A STORY
Not all stories begin or end with they all lived happily ever after.
Granted, there has been up to this point, a continuity of life and an ever after.
However, this story neither begins happy and to date has not ended happily ever after.
This one, for us begins with Christoforo, cristobal, christopher.(1492)
According to the stories he was an explorer.
From my position he was a mercenary seeking wealth and power.
He came with his sword and his bible. His soldiers and his priests.
For his investors and his church he opened up a new world for their expansion and exploitation.
For those that he met he brought pestilence death and destruction.
For those that were used as replacements he opened up the way for the greatest holocaust, genocide
and mental and spiritual destruction ever perpetrated on one people by another, that we know of.
For his church he enslaved the 'heathens" and destroyed their social and cultural way of life.
For his investors he claimed their lands.
The jewel in the crown in this region was was given the name of Hispaniola.
Having decimated the population through warfare disease and slavery, one of the carriers of the book
who went by the name of de la casas,appealed to his Pope to intercede on their behalf.
Story goes, he could no longer tolerate the destruction that he sat by for years and watched.
So he began to plead with his Pope for help.
His suggestion to his Pope.
Replace the almost all dead native slave labour with African slave labour.
And so the story of the devolution of the Afrikan began.
From a free and independant being with a history and a culture thousands of years old
to a nameless object to be bought and sold.
Afika and Afrikans have a long and glorious history of civilizations and empires.
But the way this story is written, the history of the Afrikan began in 1500 as a "heathen" and a slave.
No name, no history, no culture, no knowledge.
Just an object of trade.
The slave trade, as the western story writers call it, was the dominant economic activity in the western world's economic system from 1500 until the late 1800's.
Our story then begins, according to them on Hispaniola.
The People of Haiti and Santo Domingo can tell you how that is going.
The trade in human beings became so lucrative, that the europeans began to fight among themselves
for what in modern day terms would be called control of the market.
The british, french, spanish, portuguese and dutch were the main palyers but all of europe fought,
invested, and reaped huge benefits in the competition, to own and control
territories and people on the continent of Afrika and the "new world".
The all powerful pope, had already divided the "new world" between spain and portugal, because these two countries were his most loyal subjects. "to the end that you might bring to the worship of our Redeemer and the profession of the Catholic faith their residents and inhabitants..."
They were also at the time the two most seafaring nations.
Their mission. To bring all lands and people not already under a christian king under their sway.
For the pope and his empire things were not going so well in christendom.
In germany, martin luther began to protest. In england, henry viii began to challenge. In the netherlands new monies were coming from the influx of a well organised group fleeing the churches inquisition.
The pope and his people, had a lot on their plate.
Martin created a new sect of christianity. Henry created a new christian church.
The dutch under the tutorship of their new monied class created a new economic system.
As europeans fought among themselves to control their new economic reality, slavery and colonialism became the backbone of the system that fueled their wars.
The People and the countries they encountered in their wars and conquests among themselves
became the PRIZE.
Sunday, March 13, 2016
BURYING THE IRISH MYTH
by Mwongozi Shujaa C. Browne - June 1993
In 1649, Oliver Cromwell defeated the Irish at the Battle of Drogheda and many Irish political prisoners were exiled to the Leewards. The population of Montserrat was estimated to rise to 1,200.
In 1665, England and Holland (the 2nd Dutch War 1665-1667) went to war for control of the trade in kidnapping, transporting and selling of Afrikans.
France allied itself with the Dutch and the Leewards became one of the main battle arenas.
In February 1667, the population of Montserrat was estimated to be 3,250. The composition was said to be 2,000 Irish farmers, 650 kidnapped Afrikans being held as slaves and 600 English landholders.
The French attacked Montserrat and with the help of the Irish put the English militia to a crushing defeat.
The French seized everything that they could. This included provisions, animals, war materials, prisoners of war and Afrikans.
Provisions and materials were sent to St.Kitts. Prisoners were sent to Jamaica. The Irish, who had aided the French stayed on the island.
In July 1667, the English defeated the French and Dutch navies off the coast of Nevis and the signing of the Treaty of Breda returned Montserrat to the English.
All French and Irish rebels on the island were captured and sent to Nevis as prisoners of war. The following year a devastating hurricane hit the island of Montserrat and further destroyed and depopulated the island.
All that had been accomplished in the early years had come to an end.
This ends the first phase of European occupation of Montserrat. According to available statistics there were only 650 Afrikans on the island at that time.
During their occupation of Montserrat, the French seized as many of these 650 as they could lay their hands on and transported them to St. Christopher and Jamaica.
On their re-occupation of Montserrat, the British took the Irish population and deported them to Nevis.
The records clearly show that the society was already structured: English landholders at the top, Irish farmers in the middle, and Afrikans held as slaves on the bottom.
Present-day reality shows that this structure did not and does not allow easy passage up or down.
From this point in time, the history of Montserrat is that of the English landholders and their attempts to make Montserrat profitable for themselves by using a combination of Afrikans, whom they held captive on their plantations to use for free labour, and free peasants of Anglo, Anglo-Irish and Irish backgrounds.
The Irish dissidents were continually being transported from island to island as the wars dictated.
What should be noted here is that no matter the classification of the european, they had freedom of movement, freedom of choice, and a position in the social structure that placed them above the Afrikan.
The Afrikan was considered to be property and as such a possession of whoever held them captive.
From 1670-1680, the English and the Dutch fought another war to see who would control what had now become the most lucrative item of trade: the Afrikan.
By 1678, the English began to dominate and by 1680 they controlled and monopolized the transportation and sale of Afrikans.
By 1671, Montserrat had begun its re- building process and the estimated population at that time was said to be 1,175 Englishmen and 523 captive Afrikans.
By 1678, the European population in Montserrat had reached its peak and from that point started once again to steadily decrease.
It should be noted that this decrease continued for the next 300 years, right into the 1990s.
Hurricanes, Carib raids, French and Dutch military invasions all made stable life a dream for the settlers. In addition, the island's terrain made agriculture an unsure venture for the landholders and small farmers.
A census taken by the governor in 1678 states that the population was made up of 2,682 Europeans and 992 Afrikans.
For the next thirty years life in the entire region became violatile and unstable. The French were making their bid for control of the region and its lucrative trade in people.
With the increase in raiding and instability in the island, the small landholders started to sell out their holdings and leave the island.
In 1707, England became Great Britain and Montserrat became a british colony. In 1708 the census shows 3,570 Afrikans and 1,545 europeans on the island.
Here it can be plainly seen that the Afrikan had no voice and no choice in becoming a possession of britain. They did, however, make up 70% of the population.
The small european farmers, having the freedom to seek better conditions, were selling their holdings and leaving freely.
The Afrikan, having no choice or say in their condition, were being brought, sold and forced to stay against their will.
For that thirty-year time span we see a forced increase of 2,578 Afrikans and a voluntary decrease of 1,137 europeans.
On July the 7th 1712 the French once again made a devastating attack on the island and laid to waste all the progress that the settlers had made in the previous years.
Plantations were burnt to the ground, warehouses were destroyed and provisions were taken. All military installations and canons were destroyed.
1,200 Afrikans were taken by the French in that invasion and carried away one week later when they left the island.
Fully one third of the Afrikan population in Montserrat were removed at this time.
This brings to the end the second phase of the european settlement of the island.
As can be seen, the structure of the society and the persistent and pressing problems did not offer much in the way of interactions with anyone considered to be different and beneath one's place in society.
The english landholder was persistent. All of the other islands were making profits through their inhuman treatment of the Afrikan.
With captive Afrikans to use for free labour, intensive plantation agriculture had now become the vehicle for riches.
The small farmers, their spirits broken and deep in debt, sold their holdings and moved on to greener pastures.
The landholders now began their intensive plantation systems and the captive Afrikan became the tool through which they would attain their dreams and live the life of luxury.
This began the third phase of the european settler on the island. Between 1714-1729, 3,485 captive Afrikans were brought to the island. The 1729 census shows 5,855 Afrikans and 1,143 europeans. Afrikans made up 81% of the population.
The concentrated and unified inhuman treatment of the Afrikan on the island had begun. Intensive forced labour from dusk to dawn, the clearing of inhospitable terrain, the planting and weeding of regions previously inaccessible to the european, now became the lot of the captured Afrikan.
The island which previous governors had written off and which one governor had even suggested be traded to the French because it had no worth was now exporting rum, muscavado sugar, molasses, cotton, lime juice, and pimento.
What the European settler could not do through his own strength and free-will, they now imposed upon the Afrikan captive.
The Afrikan, viewed by europeans as property and a commodity to own and dispose as they saw fit, was beaten, worked and starved to death during this period, to insure that the plantation master made a profit.
An Afrikan could have expected to live for about 7 years during this era.
Because of the attitude of the entire european population to the Afrikan, the Afrikan became a unit of trade, a commodity, an item easily replaceable and a being with no humanity .
The lust and greed of Europe for riches and luxury allowed them to change the social structure of humanity and their religious institutions salved their conscience as their systems destroyed and dehumanized the Afrikan for gain and profit.
By 1736, there were 6,176 captive Afrikans and by 1756, the census shows 8,853 Afrikans and 1,430 europeans. Afrikans made up 86% of the people of the island.
In 1768 captive Afrikans made up 88% of the population of the island. On St. Patrick's day of that year, Afrikans throughout the island decided that it was time to take their destiny in their own hands. No longer would they be treated as beasts of burden.
They would rise up with a mighty voice and destroy to a man their tormentors. The revolt, however, was not a success.
For this revolt, Afrikans were burnt alive, quartered, hung, hacked to death, and boiled in oil. This was done to set an example to the other captives as to what was in store for them if they ever dared to dream of freeing themselves.
The Afrikan population continued to increase through forced transportation and importation. By 1787, the census shows 10,000 Afrikans, 1,300 europeans and for the first time, 260 coloreds (colored being the offspring of Afrikan women taken against their will by the european slave master).
From the 1790's going into the 1800s things started to become difficult for the slave masters. Supplies became increasingly more expensive and the sale of captured Afrikans to the americas became more lucrative.
By 1800 Montserrat had become a supplier of captive Afrikans as it became more profitable for the slave masters to sell off their captives. Between 1787 and 1809, the captive Afrikan population on the island was reduced from 10,000 to 6,732.
The 1811 census shows 6,732 Afrikans and 444 europeans on the island. Afrikans now made up 94% of the population.
The Afrikan, still held in captivity by the european, now began to feel the intrusion of the religious institutions upon his mentality.
In 1824, the christianizing of the Afrikan began. Missionaries from every denomination began to force themselves upon the slave masters. Even before Afrikans had won their physical freedom, their mental prison was being prepared for them.
In 1834 after many trials and tribulations, torture, destruction and deprivation, open revolution and warfare, the Afrikan won his physical freedom from the european.
Emancipation as it was called, proved to be just another trick by the slave masters to hold on to the Afrikan and tie them to the plantations.
The british government, however, compensated the slave master in Montserrat, to the tune of £103,566 for the loss of their property.
Afrikans throughout the world are still seeking their compensation for one of the most brutal eras in the history of mankind.
It was during this time that the Afrikan in Montserrat lost all traces of their true identity. During their time of captivity, they had two names: one by which they answered when the slave master called, and another by which they were known to each other.
Christian missionary policy, however, dictated that in order for anyone to be be accepted into the christian religion they had to be baptised with a proper "christian" name.
It was part of the missionary's job to convince the Afrikan of his "heathen ways " culture and names.
In order to be accepted as a true christian the Afrikan had to do away with their true name and heritage.
In order to be baptised into the christian religion the Afrikan had to adopt a "proper" christian name. The process had begun ten years before. Upon so-called emancipation the remaining population as they became "christians"discarded their true names and were baptized with the false identities of their former masters, or that of the name of the plantation on which they resided.
To this day, the vast majority of Montserratians have two names: their baptismal name which goes on their birth certificate and another by which they are known by in the community.
At this point in time Afrikans made up 95% of the population of the island. So-called emancipation did not stop the traffic in Afrikans and a trade developed between the former slave masters and the slave masters in South America.
Afrikans in Montserrat were kidnapped and sold on the open market in Guyana and to some of the large landholders on larger islands. Free Afrikans began to migrate to Cuba, Trinidad, Santo Domingo, Haiti, Panama and Afrika. Anywhere that Afrikans could sell their labour for a higher price than was being paid to them on the plantation they went there.
The plantation-holders, virtually bankrupt and devoid of their power and luxury, made their exodus. The 1851 census shows 6,903 Afrikans and 150 europeans. Afrikans now made up 98% of the population.
By 1881, Afrikans made up 99% of the population of the island. This statistic has never dropped below 90% from that time to the present.
The third phase of the settler occupation had come to an end. From this point on, the history of Montserrat is about the struggle of the displaced Afrikan population to make a place for themselves.
From 1834 until 1952, Afrikans in Montserrat were still tied to the plantations. The right to vote was not one of their privileges and they had no say in the decision-making processes that determined their destiny.
Adult suffrage, the right for everyone over the age of 21 to vote, came to Montserrat in 1952. With that right, the voting populace, all Afrikans, put an all-Afrikan legislative council into power.
Within a short period of time, that council wrote the legislation that finally freed Afrikans from the plantation.
For the next forty years the population and its legislative members struggled to escape the convoluted maze of colonial control.
The restricted powers of the local legislature and the reserved powers of the colonial overlords make it extremely difficult for the populace to have a deciding voice in the determination of their own destiny.
In the early 1980's the fourth phase of the settler control of Montserrat was started. Because old colonial systems and old societal values are still in place,it has made it extremely easy for the descendants of the old slave masters, still maintaining their slave master mentality, to move back into key positions of control throughout the island.
With the perception in England that the remaining dependant territories have an economic and financial base that can be exploited, the English population in Montserrat is once again on the increase.
At no point in time throughout the 360 years of European occupation on the island of Montserrat is there any indication that the two ethnic groups merged, amalgamated, and formed a creole Afrikan- anglo or creole Afrikan-irish society.
If there's any doubt in your mind, just look at the faces around you.
This article was written by the author to dispel once and for all the myth that is being perpetuated by a minor sector of our society which have lead us and the world to believe that Montserratians have an Irish heritage.
Montserratians are Afrikans.
by Mwongozi Shujaa C. Browne - June 1993
In 1632, the island of Montserrat was settled by English, Anglo-Irish and Irish dissidents. The dissidents were deported from St. Kitts because the English settlers there did not trust them. By 1648 Montserrat's population was said to be about 750.
In 1649, Oliver Cromwell defeated the Irish at the Battle of Drogheda and many Irish political prisoners were exiled to the Leewards. The population of Montserrat was estimated to rise to 1,200.
In 1665, England and Holland (the 2nd Dutch War 1665-1667) went to war for control of the trade in kidnapping, transporting and selling of Afrikans.
France allied itself with the Dutch and the Leewards became one of the main battle arenas.
In February 1667, the population of Montserrat was estimated to be 3,250. The composition was said to be 2,000 Irish farmers, 650 kidnapped Afrikans being held as slaves and 600 English landholders.
The French attacked Montserrat and with the help of the Irish put the English militia to a crushing defeat.
The French seized everything that they could. This included provisions, animals, war materials, prisoners of war and Afrikans.
Provisions and materials were sent to St.Kitts. Prisoners were sent to Jamaica. The Irish, who had aided the French stayed on the island.
In July 1667, the English defeated the French and Dutch navies off the coast of Nevis and the signing of the Treaty of Breda returned Montserrat to the English.
All French and Irish rebels on the island were captured and sent to Nevis as prisoners of war. The following year a devastating hurricane hit the island of Montserrat and further destroyed and depopulated the island.
All that had been accomplished in the early years had come to an end.
This ends the first phase of European occupation of Montserrat. According to available statistics there were only 650 Afrikans on the island at that time.
During their occupation of Montserrat, the French seized as many of these 650 as they could lay their hands on and transported them to St. Christopher and Jamaica.
On their re-occupation of Montserrat, the British took the Irish population and deported them to Nevis.
The records clearly show that the society was already structured: English landholders at the top, Irish farmers in the middle, and Afrikans held as slaves on the bottom.
Present-day reality shows that this structure did not and does not allow easy passage up or down.
From this point in time, the history of Montserrat is that of the English landholders and their attempts to make Montserrat profitable for themselves by using a combination of Afrikans, whom they held captive on their plantations to use for free labour, and free peasants of Anglo, Anglo-Irish and Irish backgrounds.
The Irish dissidents were continually being transported from island to island as the wars dictated.
What should be noted here is that no matter the classification of the european, they had freedom of movement, freedom of choice, and a position in the social structure that placed them above the Afrikan.
The Afrikan was considered to be property and as such a possession of whoever held them captive.
From 1670-1680, the English and the Dutch fought another war to see who would control what had now become the most lucrative item of trade: the Afrikan.
By 1678, the English began to dominate and by 1680 they controlled and monopolized the transportation and sale of Afrikans.
By 1671, Montserrat had begun its re- building process and the estimated population at that time was said to be 1,175 Englishmen and 523 captive Afrikans.
By 1678, the European population in Montserrat had reached its peak and from that point started once again to steadily decrease.
It should be noted that this decrease continued for the next 300 years, right into the 1990s.
Hurricanes, Carib raids, French and Dutch military invasions all made stable life a dream for the settlers. In addition, the island's terrain made agriculture an unsure venture for the landholders and small farmers.
A census taken by the governor in 1678 states that the population was made up of 2,682 Europeans and 992 Afrikans.
For the next thirty years life in the entire region became violatile and unstable. The French were making their bid for control of the region and its lucrative trade in people.
With the increase in raiding and instability in the island, the small landholders started to sell out their holdings and leave the island.
In 1707, England became Great Britain and Montserrat became a british colony. In 1708 the census shows 3,570 Afrikans and 1,545 europeans on the island.
Here it can be plainly seen that the Afrikan had no voice and no choice in becoming a possession of britain. They did, however, make up 70% of the population.
The small european farmers, having the freedom to seek better conditions, were selling their holdings and leaving freely.
The Afrikan, having no choice or say in their condition, were being brought, sold and forced to stay against their will.
For that thirty-year time span we see a forced increase of 2,578 Afrikans and a voluntary decrease of 1,137 europeans.
On July the 7th 1712 the French once again made a devastating attack on the island and laid to waste all the progress that the settlers had made in the previous years.
Plantations were burnt to the ground, warehouses were destroyed and provisions were taken. All military installations and canons were destroyed.
1,200 Afrikans were taken by the French in that invasion and carried away one week later when they left the island.
Fully one third of the Afrikan population in Montserrat were removed at this time.
This brings to the end the second phase of the european settlement of the island.
As can be seen, the structure of the society and the persistent and pressing problems did not offer much in the way of interactions with anyone considered to be different and beneath one's place in society.
The english landholder was persistent. All of the other islands were making profits through their inhuman treatment of the Afrikan.
With captive Afrikans to use for free labour, intensive plantation agriculture had now become the vehicle for riches.
The small farmers, their spirits broken and deep in debt, sold their holdings and moved on to greener pastures.
The landholders now began their intensive plantation systems and the captive Afrikan became the tool through which they would attain their dreams and live the life of luxury.
This began the third phase of the european settler on the island. Between 1714-1729, 3,485 captive Afrikans were brought to the island. The 1729 census shows 5,855 Afrikans and 1,143 europeans. Afrikans made up 81% of the population.
The concentrated and unified inhuman treatment of the Afrikan on the island had begun. Intensive forced labour from dusk to dawn, the clearing of inhospitable terrain, the planting and weeding of regions previously inaccessible to the european, now became the lot of the captured Afrikan.
The island which previous governors had written off and which one governor had even suggested be traded to the French because it had no worth was now exporting rum, muscavado sugar, molasses, cotton, lime juice, and pimento.
What the European settler could not do through his own strength and free-will, they now imposed upon the Afrikan captive.
The Afrikan, viewed by europeans as property and a commodity to own and dispose as they saw fit, was beaten, worked and starved to death during this period, to insure that the plantation master made a profit.
An Afrikan could have expected to live for about 7 years during this era.
Because of the attitude of the entire european population to the Afrikan, the Afrikan became a unit of trade, a commodity, an item easily replaceable and a being with no humanity .
The lust and greed of Europe for riches and luxury allowed them to change the social structure of humanity and their religious institutions salved their conscience as their systems destroyed and dehumanized the Afrikan for gain and profit.
By 1736, there were 6,176 captive Afrikans and by 1756, the census shows 8,853 Afrikans and 1,430 europeans. Afrikans made up 86% of the people of the island.
In 1768 captive Afrikans made up 88% of the population of the island. On St. Patrick's day of that year, Afrikans throughout the island decided that it was time to take their destiny in their own hands. No longer would they be treated as beasts of burden.
They would rise up with a mighty voice and destroy to a man their tormentors. The revolt, however, was not a success.
For this revolt, Afrikans were burnt alive, quartered, hung, hacked to death, and boiled in oil. This was done to set an example to the other captives as to what was in store for them if they ever dared to dream of freeing themselves.
The Afrikan population continued to increase through forced transportation and importation. By 1787, the census shows 10,000 Afrikans, 1,300 europeans and for the first time, 260 coloreds (colored being the offspring of Afrikan women taken against their will by the european slave master).
From the 1790's going into the 1800s things started to become difficult for the slave masters. Supplies became increasingly more expensive and the sale of captured Afrikans to the americas became more lucrative.
By 1800 Montserrat had become a supplier of captive Afrikans as it became more profitable for the slave masters to sell off their captives. Between 1787 and 1809, the captive Afrikan population on the island was reduced from 10,000 to 6,732.
The 1811 census shows 6,732 Afrikans and 444 europeans on the island. Afrikans now made up 94% of the population.
The Afrikan, still held in captivity by the european, now began to feel the intrusion of the religious institutions upon his mentality.
In 1824, the christianizing of the Afrikan began. Missionaries from every denomination began to force themselves upon the slave masters. Even before Afrikans had won their physical freedom, their mental prison was being prepared for them.
In 1834 after many trials and tribulations, torture, destruction and deprivation, open revolution and warfare, the Afrikan won his physical freedom from the european.
Emancipation as it was called, proved to be just another trick by the slave masters to hold on to the Afrikan and tie them to the plantations.
The british government, however, compensated the slave master in Montserrat, to the tune of £103,566 for the loss of their property.
Afrikans throughout the world are still seeking their compensation for one of the most brutal eras in the history of mankind.
It was during this time that the Afrikan in Montserrat lost all traces of their true identity. During their time of captivity, they had two names: one by which they answered when the slave master called, and another by which they were known to each other.
Christian missionary policy, however, dictated that in order for anyone to be be accepted into the christian religion they had to be baptised with a proper "christian" name.
It was part of the missionary's job to convince the Afrikan of his "heathen ways " culture and names.
In order to be accepted as a true christian the Afrikan had to do away with their true name and heritage.
In order to be baptised into the christian religion the Afrikan had to adopt a "proper" christian name. The process had begun ten years before. Upon so-called emancipation the remaining population as they became "christians"discarded their true names and were baptized with the false identities of their former masters, or that of the name of the plantation on which they resided.
To this day, the vast majority of Montserratians have two names: their baptismal name which goes on their birth certificate and another by which they are known by in the community.
At this point in time Afrikans made up 95% of the population of the island. So-called emancipation did not stop the traffic in Afrikans and a trade developed between the former slave masters and the slave masters in South America.
Afrikans in Montserrat were kidnapped and sold on the open market in Guyana and to some of the large landholders on larger islands. Free Afrikans began to migrate to Cuba, Trinidad, Santo Domingo, Haiti, Panama and Afrika. Anywhere that Afrikans could sell their labour for a higher price than was being paid to them on the plantation they went there.
The plantation-holders, virtually bankrupt and devoid of their power and luxury, made their exodus. The 1851 census shows 6,903 Afrikans and 150 europeans. Afrikans now made up 98% of the population.
By 1881, Afrikans made up 99% of the population of the island. This statistic has never dropped below 90% from that time to the present.
The third phase of the settler occupation had come to an end. From this point on, the history of Montserrat is about the struggle of the displaced Afrikan population to make a place for themselves.
From 1834 until 1952, Afrikans in Montserrat were still tied to the plantations. The right to vote was not one of their privileges and they had no say in the decision-making processes that determined their destiny.
Adult suffrage, the right for everyone over the age of 21 to vote, came to Montserrat in 1952. With that right, the voting populace, all Afrikans, put an all-Afrikan legislative council into power.
Within a short period of time, that council wrote the legislation that finally freed Afrikans from the plantation.
For the next forty years the population and its legislative members struggled to escape the convoluted maze of colonial control.
The restricted powers of the local legislature and the reserved powers of the colonial overlords make it extremely difficult for the populace to have a deciding voice in the determination of their own destiny.
In the early 1980's the fourth phase of the settler control of Montserrat was started. Because old colonial systems and old societal values are still in place,it has made it extremely easy for the descendants of the old slave masters, still maintaining their slave master mentality, to move back into key positions of control throughout the island.
With the perception in England that the remaining dependant territories have an economic and financial base that can be exploited, the English population in Montserrat is once again on the increase.
At no point in time throughout the 360 years of European occupation on the island of Montserrat is there any indication that the two ethnic groups merged, amalgamated, and formed a creole Afrikan- anglo or creole Afrikan-irish society.
If there's any doubt in your mind, just look at the faces around you.
This article was written by the author to dispel once and for all the myth that is being perpetuated by a minor sector of our society which have lead us and the world to believe that Montserratians have an Irish heritage.
Montserratians are Afrikans.
Montserrat wants freedom
from UK
There is a direct connection,
between institutional racism and colonialism as practiced by the British
administering power in relationship to their remaining colonies, in the
Caribbean. As such, as an activist in the anti-colonial movement in the region
and as a person who lives the reality of Colonialism on a daily basis, because
I live in a British colony, I think it is of utmost importance that there be
some vehicle that allows for existing colonies to be represented at the WCAR.
My search and queries, have not found, so far, any category that fits the
remaining colonies and the freedom fighters that continue to address the issue
of the continuing colonial hold that the administering powers have on their
remaining colonies.
The remaining colonies have been under a state of suppressed isolation for the past twenty years. Movements in the region that have given their energies towards combating what for them is an immense monster have a right to externalize and internationalize their struggle.
The UN Mandate on Decolonization expired in the year 2000.
The administering Powers have done everything in their power to thwart the right of the remaining colonies to become Self Determined PEOPLE. So far they have succeeded. Based on what I see going on and the responses that I have received from my inquiries so far, it appears that the remaining colonies are destined to remain colonies without even getting the opportunity to extend their struggle into the international arena.
I live on a small island. Have been struggling to bring some level of awareness on the issue of the right to be a Self Determined People, to the People of Montserrat for some 20 years now. Attempting to reverse systems put in place during the height of the British colonial era, in an attempt to remove their colonial hold over the island is not an easy task. Each island, exists in isolation. The population is small. The colony has no standing in the international arena when it comes to speaking for itself on issues that relate to it. The Administering Power speaks for its colonies and as such can give any position it desires to the world while internal to the colonies freedom fighters continue to struggle in isolation.
It is my submission, that Colonialism is one of the greatest contraventions of basic human rights that exist today. Our smallness in size, our isolation from global dynamics, and our exclusion from international conventions like these, make it even more difficult for us to represent ourselves. So, while all these international forums take place in many areas of the world on a regular basis, small island colonies continue to languish under the oppressive system of colonialism. It would appear, that the world is not even aware of the fact, that we exist.
The United Nations, recently extended the UN MANDATE on decolonization. The United Nations, recognizes, that the remaining colonies just cannot, by themselves, struggle to reverse the colonial hold that their Administering Powers have on them, within the framework that exists. It would appear, that the remaining colonies are destined to remain colonies forever.
Recognizing, that the remaining colonies in the Caribbean are Peopled by the descendants of the African slave trade, no greater example of Rampant, negligent, legal and authoritative racism exists than the colonial system still in place today that governs the remaining British colonies.
Colonialism when established, was the direct inheritor of, and the legal replacement of the system of slavery. As such, it was written and framed in the same racist framework as the Slavery system it replaced. It was designed, to insure that the stake holders in the system continued to reap the same benefits as before. Instead of brute force and fear which made the system of slavery work, a legal and authoritative approach was put in place to accomplish the same goals.
The system of Slavery established and reinforced mentally in the Society, much of the racism that exists today. The system of Colonialism reinforced it institutionally, and perpetuates it today in its most sinister and legally authoritative form.
Colonialism and Racism go together like hand and glove, shoes and socks, etc. They are cut from the same cloth. I could go on but I would hope that my point is clear.
The problem, as a colony the Administering Power, which is Great Britain, a member of the United nations, speaks for its colonies. So far, I have found no provisions any where in this conference that seeks to accommodate those freedom fighters still struggling against their Administering Powers to free their colonies from the colonial stranglehold.
Once again, I submit, that colonialism is the legalized expression of racism. The world, however, seems prepared to forget that colonies Still exist. The total and complete eradication of colonialism will bring to an end, the first phase, in the process of addressing the issue of racism. If we allow the administering powers to continue with their program of window dressing, which they are now implementing, in order to circumvent the United Nations Mandate on decolonisation t those of us who live in the remaining colonies are destined to remain colonies forever.
As a colonized People, we have the same right as every one else to be a Self Determined People. Coming out of the system of slavery and now still living under the oppressive system of colonialism, We have suffered and continue to suffer. We must not and should not be forgotten or traded off to the developed world. We may be small but we should not become pawns. We are human beings, and we are entitled to every human right available to the entire human family.
The most colonized area left in the world today is the Caribbean Sea. It is Peopled by Africans from the era of Slavery, and the European slave trading system. Colonies in the Caribbean are held by the USA, France, The Netherlands and England. Four of the worlds most Developed countries.
African People still colonized by Europeans and their descendants. That picture alone should express more than anything written here the deep seated position that racism holds in global dynamics. Here right before our eyes, as we make arrangements to hold a global international conference on racism we find, racism still being practiced by Europeans upon Africans, in its most legally and institutionally insidious form.
There are 5 remaining British colonies in the Caribbean. The majority Peoples in all these island colonies are Africans. The British for its own purposes have no intention of allowing these colonies to attain their independence. Those of us in these colonies who have been pushing for Our rights to be a Self Determined People must get Our plight and message into the international arena. Unless we do, the British will continue to obfuscate the issue while it continues its agenda of binding us securely to its "EMPIRE". We have no desire what so ever to be British citizens, nor do we wish to continue to be second and third class British subjects with no authority internally or externally to manage our own affairs.
The process of forming links and networking with the activists that will make it possible for us to overcome the tremendous odds that keep us colonized, exists in forums and conferences like WCAR. Provisions must be made, for the voices of the freedom fighters in the remaining colonies to be heard.
-------------
The writer of this piece, Chedmond Browne, is a Pan-African Activist from the Caribbean Region. A Lecturer and Writer on the History of African People. Our Past, Our Present and the synthesis of Past and Present to plan and implement our Future. He was when this was written a legally elected representative of the People of MONTSERRAT.
The remaining colonies have been under a state of suppressed isolation for the past twenty years. Movements in the region that have given their energies towards combating what for them is an immense monster have a right to externalize and internationalize their struggle.
The UN Mandate on Decolonization expired in the year 2000.
The administering Powers have done everything in their power to thwart the right of the remaining colonies to become Self Determined PEOPLE. So far they have succeeded. Based on what I see going on and the responses that I have received from my inquiries so far, it appears that the remaining colonies are destined to remain colonies without even getting the opportunity to extend their struggle into the international arena.
I live on a small island. Have been struggling to bring some level of awareness on the issue of the right to be a Self Determined People, to the People of Montserrat for some 20 years now. Attempting to reverse systems put in place during the height of the British colonial era, in an attempt to remove their colonial hold over the island is not an easy task. Each island, exists in isolation. The population is small. The colony has no standing in the international arena when it comes to speaking for itself on issues that relate to it. The Administering Power speaks for its colonies and as such can give any position it desires to the world while internal to the colonies freedom fighters continue to struggle in isolation.
It is my submission, that Colonialism is one of the greatest contraventions of basic human rights that exist today. Our smallness in size, our isolation from global dynamics, and our exclusion from international conventions like these, make it even more difficult for us to represent ourselves. So, while all these international forums take place in many areas of the world on a regular basis, small island colonies continue to languish under the oppressive system of colonialism. It would appear, that the world is not even aware of the fact, that we exist.
The United Nations, recently extended the UN MANDATE on decolonization. The United Nations, recognizes, that the remaining colonies just cannot, by themselves, struggle to reverse the colonial hold that their Administering Powers have on them, within the framework that exists. It would appear, that the remaining colonies are destined to remain colonies forever.
Recognizing, that the remaining colonies in the Caribbean are Peopled by the descendants of the African slave trade, no greater example of Rampant, negligent, legal and authoritative racism exists than the colonial system still in place today that governs the remaining British colonies.
Colonialism when established, was the direct inheritor of, and the legal replacement of the system of slavery. As such, it was written and framed in the same racist framework as the Slavery system it replaced. It was designed, to insure that the stake holders in the system continued to reap the same benefits as before. Instead of brute force and fear which made the system of slavery work, a legal and authoritative approach was put in place to accomplish the same goals.
The system of Slavery established and reinforced mentally in the Society, much of the racism that exists today. The system of Colonialism reinforced it institutionally, and perpetuates it today in its most sinister and legally authoritative form.
Colonialism and Racism go together like hand and glove, shoes and socks, etc. They are cut from the same cloth. I could go on but I would hope that my point is clear.
The problem, as a colony the Administering Power, which is Great Britain, a member of the United nations, speaks for its colonies. So far, I have found no provisions any where in this conference that seeks to accommodate those freedom fighters still struggling against their Administering Powers to free their colonies from the colonial stranglehold.
Once again, I submit, that colonialism is the legalized expression of racism. The world, however, seems prepared to forget that colonies Still exist. The total and complete eradication of colonialism will bring to an end, the first phase, in the process of addressing the issue of racism. If we allow the administering powers to continue with their program of window dressing, which they are now implementing, in order to circumvent the United Nations Mandate on decolonisation t those of us who live in the remaining colonies are destined to remain colonies forever.
As a colonized People, we have the same right as every one else to be a Self Determined People. Coming out of the system of slavery and now still living under the oppressive system of colonialism, We have suffered and continue to suffer. We must not and should not be forgotten or traded off to the developed world. We may be small but we should not become pawns. We are human beings, and we are entitled to every human right available to the entire human family.
The most colonized area left in the world today is the Caribbean Sea. It is Peopled by Africans from the era of Slavery, and the European slave trading system. Colonies in the Caribbean are held by the USA, France, The Netherlands and England. Four of the worlds most Developed countries.
African People still colonized by Europeans and their descendants. That picture alone should express more than anything written here the deep seated position that racism holds in global dynamics. Here right before our eyes, as we make arrangements to hold a global international conference on racism we find, racism still being practiced by Europeans upon Africans, in its most legally and institutionally insidious form.
There are 5 remaining British colonies in the Caribbean. The majority Peoples in all these island colonies are Africans. The British for its own purposes have no intention of allowing these colonies to attain their independence. Those of us in these colonies who have been pushing for Our rights to be a Self Determined People must get Our plight and message into the international arena. Unless we do, the British will continue to obfuscate the issue while it continues its agenda of binding us securely to its "EMPIRE". We have no desire what so ever to be British citizens, nor do we wish to continue to be second and third class British subjects with no authority internally or externally to manage our own affairs.
The process of forming links and networking with the activists that will make it possible for us to overcome the tremendous odds that keep us colonized, exists in forums and conferences like WCAR. Provisions must be made, for the voices of the freedom fighters in the remaining colonies to be heard.
-------------
The writer of this piece, Chedmond Browne, is a Pan-African Activist from the Caribbean Region. A Lecturer and Writer on the History of African People. Our Past, Our Present and the synthesis of Past and Present to plan and implement our Future. He was when this was written a legally elected representative of the People of MONTSERRAT.
36. A representative
of the Free Montserrat United Movement stated that ther administering Power
Had used its
power, influence and finances to keep
Montserrat in a state of colonial dependency.
He added that the
administering power had used the volcanic activity on Montserrat to further its
own agenda for holding on to Montserrat and to thwart the hopes and aspirations
of the people to see some progressive move forward out of their colonial state.
Montserrat had requested that the Associated Statehood be revisited. He pointed
out that this development was a clear indication that the people of Montserrat
were not in favour of maintaining the status quo and that they wanted to see
some indication of a process that would eventually lead to their own national
identity and nationhood. For its part, the administering power contended that
Montserrat had only two options-:
To remain tied to it
in a perpetual state of dependency and control or to achieve independence.
That was the stated
position that the administering power had maintained for many years. The
administering power appeared to have no problems spending money to keep
Montserrat dependent.
However the
administering power has yet to suggest a modality by which it would assist the
territory to move out of its colonial state, and eventually achieve
independence.
Report of the Special Committee on the
Situation with Regard to ..., Issue 23
By United Nations: Special Committee on the
Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting
of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples
Excerpt of presentation given by Chedmond Browne to the United Nations Committee on Decolonization.
Excerpt of presentation given by Chedmond Browne to the United Nations Committee on Decolonization.
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