"My son was stabbed and left to bleed to death on the night of 22 April 1993 while police officers looked on.

They treated the affair as a gang war and from that moment on acted in a manner that can only be described as white masters during slavery.�


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[align=center]Let's Celebrate![/align]

Quote:

“I mean to take the shame upon myself, in common indeed with the whole Parliament of Great Britain, for having suffered this horrid trade to be carried under their authority. We are all guilty – we ought to plead guilty.� William Wilberforce

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[align=center]"Now that was funny, can you do Nelson Mandela?"
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I think you should arrange something special and grandiosn at this "celebration".

African apologists the world over are grateful for their former "masters" for freeing them. Africans even in the Caribbean are ignorant of the role their ancestors played in abolishing slavery and making it unattainable in their colonies. Can we imagine the cold chill that must of gone through the planters minds/ through various European government parliaments/ when they realised the significance of Haiti who without parallel pulled off one of the greatest acheivements of the modern era by abolishing slavery through arms and guile. Why a film hasnt been made of this is beyond me. It would be a blockbuster. Instead we go and watch Pirates of the Caribbean as if that is the most significant story of the region.

Alot of Africans do not realise this and hence will state that slavery was abolished for "whatever reason" as if the planters suddenly woke up and realised what they were doing was wrong. Its to be expected given the level of historical education in the Caribbean where many leaders are almost ashamed to mention the achievements of their ancestors for fear of stirring up bad race relations etc.

So I can only agree with Breadfruit and the rest that its of utmost importance that we recognise and do not allow the British government to gloss over this period as one of their acheivements when it was fear and economics of the day that forced Britain and the rest of Europe to realise that no longer would we be enslaved. The system as it was could not continue without the ever present fear of mass killing of whites in their beds as they slept at night. Even before abolition slavers in Jamaica were petitioning the British government for help as their plantations were being de-populated by Maroon communities everyday.

Furthermore every island in the Caribbean and the USA included should have memorials to Haiti/ if not for the simple reason of showingand signifying the fight that our ancestors undertook and ultimately won.

Nobody freed us. We freed ourselves. With the musket and gunpowder and by our very will to live as free men and women. Everything else pales in comparison.

Well said Breadfruit. Well said.

The approach to this sounds quite familiar like a post from the past here I think that was posted by newstyle in which the BBC radio host was taking about the times of independence in African countries and some people who lived through such.

The annoucer mentioned that Britian gave African countries independence.

This sounds similar to Britian gave us freedom from slavery.

Mamsamusa and other posters are correct that we fought for our freedom and it was not given and there is that fight towards greater freedom today and this event isnt in my personal view a destination to make noteworthy of.

King on freedom..................

"Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the long night of physical slavery. No Lincolnian Emancipation Proclamation, no Johnsonian civil rights bill can totally bring this kind of freedom. The Negro will only be free when he reaches down to the inner depths of his own being and signs with the pen and ink of assertive manhood his own emancipation proclamation."

Martin Luther King

MarcusGarveyLives wrote:
This was exactly what I was hoping for...something to counter the efforts. Maybesome dudesshould dress in traditional warrior dresses (including arms) to make some emphesiz on a african resistance...

[align=center]"It would be wrong to emancipate [the slaves]. To grant freedom immediately, would be to insure not only their masters' ruin, but their own."[/align]
[align=center]William Wilberforce in 1807[/align]
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[align=center]Oh!how could we ever forget about Massa's interests! That would be like, freedom.[/align]