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Buxton Guyana’s Premier Village
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Charting A New Development Path |
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The Emancipation Covenant |
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By Rennie Parris
The month of August may be classified as the most memorable month for Afro-Caribbean people. It was on August 21st 1791 that Boukman issued the final orders to the rebel leaders in St. Domingue to start the Haitian Revolution. It was on August 1, 1834 and August 1, 1838, respectively when most black people of the Caribbean regained their ineffable faculty of humanity – FREEDOM. On that date, enslaved Africans became free from “chattel slavery.” Kwayana defined chattel slavery as a form of bondage that dehumanized enslaved Africans and made them into “talking tools” – shovels, pick axes, cutlasses, forks, etc. Every August, therefore, Afro-Caribbean people must come together to commemorate the survival of the gory experiences of our African ancestors who struggled, suffered and were slaughtered for the sake of the FREEDOM we enjoy today. The Emancipation Act of August 1, 1834 did not come about because the European oppressors eventually became conscience-ridden. Our ancestors never accepted their enslaved status. They struck out repeatedly against their oppressors for their freedom. Williams (1944) claimed that the enslaved Africans were emancipated because the industrialization of Europe made Britain no longer dependent on slavery for economic success. Rodney (1972) posited that Emancipation occurred because a wage slave rather than a bound slave was needed to purchase European goods. On 1st August, 1838, our ancestors established an “EMANCIPATION COVENANT.” The Covenant stated that Emancipation was not a single event that occurred ONLY on 1st August. It was the beginning of a continuous process in which the emancipated must continue to emancipate themselves. It consisted of the acquisition of land for economic activities and the establishment of villages; the construction of houses for everyone to have a home in which to live; the building of schools to enable everyone to achieve universal literacy; and the setting-up of churches to practise their traditional religion. In addition, our forefathers withdrew their women and children from the plantations and pledged not to let them go back to the social wilderness of neglect, abuse and exploitation. The newly emancipated Afro-Caribbean people did not expect any charity from a vengeful plantocracy or a hostile colonial government. The plantocracy and the government continuously challenged the Emancipation Covenant. The planters suppressed the village movement so as to prevent the successful establishment of a free peasantry. The colonial government imposed a credit squeeze on the new village movement, inflated the purchase price for lands, and set 100 acres as the minimum quantity to be sold. These efforts sought to keep the ex-enslaved LANDLESS. However, these emancipated Black people did not depend on the plantocracy or the colonial government to solve all their problems. They knew that they had to work hard and long to achieve self-reliance and communal independence. Despite the various barriers erected to prevent the realization of the Covenant’s objectives, our ancestors built a rich heritage. Their accomplishments were great. They set up an economic system and civilization that rivalled capitalism. They pooled their money and bought lands collectively at inflationary prices. Kwayana (2002) wrote that Africans are spiritually bound to the land. They considered the land to be their MOTHER. Rodney (1981) stated that land acquisition by the freed Africans represented the ownership and control of the means of production. Each piece of land purchased gave the Africans a small but significant measure of independence. Our ancestors rehabilitated the lands, established farms and operated them with marked business acumen. In addition, they constructed housing units, built schools and churches to establish communal villages. They pursued education with a passion and zeal that made them highly literate and skilled for employment as civil servants and tradesmen. Finally, the new village development movement succeeded to establish villages that were economically self sufficient. As we seek to compare the immediate post-Emancipation village economy with the contemporary village economy, the likely question is: What has happened with the Emancipation Covenant?
2010 Emancipation Youth Address By J. Ayana McCalman
I am more than a little pleased to be involved in this Emancipation celebration of Buxton-Friendship and the celebration of 170 years of the Purchase of Buxton. I was born and raised in Buxton and I am privileged to be the beneficiary of an ancestral legacy that includes excellence and self-reliance. These virtues continue to shape me and mould me as a thinker, lawyer, entrepreneur and leader. As I begin this address I take the opportunity to give due credit to the 141 men and women now past who purchased this village I call home. I also give credit to those living, including my mother, who continue to encourage and support my passion for the best life possible-and the many Buxtonians who continue to encourage me. I wish to acknowledge in particular the contribution of BESAC (Buxtonians for the Education and Social Advancement of the Community) group who supported my academic pursuits with a scholarship to study law at the University of Guyana. I appreciate all of you living and past. The true value and meaning of history is made real when we adopt the posture advocated by one writer: “To know the present we must look into the past and to know the future we must look into the past and the present”. Tonight, my address contemplates the future of Buxton and I take this opportunity to add my observations of the past and present as a contribution to encourage Buxtonians at home and abroad to sustain the life and spirit of this community. The past of Buxton since the purchase of this village in 1840 to the present includes many stories that encourage praise and many of which are equally painful. I do not intend to recount the painful experiences of the past with vivid details inspiring anger at best in some or hatred at worst in others. Neither, am I choosing to ignore the past as some people intentionally or sub-consciously choose to do. Instead, I am inspired to acknowledge all these experiences of both praise and pain that encourage us to carry the best parts into the future. The painful experience of the past of Buxton includes a people who have had to deal with the physical and psychological scars of slavery, including enslavement justified on the basis of laws and customs that once regarded African people as property or livestock. The present experience of Buxton has been one marred by recurring bouts of violence, poverty, prejudice and discrimination. However, as we look deeper into the past and present of Buxton, we recognise that as Buxtonians we have individually and collectively often displayed the best of who we are. We only need to take a brief survey of the contributions of Buxtonians in the field of education, business, medicine, literature, culture, sports, public service and many other countless endeavours. Eusi Kwayana in the compilation of the book “Buxton-Friendship in Print and Memory” has an extensive treatise of the names and contributions of Buxtonians to the village, Guyana and further afield. Moreover we cannot overlook nor discount the feat of courage, perseverance and revolutionary spirit that spurred the first 141 Buxtonians to purchase this village in 1840 (just two years after the abolition of slavery) and, as history notes, for being the first village to obtain the official title by Transport to the village. I believe that the first Transport is not merely a symbol of land ownership but a physical symbol of the belief in a better future far removed from the shackles of the indignity of slavery and servitude. Thus, as we look to the future of Buxton it is best summed up in the lesson that we must daily move towards the future of Buxton with confidence and comfort carrying forward only what is the best of the past. We must continue to dream and imagine together the future of Buxton and what it can be. This dream will not and cannot remain fantasy or waved away by skeptics or pessimists if it is grounded in the best of the life and spirit of this village. In particular, the collective action of Buxtonians at home and in the Diaspora as evidenced by the numerous community groups, who support various acts of generosity and charity including support for scholarships, healthcare and other contributions to the village must be seen not as a weakness but as a positive strength and a commitment to Buxton. However, this dream must become provocative in the imagination to encourage and sustain effective collaboration between these various community groups. We must return to the ancient wisdom of the village-each contributing individual gifts or talents but always working together for the communal good of the village. Moreover, as we move from dream to design we must create an architecture that sustains the pillars of the Village movement which David Granger, in a recent symposium, describes as the home, church, school and farm. I believe that these pillars accurately represent the architecture of Buxton which was also an integral part of the village movement. These pillars I would add were sustained by the foundation of a community determined to sustain the values of cooperation, excellence in education and economic self-reliance. Thus, any future design of the community of Buxton must encourage individual and collective action to encourage collaboration between the home, church and school to promote education that is grounded in wisdom, devotion to God and the lived experience of the people in Buxton. It is the sort of education that encourages young women, young men, and adults to rely less on education as merely the consumption of information and more on education as the source of practical action. As Jamaican Reverend Burchell Taylor advocates, it is practical action that promotes: Divine Wisdom in choosing the way of life regarding life’s conduct, direction and goals Personal discipline and honesty Good neighbourly relations; and Responsible sex ethics and family life. It is this sort of education that is rooted in these practical actions that will encourage industry whether in the farm or other economic activities that will sustain the best of Buxton and guarantee a future for Buxton that retains the legacy of communal unity, excellence in education and economic self-reliance. In designing the future for Buxton we must therefore all guard against the influences that promote immorality or violence without regard to the self-destructive consequences. We must also avoid the current trends and philosophy that promote personal interests, self aggrandizement, personal rivalry and competitiveness as the keys to success. These were never values encouraged or embraced by the ancient wisdom of our foreparents or the ancestors of this village of Buxton. The future of Buxton is for all of us here now living and those to come to determine. We must each commit by our words and actions to sustain the life and spirit of Buxton. We must each take a positive oath not to sell or destroy our ancestral inheritance – neither freedom, nor the land of Buxton. May the souls of our ancestors who won freedom in 1838 remain and rest in peace. Long live Buxton my own native land! July 31, 2010 |
