52 responses to “Hope for the best, plan for the worst”

1. 

   David

   December 4, 2022 at 5:03 am

   
   

   Our history of violence
   Some people are still asking: “How de yutes get so? Why dey suh angry?”
   For those who may be new to this space, let me give a summary recap of the issue. Centuries of unaddressed, intergenerational trauma meets the contemporary neglect of a society which sees itself in almost exclusively economic terms.
   Barbados, the entire Caribbean, the whole of the Americas were born in violence. Invading Europeans committed genocide on the people they found here. In the Caribbean alone, less than 50 years after the European arrival, an estimated three to four million indigenous population was reduced to a few thousand. They initially wanted them alive to work as slaves. When that did not work out because the original inhabitants started to die out from the hardship, a priest by the name of Bartholomew de las Casas had an idea. He did not like seeing the people they called Amerindians suffer. Bartholomew therefore suggested bringing over Africans against their will.
   While these Africans proved more durable, they also posed a challenge because of their tendency to rebel.
   The cruelty which began against the Amerindians shifted focus to the newly arrived Africans and was intensified to keep them in check. Around five million Africans were kidnapped and brought to the Caribbean. The ones who arrived were the survivors.
   Around two million are estimated to have died on the ships. Here began a few hundred years of the hate crimes called slavery and colonisation.
   Hundreds of years of torture, murder, rape and other forms of abuse ensued.
   There was an economic motive for these atrocities. Slavery and colonisation were driven by capitalism. Literally on the backs and by the blood, sweat and tears of these Africans were Barbados and the nations around it established and developed. The West
   Indies was built by utilising free labour. The major cost was to the humanity of all involved.
   A culture developed that was based entirely on inhumanity. However, the wealth that was created allowed the enslavers to masquerade as civilised beings. But the violence necessary to keep the Africans from rebellion made beastliness the core of the Caribbean.
   Eventually physical violence gave way to psychological violence.
   Religion and education were the tools of psychological violence. By getting Africans to forsake and forget their own ways and traditions and then educating them to believe that it was African backwardness that was the cause of their woes, and that salvation lay in following the European way, the will to fight for freedom was diminished.
   Overt physical violence was no longer as necessary as when feet were in chains but minds were free. If the need for physical violence against enslaved Africans did arise, there were many Africans who saw themselves and others like them as created in the image and likeness of the devil, who were willing to do the job. Inflicting violence on Africans like themselves was a sign of loyalty to European Gods, kings and queens.
   So, the culture of the Caribbean was crafted. Parents passed the culture of violence onto their children. They would quote the Bible and attempt to beat the devil out of their offspring.
   This was how the masters who looked like the pictures of Jesus taught them. This was slave love. A good parent would beat you now so the police would not have to beat you later.
   You learned to behave and to teach your children to behave by violence.
   With violence shoved deep down your throats and suppressed, there was peace, on the surface. Fear of hell and the authorities kept the volcano of Caribbean society dormant.
   Fast-forward to today. It is no longer acceptable
   for authorities to use open, wanton physical violence to control others. Without the backing of the whip, it is harder for authorities like the church to convince people to follow its word. Without the overt terror of authority, the only thing holding the society together became the dangling carrot of economic enfranchisement.
   The promise of eternally accumulating capital captured the minds of Africans where the promise of life everlasting could not. However, in the last few decades especially, that promise has seemed empty. The wealth gap has been growing and the social ladder has been getting greasier.
   This nation that has come up from slavery has not yet come out of it mentally. It still thinks of its people and society in almost exclusively economic terms. It still sees the backs, blood, sweat and tears of its people as a resource to be exploited.
   The return on investment in children is not easily measured. Addressing intergenerational trauma is seen as an unnecessary expense. The whip is no longer an option. The anger that violence, religion and the promise of reward used to suppress now has no cover.
   So, what is the solution? Well, the first step towards a solution is appreciating the nature of the problem. We haven’t gotten there yet if we are still asking how the ‘yutes’ get so.
   Adrian Green is a communications specialist.
   Email adriangreen14@gmail.com.

   Source: Nation

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2. 

   David

   December 4, 2022 at 5:04 am

   
   

   REPARATIONS CLAIM

   Recommendation made that British MP turn over Drax Hall property he inherited
   By Colville Mounsey colvillemounsey@nationnews.com

   Government is considering officially advancing a first of a kind claim against a family to pay reparations for their ancestors’ role in the slave system.
   The National Task Force on Reparations has officially lodged a report to Cabinet advising the next steps, which could include legal action, should no agreement be reached with wealthy conservative British Member of Parliament (MP) Sir Richard Drax, who inherited the plantation.
   Deputy chairperson of the National Task Force, Ambassador David Comissiong, told the Sunday Sun that also among the recommendations for compensation is for the 17th century Drax Hall Great House in St George, to be turned over to Government to be used as a museum for slavery. He also suggested that the 617-acre property should be used for development of housing for the people of St George and working-class Barbadians.
   Meanwhile, head of the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration, David Denny, disclosed that he will be travelling to the United Kingdom next year to be part of a protest action related to this issue. He said the reparations sought should go towards the building of schools, roads, health centres and other community projects within St George.
   Making it clear that the final decision rested with Cabinet, Comissiong explained that should the move receive the stamp of approval from the Mia Amor Mottley administration, it would mark the first time a CARICOM country has officially demanded reparations from a family. This extends the scope of claims beyond companies, European countries, banks and universities that profited from the slave trade.
   “We feel that the facts are so clear that the
   Drax family is an appropriate target for reparations claim. The task force put together a Cabinet paper that has been referred to the Cabinet of Barbados. It would be up to Cabinet to make a decision on how they propose to go forward with the matter. The approach of CARICOM in reparation matters is to first indicate to the party that we are claiming reparations and why. We would then invite the party to meet with us to discuss and come to an agreement on how they can begin to repair the damage that was dealt, and the same approach will be taken with Sir Richard Drax,” said Comissiong.
   The ambassador said there is no need for the negotiations to be contentious, and expressing the hope that Sir Richard, with a net worth of over £150 million, would accede to his “moral duty”.
   “I believe that some discussions have already been undertaken. The chairman of the National Task Force, MP Trevor Prescod, has already had some discussions with Mr Drax but right now the matter is with the Cabinet of Barbados. We just have to wait and see what decision they come up with . . . . For Barbados to be able to identify a concrete target, to be able to identify the Drax Hall plantation, makes the reparations campaign very concrete in the sense that it is something that we can almost touch,” he said.
   Comissiong explained that there was no mistaking the historical record as it relates to the major involvement of the Drax family ancestry in the slave system in Barbados and the tremendous profits that they amassed.
   “We felt that the Drax family was a special case because this family . . . was actually the pioneer of slaverybased system in Barbados. This family has operated plantations in Barbados continuously without break for over 100 years.”
   According to a report in the Daily Mail in 2020, Drax, the South Dorset MP whose ancestors operated the plantation from 1640 to 1836, said: “I am keenly aware of the slave trade in the West Indies, and the role my very distant ancestor played in it is deeply,
   deeply regrettable. But no one can be held responsible today for what happened many hundreds of years ago. This is a part of the nation’s history, from which we must all learn.”

   Source: Nation

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