Retire the relics: Time come!

by Candia Mitchell Hall

“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.”
Bob Marley, “Redemption Song”, The Uprising (1980).

This powerful anthem, which was popularised by Jamaican reggae icon Bob Marley and originated from the great Marcus Garvey, served as a call to action on Emancipation Day, which was celebrated officially on 1 August 2025 for the first time in Grenadian history.

Dr John Angus Martin wrote a thought-provoking article, “Grenada’s C 1780 Mace of the House of Representatives,” published on 1 August 2025, using Marley’s refrain as a starting point to urge Grenadians to consider the final steps toward true freedom from the shackles of colonialism. I wish to join Dr Martin and draw attention to the ways we may continue to free our minds/ourselves from the relics of colonialism. We must now seriously consider retiring the colonial relics that continue to enslave us to emancipate ourselves from the haunts of the past.

Freedom as an ongoing process

Martin uses Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” as an entry point to anchor his discussion on how we may emancipate ourselves from the colonial relics that shackle us, even as we commemorate/celebrate 191 years since the Emancipation bill was passed in 1834, and 187 years since Emancipation was fully granted in 1838. As Martin highlights, the struggle for true emancipation and independence is an ongoing process. Every generation has its own battles to fight and to understand how colonial relics hinder the processes of freedom and the nation-building project.

Martin’s article was largely centred around relics that bind us to the colonial past; namely, the Oath of Allegiance to the British Monarch and the Colonial Mace of the House of Representatives and Senate. He also highlighted that an emancipatory shift occurred when two acts were passed in the Grenada House of Parliament to change the Oath of Allegiance from the British monarch to the people of Grenada, and Emancipation Day 2025 was officially recognised on 1 August by virtue of the Bank Holiday Amendment Bill. Many Grenadians view the legislative change as a sort of national victor,y situating the historic moment of Emancipation into the freedom-making/nation-making processes of Grenada.

Colonial relics as symbols of slavery

Martin then spotlights 2 key symbols that need to be retired: the Colonial Mace of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and representations like the Santa Maria ship etched on our Coat of Arms. Martin’s discussion of the Colonial Mace is extremely jarring. Most Grenadians may be aware that the colonial mace functions as a symbol of parliamentary power and authority. But some Grenadians may not have known the extent of its offensive nature. The mace is a relic from the 18th century, etched with images of the enslaved people working at a sugar mill. Even more disturbing are the Latin words “Hae tibi erunt artes” which translates to “these will be your skills” and “these will be your arts.” Taken from the Roman poet, Virgil, in his poem “Aeneid” and adapted by British colonials, it reflects a derogatory, demeaning, and dehumanising mindset and narrative towards the West African enslaved peoples.

Clearly those words do not represent the language of freedom or redemption. The imagery represents the colonial mentality that viewed the enslaved peoples as inferior to the colonial elites and only “good” for a life of slavery and enslavement, which was a life of brutality, terror, trauma and despair. Put another way, the imagery and its inscription are not representative of our emancipation, independence, democracy and pathways in ushering republic status for Grenada. These kinds of relics are monuments/representations of slavery’s brutality and the painful memory of a time in history when our ancestors were viewed as nothing more than “chattel slaves” who were “owned” by the colonial elites and masters.

Therefore, these images and words insult and disrespect the memory of the enslaved peoples and leave a stain on our collective consciousness and national identity as Grenadians. Clearly, they do not have a place in our modern “independent” government, duly elected by the people, the mass of whom are descendants of the enslaved peoples. As Dr Martin suggests, these artefacts belong in our sites of memory, like the Grenada National Museum. At these sites, they can be properly contextualised as part of our collective experience and history of slavery, resistance and resilience. Colonial relics participate in the dangerous single story and should not be paraded as representations of our present and future.

Revising colonial narratives and dangerous single stories

Another damning representation is the imagery of the Santa Maria ship on Grenada’s Coat of Arms. This ship was associated with Christopher Columbus’s so-called “discovery” of the New World. The Santa Maria was the largest ship granted to Columbus by the monarchs of Spain in their bid to outperform Portugal and expand Spain’s trading networks to tap into the riches from the East in places like India and Japan. As the late Burning Spear wisely declared, “Christopher Columbus is a damn blasted liar.” Columbus could not have discovered a place already inhabited by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. These groups had their own thriving societies, economic arrangements, cultures, and governance systems. Hence, the Santa Maria represents a narrative of conquest and dispossession, not the resilience and heritage of Grenadians. And it is tied to one of the damaging myths of history: The Columbus Myth, which states that Columbus brought civilisation to the New World, and he was the greatest discoverer to have ever lived.

The true “arts” and “skills” of our people are rooted in resistance, resilience and innovation. They are the Kalinago peoples who resisted colonisation, the freedom fighters like the enslaved peoples, Julien Fedon and Jab-Jab and national figures and heroes like T A Marryshow, Eric Gairy, and Maurice Bishop. Our true arts are our vibrant cultural expressions — Kaiso/Calypso, Soca, Jab-Jab, Moko Jumbie, Vieux Corps, Short Knee, Big Drum — our national food Oil Down and world-renowned Spice Mas that have been preserved through generations. Our skills are what built our nation’s built heritage and infrastructure, from our churches and schools to our Indigenous local bank, The Grenada Cooperative Bank (and other banking systems including credit unions), which we built with our own hands. Our skills built our roadways that connect the Grenadian people across our beautiful cultural landscapes. They are the same skills that produced world-class athletes like Kirani James, Anderson Peters and Lindon Victor and musical icons like Lady Cinty, Scholar, Mr Killa, Tall Pree, Ajamu, the Black Wizard, and Elimus Gilbert “The Inspector”, among many others.

As we forge ahead, we should reflect on and replace the relics that serve to extend the single-story narratives of “colonial” empire and grandeur. We must stop sending mixed/confusing signals to ourselves and future generations. We must replace the colonial relics with symbols that genuinely reflect us, in our image and likeness. Our streams of inspiration are endless; we can turn to our nutmeg and mace, the waterfalls, rivers, mountains, the Grenada Dove, the people, the national colours and sites of memory. The time has come for us to uproot the final vestiges of colonialism and insert representations that honour our ancestors and celebrate our unique national identity. Only then can we truly sing the songs of freedom. “Time come; retire the relics!”

Dr Candia Mitchell Hall is a Tenured Lecturer of Caribbean Culture, History, Heritage and Memory at the Institute of Caribbean Studies, the Faculty of Humanities and Education, the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus.