Letters & Opinion

Liberated Africans

18
Commission members John Peters, Gordon Charles and BrianLouisy.
Image of John Peters
By John Peters

SOME months ago I had a very informative discussion with Ronald “Boo” Hinkson, who has in my view a remarkable understanding of the issues facing Saint Lucia. “Boo” was saying that there is need to teach our young people their history and that if a people do not know their past they will not understand their present and be able to chart their future. This was music to my ears, more melodious than any music penned by my dear friend. What are we teaching our children in the secondary and primary schools as history? History at the primary school level is almost non-existent, they will be told something about Caribs and Arawaks and the irrelevancies of our changing hands 14 times. In the secondary school, if you do history up to CXC you may learn a bit more.

There is a part of our history in Saint Lucia, that we know very little about and one which has a profound impact in understanding the socio-economic issues of Saint Lucia. I refer to the entrance of the Liberated Africans into our society from 1841. These were Africans that came to Saint Lucia with no experience with slavery. I have done the research using the reference material found in “A History of Saint Lucia” written by JolienHarmsen, Guy Ellis and Robert Devaux. I have found this book to be an excellent document on the history of Saint Lucia, although there is need for correction of how Saint Lucia got its name.

Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807 and slavery was altogether abolished in 1838, however other nations continued with the trading of slaves. British Forces however would intercept and liberate those found on the ships up to 1870. If the ship was intercepted on the eastern Atlantic those on board were carried to St Helena or Sierra Leone. The freed were housed and encouraged to migrate as contracted labourers to the British West Indies. If they were intercepted on the Caribbean side of the Atlantic they were brought to the British West Indies where they were settled as freed men and women.

Between 1841 to 1867, a total of 1298 were received in Saint Lucia. The contractual terms were as follows:

1. Work for one year on an assigned estate
2. Working hours were 9 hours per day with an hour break and 5 to 6 days
3. Lodging to be provided should be ‘ dry, wholesome and comfortable lodging’
4. Half an acre of suitable garden land
5. Free medical attention
6. Rations ( salt fish, beef or pork, bread, rice yams, sweet potatoes, eddoes or plantain)
7. Two pence per day for the first 6 months and 5 pence for the next six months with a reduction in rations
8. Complete 5 years of industrial residence and the entitlement of a free passage back to their homeland or a piece or parcel of land.

The land ownership within Saint Lucia can thus be explained by where these liberated Africans settled. The comments of the then estate owners are quite interesting, they were described as; ‘the most efficient labourers, ‘we are satisfied with the cheerful and willing performance of their work’, ‘docile industrious and sober’, excellent agricultural labourers’.

Not long after their entrance into Saint Lucia, these liberated Africans were owners of cattle, pigs, poultry and land owners in Grande Anse, Marquis Estate, Dennery, Praslin, Micoud and Gros Islet/Dauphin. They became independent peasants. History records one of these Liberated Africans who stood out, one named Assor. Assor was from the Ekiti tribe of Nigeria and after working out his contract had bought large tracts of land in where we now call Fond Assau.

The element of independence and the willingness to forge our own future was part of the framework of the Liberated African. I recall my days at the then Ministry of Communications Works & Transport, that people would come desirous of getting a contract, and never wanted to be hired as a labourer with the potholing crew. They wanted the independence, to forge their own future as a petty contractor. A nation’s policies must thus support this high value cultural commodity, and thus there is that fear that our STEP programme may be a threat to this valuable historical cultural commodity introduced by our liberated African forefathers.

18 Comments

  1. St. Lucian history did not begin with the coming of Columbus. This miseducation teachings that the Mayans who made calculations of the elliptical obits of the Planets, and calculated the angular velocities of the Heavenly bodies to produce accurate calendars projected hundreds of years into the future, were somehow non existent, or at best savages worthy of exterminations by the Caucasian Christian Savages, is the reason black people are in this pathetic condition they find themselves today.

    Black men like Rick John Wayne and his Second/sidekick Black Pete Josie, more appropriately called NEGROES(a product of White Supremacy, Created in the image of his white God)) are the most pathetic excuse for the Black man. Although Such Negroes like a John Wayne, a Derek Walcott, a Peter Josie who sounds like a Drag Queen, a John Peters who is incapable of what we call “MENTAL SLAVERY”, will do everything possible to escape their Black African Ancestry, saying: “I’M NOT BLACK! I’M MIXED”; “see my mother was raped by the English Slave Master, and that’s the reason my name is Walcott, Josie, Peter, and Wayne. Although Carasco, and Josie sounds Spaniard; maybe these Negroes’ grandparents were raped by Spaniards? and they reason, if only I can Get a so-called white woman, and I will become ‘white’ again.

    Anyway, these Negroes are total cowards, who are contented with worshiping another man as their God and Master, while allowing Caucasians to determine how and to what extent they will be allowed to exist, and to dictate their Economic development, more appropriately called, “their weekly allowances” – think children.

    These so-called Negroes existing on a minimal state of subsistence, begging Caucasians to bring them some crumbs from Lazarus’ Table. This is a direct result of FAKE negresses like Sarah Flood, Gail Rigobert, Mary Isaac, John Wayne, Black Pete Josie, John Peters, and the other Negroes who think that a so-called white man died to save them from themselves “MAJEE NOIR”, and if they eat his flesh and drink his blood they will go to heaven. So Phillip C, blew the brains of a “maleywey” on the beach and thinks the White God will give him a free Pass to Heaven. Let me sum it up in one word: SELF-HATERS, was that two? like Father + Son + Holy Ghost = ONE ???

    Oh God please remove these antiquated Negroes from our homes. I end with Noah’s Prayer:
    *****

    Noah said: My Lord! Lo! they have disobeyed me and followed one whose wealth and children increase him in naught save ruin; (21)

    And they have plotted a mighty plot, (22)

    And they have said: Forsake not your gods. Forsake not Wadd, nor Suwa’, nor Yaghuth and Ya’uq and Nasr. (23)

    And they have led many astray, and Thou increasest the wrong-doers in naught save error. (24)

    Because of their sins they were drowned, then made to enter a Fire. And they found they had no helpers in place of Allah. (25)

    And Noah said: My Lord! Leave not one of the disbelievers in the land. (26)

    If Thou shouldst leave them, they will mislead Thy slaves and will beget none save lewd ingrates. (27)

    My Lord! Forgive me and my parents and him who entereth my house believing, and believing men and believing women, and increase not the wrong-doers in aught save ruin. (28)

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  2. ^
    ^
    ^
    a John Peters who is incapable of comprehending what we call “MENTAL SLAVERY”,

    /

    When did the enslavement of Blacks end ? tomorrow ??

    CHICAGO — Police in Chicago have “no regard for the sanctity of life when it comes to people of color” and have alienated blacks and Hispanics for decades by using excessive force and honoring a code of silence, a task force declared Wednesday in a report that seeks sweeping changes to the nation’s third-largest police force.

    The panel, established by Mayor Rahm Emanuel late last year in response to an outcry over police shootings, found that the department does little to weed out problem officers and routine encounters unnecessarily turn deadly.

    CEDRICK CHATMAN VIDEO SHOWS TEEN RUN FROM CHICAGO COPS

    The group concluded that fear and lack of trust in law enforcement among minorities is justified, citing data that show 74% of the hundreds of people shot by officers in recent years were African-Americans, even though blacks account for 33% of the city’s population.

    “Reform is possible if there is a will and a commitment,” the report said. But change must start with an acknowledgement of Chicago policing’s “sad history.”

    The task force pointed to examples that spanned generations, including the 1969 killing of Black Panther Fred Hampton, allegations of torture from the 1970s to the 1990s under former commander Jon Burge and controversial stop-and-frisk practices in the early 2000s.

    The report “raises consciousness,” activist Greg Livingston said. “It shines a light into the darkness.”

    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/chicago-cops-no-regard-black-hispanic-people-article-1.2600148?utm_content=buffer75f81&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

    /

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  6. Monsieur John /
    When you stick to engineering that is guided by altruistic objectivity-you glow.
    However, your forays into RELIGION and EDUCATION are as tortured and flawed as the Spanish Inquisition.
    Paradoxically the satanic Inquisition should have created many martyr/saints of its victims -based on Orthodox Christianity.
    -Overwhelmingly, the victims desired the UNADULTERATED practices and teachings of their Bible and it therefore as the highest arbiter of their doctrine.
    Well these rebel off shoots did assert a JUST raison d’etre to BYPASS the papal MIDDLE MAN…n’est pas?
    Let’s not even touch on your rather dismal approach to Learning & Child Development as it applies to Education.
    The SOM has already plunged … your cranium into a vat of historical facts worthy of your polite introspection.
    What I would like to bring to your attention is the brain as a Central processing unit of Multi Modal Inputs
    The central problem with teaching authentic history – is not only accessing the relevant /pertinent CONTENT; moreover, it’s mentoring/coaching (a la Vygotsky’s proximal-distal theory) students to THINK CONSTRUCTIVELY in and between the lines of the relevant /pertinent CONTENT.
    And for le piece de resistance – GET FIRED UP by the relevance of their participation in this Constructivist Learning experience-
    to become proactive as it relates to their current socio-economic reality of how the national pie is sliced and how (IF) the slices are distributed adequately.
    They must understand first and foremost that there is/was a concerted system to DENY them any regal sense of cultural CONTINUITY.
    This PLANNED DISCONNECT with Cultural empowerment was enforced via many malicious mandates:
    – No African drums allowed
    -The break and scattering of African Families.
    – The rape and consequent DILUTION of African GENOME. To this day modern Capitalist cultures that promote The Mall as Houses Of Worship and liberates the acceptance of DECADENCE, its byproduct-
    overtly and SUBLIMINALLY promote interracial child bearing relationships for male caucasians. Paradoxically, when affluent black men wish to emulate the same- they must retain their exclusive reservations / body guards . That is they are not welcomed by neither Caucasian nor Black Males.

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  7. You need not go far to understand the salient remnants of Our Historical Cultural Disconnect:
    -Firstly, the overt and covert disrespect heaped upon our oreo president.
    – Frankly, presidents JFK , Johnson and Clinton were allowed/respected to execute some significant policies that were earmarked for direct black community economic empowerment. On the other hand, every fiscal policy of Obama -save immigration directed at the larger than black hispanic populace- has been generalized – for all Americans, including rich bankers.
    -How about you, John Peters. Your constant repeats of avowed allegiance to the Minor Basilica are tantamount to an oath to some sort of neo papal Inquisition or Skull & Bones secret society.
    YOU DO NOT question nor disavow any of the multitude of discrepancies within RC papal bulls , nor the ungodly ATROCITIES perpetrated on behalf of your papal “gods in human flesh”.
    That is a disservice to the education of modern St. Lucian Children-
    especially from a high profile accomplished scholar.
    But then, in your case silence is perhaps golden-
    given the tight political constraints of our current island, as Cinder Box.
    Please do not piss off Massa! Oui!

    Reply

  9. When I read the 3 musketeers in primary school our teacher portrayed it as an adventurous romp-
    Even the Ambitious Richelieu was painted in a pious light.
    We were not expected to question so I was let for many subsequent years guessing at the rivalry between the 3 musketeers and the Cardinal
    The following makes authentic sense and understanding for a student -especially in light of the massacre of indigenous first people and Colonialization:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNQizQfgt0Q
    Viva Europe…..n’est pas?

    Reply

  10. When the ambitious Genoan arrived he planted the Papal mandate that was vigorously enforced by clerics riding shotgun with the CONQUISTADORS in tow:
    Now where do you think ALL the Inspiration for their convert to RC or DIE mandates emanated:

    http://www.usna.edu/Users/history/abels/hh315/crusades_timeline.htm

    Superimpose the arrival of you know who in 1492, against the backdrop of this crusader timeline and voila ……the killers from hell have arrived.
    You cannot teach authentic Caribbean History without a weaving in of the murderous mindset that sailed in across the Atlantic 🙁
    The pedagogic challenge is not as difficult given all the technology available to schools.
    If students are motivated to recreate the past and to render their objective thoughts about universal human themes related to said recreations , then we can well understand how Shakespeare is famous.

    Reply

  11. African Countries Must Stop Begging for Everything From Foreigners –Annan

    Annan, who gave the keynote address at this year’s forum in Addis Ababa, said the solutions to the problems the continent is facing must come from within. He added, however, that the continent must build up its ability to do so, including in financing its institutions.

    “We cannot always pass a hat around and insist we want to be sovereign, we want to be independent. We should lead and get others to support us, that support will be much more forthcoming when they see how serious and committed we are.” ~ Kofi Annan

    https://face2faceafrica.com/article/african-countries-must-stop-begging-for-everything-from-foreigners

    .

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  12. /
    DASSAULT MIRAGE:

    Thanks for this information on the Crusades, I am studying this chronological document you presented to better understand the Evil nature of these Caucasian Christians.

    The Truth is successful ! so let me congratulate you on your most honourable stance with the Truth. We have brought Truth to our people in St. Lucia, to dispel the Darkness of the Crusaders who now reside in the House of Wax on Micoud Street adjacent to the Square, but LOOK who has joined your VOICE in the wilderness. This man has reiterated our your constant warnings of the Chastanet’s Oligarchy over our Fragile Economy with the assistance of Negro traitors like Black Pete Josie, Ezekiel Joseph, and Rick John Wayne.

    UWI Vice-Chancellor says white supremacy in Barbados hurting blacks

    BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Monday April 25, 2016 –The Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI) has called for social change in Barbados, saying that blacks continue to be marginalized and warning that the situation cannot continue.

    The Barbadian-born academic described the social structure as one of white supremacy and black marginalization, adding that this “economic white supremacy system” is subversive to democracy.

    Read more: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/uwi-vice-chancellor-identifies-white-supremacy-system-barbados#ixzz46vp1mSJU

    Reply

  13. “There is, in Barbados, a division of labour which says that the black community will occupy and control the politics and the white elite will control the economy…All of us as citizens of Barbados have to examine this model and transform it. It has to be transformed in order to fulfil the vision if our ancestors in General Bussa’s time, General Greene and Clement Payne,” said Sir Hilary, referring to other freedom fighters.

    “It can only be done if the economic democracy movement is revitalized and insisted upon because, in my judgment, the young people of this island deserve a more democratic society. They have paid their price in history for democracy and freedom.”

    The top UWI official, who is also chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Reparations Commission, insisted that reparatory justice is a critical part of that.

    Read more: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/uwi-vice-chancellor-identifies-white-supremacy-system-barbados#ixzz46vu6O1Dx

    Reply

  18. SOM
    Your strengths motivate / inspire and keep us -the vanguard of our beloved island- ever vigilant and ready at the proverbial ramparts.
    I am always humbled by your accolades ; for I have learned so much more from your postings, in my quest to the DIVINE CREATOR than all the mandated or personal readings I have studied-collectively. In the domain of political science, I am a committed novice and you are our blog’s GURU.
    Continue to INSPIRE us to climb Mount Kilimanjaro (the continuing daily saga of the challenges to our storied ancestry _THE CRADLE OF ALL CIVILIZATIONS).
    Live long and prosper my honorable mentor,
    Much Respect
    Dassault

    Reply

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