by Ras Dakarai
Please let us be clear that our reparations are entirely due to the restitution owed for the charges of crimes committed to our people, namely — human rights violations, kidnapping, child labour, human trafficking, rape, paedophilia, human harvesting, plundering, desecration and genocide among others.
The quantum of such restitutions (reparations) ranges in the sums of trillions of dollars, and the financial institutions and governments of the guilty parties ought to be prepared to set aside budgets to commence the reconstruction of the health, educational, infrastructural, agricultural, scientific and cultural sectors of the descendants of chattel slavery.
On account of these crimes, our existence as a proud and peaceful people was obliterated to the point of us becoming a clone of the so-called conquerors in whose images we still see fit to defend at their command. So much so that we are willing to sacrifice our warriors at the behest of the puppet masters’ instructions and fancy.
Our programming was/is so severe that the mere thought of regaining our self-esteem and dignity as a people to be counted as equals amongst mankind scares us for the very fear instilled in offending our oppressors.
Some of us walk around like peacocks celebrating our “successes” of assimilating to these distorted realities, instead of spending time rediscovering the true meaning of self-worth, which is who we are as a people and what will preserve our future generations on the world stage.
Sadly, we relish in bureaucratic conversations of ridiculing ourselves and trying to convince each other that the measure of our destiny can only be realised through the validation of our captors.
Shamefully, however, we still join others in celebrating their glorious history, traditions and achievements, and not for a second stop to pay homage to ours, much less to include same in our school curriculum even today. If the old adage of charity begins at home applies to any real construct, then why are we only offered symbolism instead of substance at every juncture?
If we were to take a page off the books, hypothetically speaking, of other nation-states today, and analyse their strategies, the common denominator would be the looking inwards, preserving their own cultures and motivating their people towards self-reliance and, most importantly, defending it militarily if necessary.
Our disposition as a confused and disoriented people was by design through politics, commerce, and most notably, greed. The institutions established were all geared toward domination, subjugation, and exploitation. Until and unless we are prepared to take the bold step, to first accept that only we as a united people can liberate ourselves; and stop accepting handouts in the form of platitudes, grandstanding, and showboating, study our great history, culture, and our ancestors’ contributions to civilisation.
The defiling of our culture came with a price both to us and the culprits who perpetrated it. Said culprits built “empires” still in existence today, and they are willing to defend their ill-gotten “treasures” through cunning, tomfoolery, deceit, trickery, and empty promises. We, on the other hand, ought to be willing to go to war if necessary to preserve our future, our resources, and YES, to collect our inheritance, the debt owed which is long overdue — namely REPARATIONS.
You’ll need to get in line. There are many more claims going back for centuries before the African slave trade. The Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Persians, Genghis Khan, etc.all practiced slavery, well prior to your claim. Some hid it under claims of prisoner of war, but most just openly practiced it. The Romans used Britons for slave laborers to build their fortifications and Hadrians Wall.
I love it! A great point. Thank you..
Now. I don’t agree with reparations. Not because it’s “wrong”. The reason is that no tribe, nation or people should have to go “cap in hand” begging or demanding monetary benefits from their colonizers. Bluntly put: its groveling and demeaning.
What I mean is I think we are a proud people with dignity and self respect. So I would never want to ask anyone to give me money for the wrongs that they did to me or my ancestors. Instead, they are not worthy of such a request and we don’t need their money to make our way in the world.
And what is equally important. Why do Blacks think that they are the only ones who have been “wronged”? Instead, it is us, the decendants of Kalinagos who have been both enslaved AND stripped of all our assets (lands). We have gotten – absolutely NOTHING in return.
So. If reparations are in fact secured, we should be at the front of the line – to receive almost all of the reparations that may be made available from our guilty colonizers. Am sure you would all agree with my position. Yes?
Reparations from whom?
Quite clearly, your question and intentions are to insult the intelligence of our people. Unless, you’re playing the role of Uncle Tom.
Why should the taxpayers of today by penalised for any actions of their long dead forefathers when few if any havce reaped any benefit? Should Africa pay reparations for their part in the slave trade (which was pivotal) or just western nations?
Everyone is excited about reparations payments, but how much is enough? No amount of money can pay for the atrocities done to a race of people during and after slavery. In the blight of slavery, they did not only lose their freedom: but their names, religion, culture, and heritage were also lost. Mothers died without knowing the fate of their husbands or children. While so many continue to feel the pain of their ancestors, we carry the names of their enslavers, promote their culture, and uphold their religious and social beliefs. Could it be that repressing such feelings associated with slavery may be psychologically damaging to our people and can lay the foundation for future health and behavioral problems?
We must proceed with care. We need to infuse our education and our history with humility so as not to create a division between us and them. We must be careful because reparations should not be about revenge, but more about learning and engaging in harmonious discussions not just today but every day, while taking the opportunity to learn from the past, to discuss history without being bitter with the end goal of learning to care for our fellow human beings no matter of race or religious beliefs. Because no one can free us from mental slavery and failure will be our downfall.
This commenter is in full agreement with Ras Dakarai that “if we were to take a page off the books, hypothetically speaking, of other nation-states today, and analyze their strategies, the common denominator would be looking inwards, preserving their own cultures, and motivating their people towards self-reliance, and most importantly, defending it militarily if necessary.” Ras Dakarai is also correct that “only we as a people can liberate ourselves, and stop accepting handouts in the form of platitudes, grandstanding, and showboating…” The plight of the AFRICAN (BLACK) PEOPLE is great indeed. And the urgency of the existential threat has come home to roost through the current situation involving our Haitian brothers and sisters right on our shores. Needless to say, the subjugation, oppression, enslavement, and colonization of the AFRICAN PEOPLE by Europeans, Arabs, and other races were and still are the most egregious cases of man’s inhumanity to man. Even so, despite the universal principle that “no one shall be permitted to profit by his own fraud, or to take advantage of his own wrong, or to found any claim upon his own iniquity, or to acquire property by his own crime,” the beneficiaries of such unspeakable circumstances continue to relish in the proceeds of their malfeasance without even the slightest gesture of accountability. However, while there is every reason for BLACK PEOPLE to demand reparations in the quantum suggested by Ras Dakarai for the evils perpetrated against the race as is provided for by different international treatises, no amount of money would ever sufficiently erase the centuries of archetypal trauma, pain and suffering that the AFRICAN PEOPLE have been forced to endure. Alternatively, if BLACK PEOPLE are to ever succeed in liberating themselves from the SEVERITY of the mental programming described by Ras Dakarai, they must adopt other strategies than the “heaven-gazing” approaches bequeathed to them by their former enslavers and current neo-colonizers. Hopefully, the deprogramming task has been gradually taking shape through the emergence of the Rastafarian Movement. As a dialectical synthesis of the lives and teachings of The Right Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, His Imperial Majesty (HIM) Emperor Haile Selassie I, and scores of other enlightened BLACK statesmen, politicians, musicians, and thinkers like President Kwame Nkrumah, Malcolm X, Bob Marley, Nacio Fontaine, Black Stalin, Peter Tosh, and Lucky Dube, the fledgling Philosophy of RASTAFARI seeks to provide BLACK PEOPLE with a vehicle for articulating our COLLECTIVE experience, hopes and aspirations and for establishing the necessary foundation for firmly asserting ourselves as the EQUAL of other races, as alluded to by Ras Dakarai. AFRICA UNITE !
Reparations: Returning to the organization of social/ economic life before the Europeans came to Caribbean & Africa…
Food. Education. Medical Care. Housing. Employment – to the extent of technology, we’re freely available & organized based on love…
Luxuries were regulated with shells – money.
Reclaiming the freedom of necessities, removing the stress of families, returning our languages, our spirituality, our politics, our legal system without prisons; nothing less will do….!
Any acceptance of money compensation will only deepen slavery…
Removal of all slave master’s institutions from our lives is the only reparations that will restore humanity to Caribbean, Africa & perhaps to the slave masters….
Forward…
Some salient points made indeed.
Agreed. Dismantling the colonial system in Grenada is first step. Keep in mind there are lots of uncle Toms who more aligned with white Europe in key positions.
Define uncle Tom
Seriously, if you need a definition and explanation, then you must be an Uncle Tom.
There are many Grenadians for generations who perpetuated their demise. It is so ingrained that most can’t recognized perpetuation of hate toward their race.
Do a little research. Why are our young men and women discrimated against for wearing their own natural black African hair styles. On the other hand, lawyers wear wigs which promoted colonial control. Why is the school system demoralizing our young men and women about their natural beauty. Why schools and other institutions promoting other images other than our own. Why the fixation on being white or close to white. We know it’s because of the white privilege. How some folks got jobs and loans.
Caribbean folks seems united on is Carnival. However, many folks can tell you Carnival is the struggle of slaves for the rights to perform cultural dances, celebrations and rituals etc.
Carnival has become more of wine, jook and alcohol while colonial systems are still intact.
Well said Bro.