๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข๐ด โ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆโ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ค๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ 1833 ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ 1838 ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ.
This holocaust of enslavement saw the ruthless and forced extraction of Africans from their homeland, and subjection to the horrors and murder that was the Middle Passage.
On arrival in the so-called โNew Worldโ slavery persisted for four hundred years and cost the lives of millions of Africans.
It is important to note, as one of our foremost historians Dr. Winston McGowan chronicles, “The overwhelming majority of slaves never accepted the system of slavery with equanimity. They accommodated it or adjusted to it when they felt they had to and resisted it when they had the opportunities to do so.” In that same vein we must continue to resist the shackles and those who seek to bind us to a dark past.
We acknowledge their strength that catalysed a small colony to the world stage. According to the renowned historian, “By 1800 Berbice and Demerara-Essequibo, whose economic growth had long been stifled, had become the second largest producer of sugar in the British West Indies, the largest producer of cotton in the British Empire and the greatest producer of raw cotton in the entire world.” While those industries have waned, new frontiers beckon and all Guyanese will once more enjoy the good life.
We acknowledge their resilience as well and vast contributions of African slaves to our Guyanese history. From the days when they first built our major canals and sugar lands with their bare hands in the broiling sun and the rain to their descendants who stand tall today in every sphere of economic and educational endeavour.
As Guyana moves towards the promising economic times that lay ahead, we reflect on the efforts of our ancestors and their fight for freedom. Let us as a Nation resolve to never again tolerate inequality, inhumanity and racism rather let us build a unified Guyana โ a future together.
End.
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