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Drax Hall: Political Cowardice and the ‘rule of law’

Mia Mottley Richard Drax

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By Tee White

In late April, news broke in Barbados that the Barbados Labour Party government, led by Prime Minster Mia Mottley, was planning to make a payment of some BD$ 8 million (US$ 4 million, GBP 3.2 million) to Richard Drax, the current owner of Drax Hall plantation, as part of the compulsory purchase of 50 acres of that property. The government claimed that its intention in acquiring the land is to build 10,000 houses for low-income families.

When the announcement of the sale was publicised, the outrage among the people of Barbados was instant. Trevor Prescod, MP for St Michael East and Special Envoy to the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for reparations and economic enfranchisement summed up the country’s feelings when he declared that Drax must not receive a single cent from the people of Barbados.

Faced with a wall of anger in Barbados, across the Caribbean and globally, Prime Minister Mottley addressed the country on 24 April.  In her address, she announced that the government would pause the compulsory purchase of the land from Richard Drax and consult with the people of Barbados on how to proceed.

Drax Hall [Photo Credit: https://barbados.org/drax.htm]

An important question that this issue has raised is that of the rule of law. David Commissiong, Barbados’ ambassador to CARICOM, writing in his capacity as a private citizen, published a commentary in which he outlined the criminal involvement of the Drax family in the holocaust against enslaved Africans in Barbados and the enormous wealth they derived from their criminal activity. Nevertheless, he argued that “the Law of Barbados stipulates that whenever Government compulsorily acquires property it is under a duty to compensate the landowner by paying him the fair market value of the land that is being appropriated”. Therefore, he argued, the government’s hands are tied. He described the prospect of the payout to the Drax family as a “fundamental injustice”.

Read full article – https://caribbeanempowerment.wordpress.com/2024/04/27/barbados-drax-hall-political-cowardice-and-the-rule-of-law/

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212 responses to “Drax Hall: Political Cowardice and the ‘rule of law’”

  1. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    Alvin…those indians in US as you csll them……are asiatics who walked across the Bering Straits…they are not indigenous to this region……they FOUND AFRIKANS IN THE AMERICAS…the only people on earth tens of thousands of years ago were Afrikans and they travelled built and populated THE EARTH…..there are still Mer Khut (pyramids) in the US and everywhere else, as evidence.

  2. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    No one except for those who never paid attention to ancient history should be surprised…a parliament employee who is also a card carrying member of the club of rome, another conflict of interest:

    Employee for the vatican
    Employee for Empire
    Employee for the people of Barbados…..who always get the shitty end of the stick….and never get their tax dollar’s worth..

    So much conflict of interest they will never tell you this…

    https://www.facebook.com/share/r/7pHFfXYzNjYzP4K3/?mibextid=D5vuiz

  3. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    I was confused for a while because I knew there were Afrikan Black Nobility in existence for thousands of years but found mostly in the Mediterranean areas…..

    ….then i was jolted to find out that although there are still Black Nobility bloodlines, in this era,the new age Black Nobility are not black at all…except for a few dark skin employees claiming they are black nobility, even in Barbados…

  4. David Avatar
    David

    Drax Hall contradictions

    THE LOUD OUTCRY that erupted from progressives after discovering that the hottest symbol of Barbadian reparations struggle – Drax Hall Plantation – was being considered for compulsory acquisition at market prices, provides useful lessons for studying neo-colonial government in the Caribbean today.

    What are the lessons? The Drax Hall fiasco exposes how a neo-colonial government may adopt progressive global postures while acquiescing to exploitative social and economic relations at home. Neo-colonialism depends on separating international from domestic politics. Often, the contradictions in neo-colonial government only become exposed when the mystical veil separating the domestic and the international collapses upon itself, as seen now with Drax Hall. Drax Hall is inextricably a Mia Amor Mottley contradiction. The greater portion of Mottley’s immense political standing springs from her global profile: her stances on climate change; her demands for global economic reform; her interventions in Haiti; her adoption of republicanism; and her demands for reparations for slavery and genocide. Mottley has received more plaudits for her global interventions than for any domestic policy.

    Post-colonial neo-colonial leaders tend to adopt radical stances abroad even in the absence of radical transformation at home. Foreign policy rarely impacts local elections. However, there are moments when the domestic and the global intersect, during which times the commitment of the ruling petite bourgeoisie to preserve the status quo is exposed for all to see.

    Concerns

    Significantly, both “republicanism” and “reparations” are issues on which the domestic and global intersect. Readers will no doubt recall that while Mottley’s republicanism was widely applauded abroad, there were stinging domestic complaints that Barbadian republicanism had resulted in no deep-seated local political transformation. The opportunistic “barely democratic” early election of 2022 seemed to validate their concerns.

    And now Drax Hall, amidst all the reparations “long talk”, presented a live and ongoing slave edifice on Barbadian soil, owned by a prominent Englishman, around which the reparations struggle could be waged. The government then came and poured its cold water.

    While the government has stepped back from its decision, there is enough evidence to suggest the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) hasn’t given sufficient consideration on the reparations question. Where are the strident pro-reparations cabinet members? Consider the absence of a strident policy of self-repair such as the renaming of public institutions, like the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Queen’s College and Princess Margaret Secondary School, and other measures.

    Interestingly, the blame has been placed on an overzealous minister (“unaware” of the reparations symbolism of Drax Hall), eager to solve a housing problem for Barbados’ poor (the pro-worker spin).

    Despite these rejoinders, the Drax Hall fiasco has exposed further the contradictions in the Mottley-led BLP as its cultivated global radical image clashes with its domestic conservatism. Interestingly, the “global radical” card continues, since in the middle of the Drax Hall fiasco, the government was moving to recognise Palestine as a state.

    Tennyson Joseph is Associate Professor of Political Science at North Carolina Central University. Email tjoe2008@live.com

    Source: Nation

  5. being correct Avatar
    being correct

    I don’t think Mia is leading the call for reparations, but is vocalising and representing the views of the grass roots movement.

    The post-colonial neo-colonial axiom is the very definition of Barbados legacy and also the dead Queen Elizabeth II which Mia took first steps to move away from.

    Likewise progressives take measured baby steps towards social reform which will evolve to radicalism when things don’t change.

    The tautology is called being correct (politically).

    Big up to the US Students protesting on the frontline

    War?
    This is Genocide. Act now.

  6. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    “And now Drax Hall, amidst all the reparations “long talk”, presented a live and ongoing slave edifice on Barbadian soil, owned by a prominent Englishman, around which the reparations struggle could be waged. The government then came and poured its cold water.”

    All distraction, always watch out for the trojan horse effect of opportunity…..reparations is ALL LOOOONNGG TALK……nothing more than a useful tool, a self promoting chance to springboard by misleading and using the people on the island to achieve personal goals….in all of that the island is in a horrible mess, but ignored to court those pliable and easily fooled on the world stage…for self gain.

    If as reported they have reduced themselves to also targeting and misleading the British establishment, those who still own slave plantations on the island, while in their desperate dizzy hurry. Even them know now they have to be careful with conflict of interest pretenders..

  7. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    “Likewise progressives take measured baby steps towards social reform which will evolve to radicalism when things don’t change.”

    The opportunity is RIGHT THERE, RIGHT NOW to make ALL THE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES…without making a public spectacle of themselves or pretending Pan Afrikanism….when it happens they wont even know as there will be no credit to steal. ..as the pricess ALREADY STARTED…….from those who have ALREADY worked on this for OVER HALF CENTURY and ALREADY passed the baton to the highly capable….pretenders are 50 years too late…and NOT WELCOMED..

    .Real Pan Afrikanists care nothing about world stage credit….only about getting the job done without FRAUDS involved..

    .it’s just that they DON’T know what the hell they are doing while trapped in conflict trying to spread the bajan poison all around …and they are too dangerously treacherous for anyone to show them anything, they are not part of our realm, wont understand anyway, cant get in, so the COCKUPS continue….and they continue to bungle….but the world also needs comedy.

  8. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    Tennyson Joseph has skillfully deconstructed our Prime Minister.

  9. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    Btw…we know they have information on Empire…after all 30 years as an employee..

    ….but….a REAL woman and REAL Pan Afrikanist would trade that information PUBLICLY for FREE….no meeting in private…..make it PUBLIC..

    …wuh dey love de world stage int it, use that influence to tell the world EVERYTHING…..since they are pretending they now have an issue with Empire…PROVE it’s not just PRETENSE…that’s what a real woman would do.

  10. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    William…people are inherently ignorant, arrogant and self destructive. Since around 2019 because of the suffering i witnessed, i offered the Prime Minister to work with me in the medical marijuana matter that has since gone nowhere..

    ..but remember i was the brunt of uncalled for attacks back then.. thing is she would have been in much better position on all fronts if she had…but now because of security issues and HER current situation….it can never happen.

    …
    as the world twirls…..here they are…

  11. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Yolande Grant
    We are not ignorant. We keep trying to follow the USA. Now the same USA has downgraded Marijuana taking it off the list with heroin, LSD etc. Once more we look like jackasses. We are now going to rush and follow USA.
    Don’t worry, we have already started to sell the plantations to white foreigners and they will make all the blasted money !
    WE have people in our country referring to slavery as an “intermission” and “Relocation”
    What can we really expect ?

  12. TLSN Avatar
    TLSN

    And some on here wonder why the domestic Bajan remains the silent majority.
    It appears that another whistleblower “bites the dust”.

    https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/5/2/whistleblower-joshua-dean-ex-worker-at-boeing-supplier-dies

  13. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    “WE have people in our country referring to slavery as an “intermission” and “Relocation”
    What can we really expect ?”

    I would stay very far away from Slave minds and treat them like the PLAGUE…. these public nuisances would say anything.

    We are indeed in transition and when it ends…you do not want to be surrounded by Slave minds, so start distancing now..

    ….we MUST recognize these backward mouthings and the politician’s CURRENT PREDICAMENT….for what they really are…..watch the signs..

    Loading…

  14. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    William…just had a conversationwith those impacted by this tax mess up. According to those right there, when you try to file online, the transaction is not completed on their site, there is an error….people have been trying.

    so many see this as an attempt to make most taxpayers pay 500 dollars for late filing, in an alleged SCAM…that is what those who tried to file are saying..

    .with the track record of fly-by-nighters, the accusation cannot be dismissed.

  15. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Yolande Grant
    We are great supporters of technology and in some cases, efforts to used more technology , especially in government/quasi are to be welcomed. However, it is pure folly to believe that we have reached a stage , where citizens would be embracing the technology overnight. We know people who are computer literate , who still prefer to use traditional ways when doing business because it’s a comfort/psychological comfort zone.
    We fool ourselves if we think that we have this large number of citizens , who are computer literate.
    We have to realise that we were extremely late in getting on the information highway.
    Many of our changes have to first overcome some aspects our culture. Barbadians are very secretive when doing business and will take sometime to trust new technologies.

  16. The OG Avatar
    The OG

    For those who often refer to the US here is how it is done
    You can ask for an extension, BUT
    1.An extension of time to file your return does not grant you any extension of time to pay your taxes.
    2.You should estimate and pay any owed taxes by your regular deadline to help avoid possible penalties.
    3.You must file your extension request no later than the regular due date of your return.

  17. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    William…by the time they catch up to existing technologies….new ones will occupy the space…they have to keep up….but the government can wastes money on all kinda shams…but will NEVER use taxpayer’s money to properly educate them..

  18. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    In the meantime:,

    we MUST recognize these backward mouthings and the politician’s CURRENT PREDICAMENT….for what they really are…..watch the signs..

    Operative word is PREDICAMENT.

  19. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    For those who often refer to the US, the bill has been passed in the House in a bipartisan manner redefining antisemitism to include criticism of Israel.

    And don’t get me started on your tax system! I got videos!

  20. "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" Avatar
    “The Tattooist of Auschwitz”

    “redefining antisemitism to include criticism of Israel.”

    UK has been doing this since 2016, the western support for Israel has meant I will boycott / no longer watch their sob story movies about Auschwitz such as the new TV series “The Tattooist of Auschwitz”

  21. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    William ….In a world where we can no longer use lack of knowledge as a prop….or justification card….personally i love results. There is no way i would feel comfortable posting on a site for over a decade and don’t use what’s available to me to effectuate outcomes.

    While taking into account that most will not arrive at conclusions at the same time, we ALL have access to the same information….so no excuse for not collectively bringing forth a new era where politicians are HELD ACCOUNTABLE after decades of not doing their jobs, only the bare minimum, with evidence of alleged criminality…..

    Similarly, there is absolutely no excuse that the Afrikan population have no education of SELF or the many benefits available in knowing.

    but as we witnessed on a loop for YEARS… those who complain the most act the least.

  22. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Yolande Grant
    We note the subtle cowardly attempts to blame the people for all missteps made by the BLPDLP .
    We have long concluded that those who are utterly disappointed in the current BLPDLP regime are now rather pathetic in trying to pretend they want a radical overhaul of the system. It’s a con that will fail.
    We picked up this trend in both traditional and new media ,that they are now trying to shut down via some bogus Cyber Crime Bill . It’s about the most asinine piece of legislation one could imagine.
    They are trying to convince the public that it is about protecting children. These shameless political criminals have protected child predators, wife beaters and the well- off who have engaged in brutal domestic violence.
    We however detect a rising activism and that’s why they are trying to shut down the Marcia Weeks Show.
    We are not surprised because in 1974 they brought the the vicious Public Order Act.
    We note that they are now calling the masses lazy . We remember Animal Farm. They worked Boxer to death and then turned him into corned beef.
    The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. We must watch out for those who are now referring to slavery as an “ intermission and a relocation”.
    The enemy within.

  23. David Avatar
    David

    @William

    The people cannot be blameless. A key tenet of a living democracy is advocacy coming from the citizenry.

  24. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    Pretty much. We cannot overlook there are enemies amongst us, very dangerous ones who kept and is keeping valuable information that could save us and give much grief if we don’t know, away from us.

    ..A DEADLY ENEMY, and from whom we must now self defend…we ignore this to our own peril….they could not hide their dirty intentions forever…and am sure now shocked to find out just how much weee now know…..AND THEY GOTTA GO.

    Every knee shall bow to us, and every judas tongue shall confess what they’ve done..

    The ones still fighting to keep the corrupted dead politics in place, dont want life, or history, only interested in showing up as good little slaves fir the system, the best behaved. , still following the politician shadow while the bone is right next to them and they can’t see.. they have no shame….we can now shed our lives of dangerous identity thieves in psrliaments, and those who have no ambition to preserve our lineage…because they are only interested in slavehood.

  25. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ David
    While we agree with you that the people are vital to democracy and in some instances they could be blamed. We suggest it depends on what we are blaming them for.
    We talk about conspicuous consumption and some living quite irresponsibly above their means.
    However, the people’s main participation in any democracy is the right to vote. When people don’t vote, they get the government they deserve. Do ever try to understand why they don’t vote ?
    They vote and then they realize that they were conned. Their children and grandchildren don’t want to be fooled and that’s where the despondency sets in. A perfect example is why we had to import cane cutters from other islands. When you see your grandparents and parents working in the field all day and examine the wages and how they are treated, they don’t want to cut cane.
    When we conclude that party die -hards don’t give a damn about corruption; why would any idealistic young person find politics attractive .
    This determined Animal Farm behavior is not popular among our citizens. We are doing some current research and when we read the comments , articles, in both traditional and new media, we have detected a very painful disappointment in the current BLPDLP regime. However , what is most pathetic and alarming, is the inability by the same party die – hards to admit that a massive political blow job was executed and the so-called Covenant of Hope , was just political public relations
    The people are extremely tired of the politicians and the poly tricks.
    We are caught in a whirlpool of intellectual hypocrisy and the masses are expected to be productive and prop up a system, where they see little hope. Our children are trying their best to get off the Rock because they realize , it’s going to fall on them !
    Remember the calypso the Grand Duke of York( pardon us if we got the title wrong) : he matched them up and down and when they got tired he marched them up and down again. The he there referred to Sir Roy , then general secretary of the BWU. How long did it take for those who marched to get minimum wage and then the minimum wage turned out to be just as bogus as the Cyber Bill.
    The masses are busy trying to pay water bills and excessive bus fares, they are tired of waiting on a so-called Tribunal that takes donkey years to give them their rights; they are tired of PMs that talk too little or talk too much; they are tired of driving on pot holes that took years to be fixed and then suddenly get fixed for frigging strangers; they are tired of Ministers ofFinance who get rewarded for screwing up their economy; they are tired of foreign countries exposing corruption and putting our MPs in jail while others are given a free pass .
    Yes, we agree that the masses are guardians of our democracy . But ………. who guarding them ?

  26. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    Yes William…we are at the forefront of RECLAMATION…don’t need politicians, only Slaves do.

    ..these few years, many have reconnected to our powerful ancestral source…so well on our way to retrieving our rightful place….unstoppable.

  27. David Avatar
    David

    @William

    Let us agree this is not a binary issue to solve; there is a symbiotic relationship at play. Like you correctly stated, we get the representation we deserve.

  28. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    The path is well defined…many will end up on the wrong side of history, that’s the path they took voluntarily. The time we were being guided to move in the right direction for self preservation, over many years, most ignored. I dont know what else to tell them…

  29. The OG Avatar
    The OG

    I wish to pull us back to the Drax debacle. How could you be talking about reparations and then write a check to a major and one of the first enslavers. Make it, make sense.

    Words mean something. Words are not just random noises to break the silence. You and I cannot have a full conversation and five minutes afterwards, it looks as if you reversed everything that you said. How do you expect me to believe anything that you say afterwards.

    I will argue with anyone that there is a marked difference between yes and no. The law recognizes this. ‘Yes’ is consent; ‘No’ is a rape charge. Similarly, in the marketplace there is a difference between a buyer and a seller; one party does not leave with the money and the article being sold and the other leaves with nothing.

    But in the world of reparations the meaning of words just fall apart. And when it appears obvious that things are falling apart the spinners rush in to convince you that reparations means payments to enslavers. It baffles me how men can live on both sides of the coin; one moment fighting for all that is right and the next moment striving to justify everything that is wrong.

    I wonder if Clement Payne would like some of those using his name. What a twisted world we live in.

  30. David Avatar
    David

    No cheque was written and why? The voice of the people crescendoed. @wiliam.

  31. Artaxerxes Avatar
    Artaxerxes

    “And don’t get me started on your tax system! I got videos!”

    @ Donna

    I’ve been filing income tax returns for people since 1985.

    TAMIS is an online tax administration system. Anyone who is familiar with information systems technology such as TAMIS, knows ‘errors’ would occur when too many people try to access it at the same time.

    Unfortunately, people wait until the ‘last minute’ to file online as well. This sudden ‘spike in site traffic’ causes the server to become overloaded, the site crashes soon after as a result and the server returns an error code.

    For years Inland Revenue/BRA has been warning people to file EARLY, so as to avoid a ‘system overload.’

    And, if those people who’re claiming the tax system is a ‘scam’ are HONEST, I’ll bet anything they tried to file their returns some time before mid-night.

    But, the ‘conspiracy theorists’ would want to us to believe otherwise, since they’re known to fabricate stories and manipulate the truth.

  32. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    “I wonder if Clement Payne would like some of those using his name. What a twisted world we live in.”

    Am still angry they use Clement Payne’s name in their mark of disrespect whilev faking pan afrikanism after what they all did to that man and Marcus Garvey…

    When ya running a scam, using a fake identity…this is usually the outcome…

  33. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    You see Pan Afrikanism was BANNED and criminalized in Barbados by these same polirical types, people died, people lost their lives and their familes TERRORIZED for decades..

    ..now comes 2018-2024…and the same bloodlines responsible for that crime against Black humanity are running across the earth pretending they are pan afrikanists like it is some couture fashion show….and dont care that assuming a false identity tied to the SACRED…comes with consequences…

    They will have to find out why on their own, doubt they could though, no access.

  34. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Artax,

    Yes, I know. Bloody sickening!

  35. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    And that’s why i can say to REAL PAN AFRIKANISTS…the bajan impostors are a danger to everyone, they are putting on a deceitful show… make sure they are kept at arm’s length….and I said it not a moment too soon…just look at the Drax COCKUP…..and if they think that’s all, let them continue the charade…the facade of fools..

  36. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    Normally, knowing that there are Pan Afrikanists on the island, most may not be as connected as they could be, but that’s because of suppression from these same governments DBLP from the 70s, so they were unable to develop at any level…a few however, are that connected.

    ….BUT…you know they exist, instead of PUSHING THEM to the front of the movement…..to gain the BEST benefits available. …the frauds JUMPED to the front themselves…while NOT KNOWING…they need certain KNOWLEDGE, certain connections for success…but the intent was bad from day 1 and with NO ancestral tools for guidance…COCKUP after cockup..

  37. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    What is truly horrific and compounds the fraudulent actions…not one of their rabid supporters can help them on the Pan Afrikan front, they would not know where to start..

    WHY?? because they are just as clueless about things Pan Afrikan as the politicians who created them…they are ALL in the same boat…unable to help each other in what’s really needed to move forward …..

    Karma…the great equalizer…

  38. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Yolande Grant
    We know the Pan African Brothers and we were/are in the struggle together. We had no issue with the Comrades choosing / supporting the party of their choice. At some point because of the dismal track record of third parties , we found ourselves in the BLPDLP at some point. Comrade Dr. George Belle tried with the Barbados Workers Party and we failed. The last General Conference of that Party was held , we think , at the Combermere School and we were there.
    Comrade Belle Seems to be pro BLP these days; Comrade Denny has been in the BLPDLP at some point ; so was Comrade Commissiong. They both joined the NDP along with Comrade Prescod , who has been in the BLPDLP; we have only joined the NDP-never joined the BLPDLP , although Owen Arthur did send us a message after the 1991 Elections but we had determined that was not attractive to us and probably never will. We give the BLPDLP critical support at sometimes. We KNOW that all the Comrades are for the betterment of our country and all the countries of the Caribbean .
    However, nothing prepared us for when one of the Comrades , during the 2018 Elections, actually publicly saying that our Prime Minister , Mia Amor Mottley , was going to be the “next ” Fidel Castro of the Caribbean !
    Contamination runs high in the BLPDLP.
    We are all in this together. But certainly not the togetherness that Thorne and Mottley speak of.
    The struggle continues !!! Venceremos !!!!

  39. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    William….They cannot be the face of colonization and claiming they are pan afrikans too….that goes WAY BEYOND conflict of interest, because those are two DISTINCT WORLDS OF OPPOSITES..

    ….if they are claiming Cuba’s communist style, fine, but that does not mirror any part of the Pan Afrikan realm, i think that is where the likes of Commess got confused……because they were originally swinging toward psuedo-communism for decades, don’t know when they decided to swerve toward pan afrikanism, since they do not and never will have that link to be part of our ancestral connect, given their track records..

    It is obvious they either went off course somewhere or mistaking Cuba’s philosophy for what our ancestor’s created, something they know absolutely NOTHING ABOUT…….

  40. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    This is a great example…..i had no clue that Judaism and Zionism are two opposites….with one practiced as a religion and the other a political philosophy……check out the havoc because 2 opposites are trying to inhabit the same space….only violence is derived from that close quarters attempt to co-exist.

    The difference there is, both Zionists and Jew know the content of those creations…but Barbados’ pretenders know NOTHING about what they are supposed to regarding our Afrikan pathways to knowledge…..just saying you are Pan Afrikan will never cut it….

  41. David Avatar
    David

    @William

    Tradition: A set of solutions or problems?

    Tradition is a set of solutions for which we have forgotten the problems. Throw away the solution and you get the problem back. Sometimes the problem has mutated or disappeared. Often it is still there as strong as it ever was. – Donald Kinsbury The problem we have is that many of our traditions as Caribbean people are solutions to other people’s problems. Only to the extent that the other people’s problems corresponded to ours did their solutions work for us. What were solutions for them were usually a new set of problems for us.

    One of our major problems is looking at our problems through the lens of traditions which were other people’s solutions. Colonial contacts cover our eyes so our vision is blurry, especially at a distance.

    Even what was supposed to be solutions for us were cleverly designed solutions for others in disguise.

    Emancipation was their solution to the rising restlessness and militancy of enslaved populations along with the shift to an industrial revolution.

    Independence kept British dominance intact in the form of a Commonwealth amidst the rising political consciousness of African and Caribbean people.

    In some cases, long after the coloniser has abandoned a tradition in favour of a new set of solutions we are unable and/ or unwilling to do the same.

    Our educational system is a prime example.

    Britain has recognised the problem with the way it traditionally educated its children and has moved on.

    We, on the other hand, are still stuck in the gear that the coloniser shifted us into and will not slow down nor speed up except when we lose control.

    Whether we have a hill to pull or a clear road ahead we do not easily adjust to suit. Our traditions are a stuck gear box transplanted from a totally different machine.

    Religion is another example. The religious traditions which we inherited were a series of solutions to European state problems. Firstly, beginning with Rome’s problem of controlling its empire. Then, Britain’s problem of breaking free of Vatican control. Through to the problem European colonisers had in controlling the minds of the colonised.

    A brand of ideology is emerging in the West today which can be called evangelical, Westernist, materialist, secularist, scientism. As Western churches continue to evolve away from the influence of the state, and as much of the Western world’s population leaves the influence of the churches, this brand of ideology emerges to replace religion as the rationale behind the concept of Western and by extension, white supremacy.

    In the same way that we adopted Western religions as solutions, some are adopting Western secularism or scientism. Technology comes to be viewed as the saviour. Yet, another set of solutions not created by us nor for us. The result is the continuation of a set of traditional problems.

    Education

    Economism, the belief that economic theory and fiscal policies are the central solutions to our problems is yet another example of a problematic tradition. In the grasp of a global economic order designed for Western dominance our economism easily mutates into profit for foreign powers. We have long intuited that our educated classes have been and are being educated for the ultimate benefit of others. This is what Bob Marley called “Brainwash education and educated fools”.

    The religion of the slave masters has long been recognised as a Trojan Horse, leading Bob to, “ .

    . . feel like bombing a church.” What is yet to be adequately appreciated, is the way that creative and cultural industries have been weaponised as tools of imperialism and ideological infiltration. Our adopted tastes in music, movies, books and social media, like our adopted education and religious traditions are often solutions to other people’s problems and problems for us. The irony is that the most vocal opponents of Western popular culture often come from the perspective of traditional Western colonial education and religion being displaced by popular culture. A peculiar case of the Sevin calling the Anthrax white.

    In our long march to freedom, true solutions will emerge or be innovated to the extent that we address the mental bondage created by our educational and religious frameworks, and recognise the centrality of cultural and creative freedom and independence. We will also recognise that a thriving economy is not a solution for a society, but a result of an effective set of solutions in other areas. We will indigenise our own traditions.

    Adrian Green is a communications specialist. Email adriangreen14@gmail.com.

    Source: Nation

  42. TLSN Avatar
    TLSN

    @ David,

    Our prime minister who also has the portfolio of minister of finance has given oxygen to those European forces whom oppose reparations. What on earth was this “pan Africanist” thinking at the time, when she offered to pay reparations to a descendant of the daddy of the slave code.

    It is refreshing to read William Skinner’s contributions. We can always rely on him to give us an unvarnished dose of reality. It would be good if others on the rock followed suite.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/may/05/so-empire-and-the-slave-trade-contributed-little-to-britains-wealth-pull-the-other-one-kemi-badenoch

  43. The OG Avatar
    The OG

    Adrian Green does a good job today. An extremely ‘brilliant’ idea that became trapped in a draft of an article. Hoping he polishes this draft and submit a final version.

    Summary: with the sky as the limit, a lunar mission.

  44. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ David
    Green’s last two articles have been exceptional. Throughout the Caribbean, we are failing to understand that our culture is a tool for development.
    @ TLSN
    Thank you.

  45. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    “Through to the problem European colonisers had in controlling the minds of the colonised.”

    “What on earth was this “pan Africanist” thinking at the time, when she offered to pay reparations to a descendant of the daddy of the slave code.”,

    I had warned in an issue of Kush Quarterly about the bajan tradition/template of playing both sides against the middle…the sleight of hand scheme of pretending pan afrikanism but still modeling as a representative and face of colonization….a balancing act that was BOUND TO FAIL….but the intent as wannabe slave masters still trying to take over from Massa by controlling the minds of the weakest links must be WATCHED…….an ugly mess.

    They will learn the hard way that black colonizers and wannabe pan afrikanists CANNOT EXIST OR COEXIST IN THE SAME SPACE….that’s why whatever scheme they plotted went cockup…

    ……people are of the opinion they tried to pull a fast one on Drax AND on the people on the island…..but it BLEW UP in their face……no evidence yet….but am sure others will reach out to him if they havent already. ..people are ENTITLED to their opinions…

    Barbados should not be part of any reparations, it has always been a VERY HATEFUL anti Afrikan country….

    Afrika should not be part of any reparations for us in the diaspora…THEY OWE US REPARATIONS…

    I watched a video with Steve Harvey breaking down certain things about our ancestor’s experience, everyone should pay attention….he is always in Afrika..

  46. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    Barbados should not be part of any reparations, it has always been a VERY HATEFUL anti Afrikan country….and should PAY US REPARATIONS for centuries of hate and human rights crimes against us…

  47. TLSN Avatar
    TLSN

    The big mistake made by, undoubtedly, the most popular leader in the Caribbean was to make her voice public concerning her intentions to reward Mr Drax. In the future she will burrow deep underground to such a level that not a single man or woman will know what her government is up to. MARK MY WORDS!

  48. David Avatar
    David

    @TLSN

    The big question is why would the government contemplate such a transaction against the advice of Prescod and Commisiong. There has to be something missing from the debate. The PM is not a stupid person.

  49. Yolande Grant Avatar
    Yolande Grant

    TLSN…….impossible in these times…can’t hide anything anymore, particularly when your EVERY ACTION is QUESTIONABLE and must be WATCHED at all times…watch muh nuh……

  50. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    Is there any plausible way of knowing how much taxes govt collect from Drax Hall annually

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