim) and any historical reference to Bajans settling in the Carolinas should be expunged as Englishmen making a pit stop in Barbados can never be called Bajans ( looka I screwed up can’’t called people Bajans if the name is changed lets call ourselves “Ichirous”.

    I hope wunnah get de drift, as for me since I live over and away my name fits in with the settlers short story I worked in a Corporation with thousands of employees but there was one other employee whose last name matched mine, when we finally met after years of receiving each others email he told me he was from the mother country and his brother was the only other person with the same last name. since then it has become more commonplace and I am not going to ask any of my relatives here to change their name so………

  35. Sargeant Avatar
    Sargeant

    @Hants
    yours@10.02 am

    In the shadow of the Cathedral there was Church Village, I hear that’s where you Kolig boys got your initiation.

  36. Freedom Crier Avatar
    Freedom Crier

    http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/141/590x/-499307.jpg

    Lord Nelson Statue

    A likeness of the infamous Englishman, Lord Admiral Nelson in the form of a bronze statue was made and erected in Barbados in 1813.The design and sculpture was completed by Sir Richard Westmacott, and the structure stands some 3660 inches tall.

    Vice Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson was born in 1758 and was a flag officer who made considerable contributions and gave great service to the Royal Navy. He fought many battles over the period in Britain and Europe; he even spent time in Jamaica and Nevis during his period of service. The year 1783 is mentioned, in which Lord Nelson spent the latter part of the war (Turks Islands) sailing through the islands of the West Indies.

    What is special about this statue in Barbados is that its erection precedes the construction of the Nelson column in Trafalgar Square, London, England by some 27 years. Following his victory and ensuing death at Trafalgar, the Barbadian public was keen to commemorate his life, work and death and so initially, the statue was a monument to Admiral Nelson from the people of Barbados; thus the placing of the statue in what was then called Trafalgar Square in Bridgetown, since renamed Heroes Square in 1999.

    Referred to as an excellent likeness of the British Admiral, this bronze statue was erected on March 22nd, 1813 and sculpted by Sir Richard Westmacott who was often time referred to as “the first castor of bronze in the Kingdom.” London has a Trafalgar Square and a Lord Nelson statue but the one in National Heroes Square is actually older, by nearly 30 years, than the aforementioned.

    It pre-dates the Nelson Column in Trafalgar Square in London by nearly 30 years. Very soon after his victory and subsequent death at Cape Trafalgar in 1805, plans were made to honour Horatio Nelson’s memory. Locals proudly believed they were the first to put up such a monument; however they were in fact the third, after Montreal and Birmingham.

    His popularity came because of the impression he made on Barbadians at the time, resulting in them purchasing the statue and land when he died, naming it Trafalgar Square and paying tribute to the Admiral by erecting the statue.

    Barbadians Used to Celebrate Nelson and Horatio are Common Barbadian Names
    Trafalgar Day 1905 Nelson’s Statue

    http://westindiana.com/store/catalog/images/Trafalgar%20Day%20Barbados%201905%20Nelson%20statue.jpg

  37. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ David June 9, 2020 8:11 AM
    What I saw was a lot of looting going on and the beating of people. The media in the US and UK seldom mentioned the looting. All that was mentioned was peaceful protesters. As far as I can ascertain over eight thousand persons have been arrested ( the figure most likely is higher).Eight thousand odd cannot by any stretch of imagination be deemed minor. You can call me traitor or what ever you want I have stated my opinion on the matter: that blacks should stop blaming others and look at the people who they elect to represent them. That fellow Engels has no right representing blacks. blacks should be representing blacks. I have been on record as stating that the numbers of Jews in the US Senate and Congress is too high considering the fact that they make up about two percent of the US’ population. The foolish blacks keep electing them to represent them. There is no Jew who is not going to put Israel first. Then there are the black representatives who for more than fifty-years have done nothing for blacks. That Joker Obama represented Illinois where there are endless black on black killing. He did nothing to improve the situation for blacks. Stop viewing things through rose-tinted glasses: face facts and call a spade a spade

  38. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    @ Sargeant June 9, 2020 10:37 AM

    A wonderful suggestion. LOL.

    Of course, this causes a very high administrative burden. We’ll need at least 1,000 new civil servants. In other words, an OSA job creation scheme to combat corona unemployment.

    If we use nice buzzwords like anti-colonialism, anti-fascism and anti-racism for this, we will certainly find some useful idiots like the UN or NGOs to finance all this for many years.

  39. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “Nelson’s Dockyard surpasses anyplace in Bim by a country mile.”

    Nelson’s Dockyard should be a museum…right along with the shrunken African heads some of the colonials who lived there used to advertise there in their houses in the 60s, but they more than likely took all of it back to UK to pass on to their bastard children….the place can still be for museum purposes only.

  40. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “What I saw was a lot of looting going on ”

    Robert…you do know from videos that the real looting took place in the uptown, high end areas and no Black people were involved…..because you do not break into the diamond district and certain areas as a Black person or HIspanic, you just don’t….and ya sure as hell don’t advertise anywhere in the news about any of that…cause one guy who was looting, hollering and burning was worth 19 million dollars and he looked nothing like you…the only store left untouched was Gucci and some smartass said, oh well, it probably belonged to the looters….gotta keep making that money, insurance will cover the others…

    so all that you are there moaning and groaning about means nothing, just imagine how the insurance companies for those upmarket areas are holding their BELLIES AND BAWLING…lol..i keep telling yall that certain things are beyond you…

    gotta admit, it was a damn good cover and opportunity to utilize…

  41. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ Vincent Codrington June 9, 2020 8:51 AM
    “Do you think Barbados’ development would be what it is today had it been acquired by the French? Is there nothing you learnt from French brand of colonization. Have you learnt nothing from the Haitian experience.?”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Does your reference to the “French brand of colonization” also include Martinique, Guadeloupe and Saint Barthélemy?

    At least a black person born on the island of Martinique can automatically call him or herself a ‘French’ man or woman and can carry an EU passport.

    Can the same thing be said of those from the Windrush generation?

    Blacks previously played a more prominent role in French society than they did in that of the British.

    Even Josephine Baker found Paris more a place of refuge and acceptance than she would have found in London.

    Is it ‘historically’ accurate to say that the Haitian revolution was the catalyst to the Bussa rebellion which is ‘lionized’ in Bim even today?

  42. David Avatar
    David

    @Dr. Lucas

    If the blogmaster were to examine your conclusion he would ask one question in order to strip away bias- if the 8000 persons arrested how many were looters, how many were those breaking curfew? To know this would be make for a more dispassionate assessment.

  43. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    @ Miller June 9, 2020 12:20 PM

    The British treated the natives in the colonies like crap. That’s why almost all the colonies broke away from the motherland.

    The British treated the natives in the colonies like crap. That’s why almost all the colonies broke away from the motherland. Apart from the extremely bad British food. The behaviour of the French and Dutch was a little less racist, so the colonies in the Caribbean remained with the motherland. The exception of Haiti confirms this principle; moreover, Haiti served as a deterrent for the other territories.

    Today they are quite happy about it, because the standard of living in French and Dutch West Indies is miles above that of the former British colonies. Together with Haiti, the latter group now forms the poorhouse of the Caribbean. So I can’t understand at all why many black Barbadians are still kissing British ass.

  44. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “The behaviour of the French and Dutch was a little less racist, ”

    that is why racism will remain a staple in Barbados, i was shocked to hear a Jamaican woman in NYC classifying which island was treated better and who the worst during slavery, am like…what the hell is wrong with you girl…what are you on..

    then i was even more shocked yearssss to hear a shite minister or deputy pm, lawyer and all three i think claiming that Barbados had the best slaves during slavery, that criminal actually gave an interview to that effect in London, yeah, I mean Billy the Goat…..no empathy, no saying it’s time the colonial stench be removed, no nothing, just empty and dead nothingness just as how she looks now…..i still can’t stand her for that one.

    ….but what do you expect of colonial agents who have never had the best interests of the majority Black population to heart…it’s always been about them and their fraud selves..

  45. TheOgazerts Avatar
    TheOgazerts

    Everytime you write that an educated/high class Barbadian said “Barbados had the best slaves during slavery” it gives some insight into fellow Barbadian.

  46. Miller Avatar
    Miller

    @ robert lucas June 9, 2020 7:13 AM
    “As for the removal of monuments one cannot rewrite history. Of course there is going to be talk of symbolism. The events in the UK are examples of a recent immigrant society trying to tell the native population what is should do. Are these people for real? Blacks need to take education seriously and elect their own black representatives who are interested in improving their plight.”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Come on Robbie, you know better than that!

    Didn’t the Europeans, post Columbus, “rewrite” the history of the “New World” in their own image?

    As an ‘indirect’ descendant of one of the indigenous peoples of the “Americas” do you really believe that the Europeans found a ‘Tabula Rasa’ of civilization when the ‘accidentally’ arrived in the New World?

    Would it be historically inaccurate to say that when the English ‘settled’ in Los Barbadoes there were NO Amerindian cultural artefacts and icons to be destroyed and replaced with those made in the ‘English’ image?

    Are you falling for the false narrative that physically vulnerable Amerindians, like the imported African slaves, were sub-human un-Christianized savages ‘which’ had to be either taken under the yoke of the white man’s domination or be destroyed in the interest of ‘progress’ and civilization?

    But we take your clarion calls about the status of the stupid brainwashed blacks especially those of the “mis-educated” class of today and in so-called leadership positions.

    It’s time these blacks give ‘science’ and non-partisan knowledge of the world a chance in their lives to free their minds from mental slavery and economic subservience.

    It seems the same white man’s ‘doctored’ book of Jewish mythology and legends has not done a ‘good’ job of improving their lives since the day(s) of liberation of their ‘black’ bodies from ‘branded’ bondage.

    There is NO milk and honey awaiting the black people in heaven; only cotton and sugarcane fields and cow pens.

    Mother Nature is offering the black ‘man’ in the West the final opportunity through the Covid pandemic to save himself from drowning in the sea of irrelevance as the future belongs to those with knowledge and not physical attributes alone.

  47. Dame Bajans Avatar
    Dame Bajans

    It was reported in the US papers that the looters were dropped off in luxury vehicles with all the tools for breaking in and that they even brought their own U-HAUL trucks. NYPD is reviewing CC film footage and tracing the license plates.

  48. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    lol….oh i saw a video, looks like they were well coordinated, while everyone else was all involved in the other states, even before shit started in Brooklyn, these dudes movee in and cleared up everything….they even did their massive damage in style…..lol

    keep on waiting for the news to carry any of that…

    good luck with those plates..

  49. Tee White Avatar
    Tee White

    https://repeatingislands.com/2020/06/09/nancy-morejon-black-prince-for-george-floyd/?fbclid=IwAR3-gA_IbFj_jfKqR_Nf4CU00YBssesqXW-Y9y8wIZPzombiBM4HI-HSAcQ

  50. Tee White Avatar
    Tee White

    https://twitter.com/Vanessa_Kisuule/status/1270011146544783361?s=08

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