Bridgetown – For Dr. Shantal Monroe-Knight, Minister of Culture in the office of Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, the strong ties between Liberia and Barbados bear significant historical importance that should never be allowed to fizzle.
By Rodney D. Sieh, [email protected]
“Unless we are careful guardians of our own stories, the past can never be repeated,” Dr. Monroe-Knight told visiting Liberian pilgrims at the Archives Genealogy Marketplace Wednesday.
The event showcased Barbados culture and heritage; genealogical research done on families that migrated to Liberia in 1865.
Her comment come in the midst of a firestorm in the US States state of Florida where 72% of the books have been pulled from the nation’s schools.
“I don’t know if you all can remember fundamentally, that in these contemporary times, there are already efforts to reframe the narrative of slavery and its impact. Across the United States there are already places in which they are rewriting textbooks, in which they are putting aside certain texts and creating a narrative that not only were slaves complacent but that they benefited and were satisfied. So, if we are not careful, if we don’t pass on those stories, if we don’t pass on the legacy of resilience, for our children, we have to be careful, least it is repeated.”
The roots of slavery were heavily entrenched in not just Africa but the Caribbean as well. Between 1820 and 1864, only 11,000 African Americans emigrated to Liberia. This includes 4,000 free Black people and 7,000 former slaves who gained freedom by agreeing to emigrate to Liberia. The significance here is not in numbers but in the meaning that Liberia held for African Americans in the 1800s. Similarly, Barbados, the birthplace of British slave society and the most ruthlessly colonized by Britain’s ruling elites. They made their fortunes from sugar produced by an enslaved, “disposable” workforce, and this great wealth secured Britain’s place as an imperial superpower and cause untold suffering.
At the time, the inhumane legacy of plantation society helped shaped modern Barbados.
For Dr Monroe-Knight, this is a part of the journey that three and four generations have passed, illustrating that it means that the current generation has fundamental responsibility from the ongoing pilgrimage that must be true to that mantle.
According to the culture minister, the pilgrimage also provides an opportunity for investment and business prospects as well as to learn more about the work in research and genealogy being undertaken by the Department of Archives and the University of the West Indies (The UWI) chronicling the Barbados/Liberia experience.
This week, the rugged history of slavery has intertwined with Liberia’s ongoing quest to reconnect with a country that played a key role in its foundation.
This week, Liberians are engaging in a number of educational and cultural heritage events that include a Heritage and Island Tour hosted by the Division of Culture and The UWI’s Faculty of History and Humanities; an Archives Genealogy Marketplace, hosted by the Department of Archives and the Prime Minister’s Office; and a Liberia-Barbados Business Roundtable and Exhibition.
The highlight of the pilgrimage is the commemoration of the 159th Anniversary of the Departure to Liberia, dubbed the Sankofa Moment Commemorative Plaque Laying Ceremony, opposite Government Headquarters, Bay Street, in recognition of the signal moment when the ship Brig CORA sailed from Bridgetown to Monrovia, Liberia, on April 6, 1865.
Prime Minister Mottley recently averred that the pilgrimage to Barbados represents a reunion of family. Barbados and Liberia have long held a close genealogical and cultural connection. This trip represents an opportunity for us to now connect in a new way, while still paying respects to the past.”
The pilgrimage also presents a unique opportunity to broaden Barbadians’ knowledge of Liberia and to explore the possibility of cultural cooperation and a knowledge exchange between the two countries. There will also be opportunity for investment and business prospects. A key highlight of the pilgrimage was the unveiling of a Commemorative Plaque, opposite Government Headquarters, Bay Street, set to trumpet the strong ties between the two countries.
One of those significance is the fact that Barbados produced two presidents of Liberia, Arthur Barclay, the 15th president who ruled Liberia from 1904-1912, and Edwin Barclay, the 18th who ruled from 1943-1944. The latter is also credited with writing the Liberian National Anthem, The Lone Star Forever, at age 19.
For Dr. Monroe Knight, there are always defining moments in one’s history and one’s personal life, which is why she believes that this pilgrimage is one of those moments.
She encouraged the Liberian pilgrims to understand the impact that colonialism has had on both countries. “This pilgrimage in which you are attempting, and we are as a nation, is not something that is an experience about but also about Barbados. This pilgrimage, this journey, this movement that you have embarked on to reconnect, to reframe to make sure that we understand those very strong ties, familiar ties that binds us, is also about healing, healing a lot of that damage that has been done to us. It is about healing that inner self, the collective unconscious. That collective unconscious is one that has ancestral memories, that even though we may not know it or understand it, that it is a yearning for us to be able to connect and know and understand ourselves.”
Dr. Monroe-Knight explained that the pilgrimage is fundamentally about framing history because it is fundamentally about our healing.
She made a salient point, stressing the fact that Liberian pilgrims are in Barbados at a time when the Caribbean nation is celebrating its season of emancipation in hopes of reimaging the past and celebrating the future. The theme, she says, suggests that citizens from both countries do not forget the horrors. “We do not stop to ensure that others know in our call for reparatory justice but there’s a need for fundamental repair of this systemic and strong injustice that was meted on to us. But what it does in that theme of reimagining the past is that it says to the world and tells us that we are making space for us to tell our own stories in our own words, that we are reframing the narrative, that we will no longer accept the single story that we have heard from the world of who we are and what we have given to the world.”
According to Dr. Monroe-Knight, slavery was a story of injustice, it was a story of subjugation, of cruelty. But there is also another story, of resilience and those 347 Barbadians that left from for Liberia shows that their story is one of resilience. “They defied the odds in search of that connection, in search of who they are. That is a story of resilience.”
Ironically, when Liberia celebrated its independence on July 26, 1847, it marked a story of resilience. “The connection is even more interesting because as you celebrate your independence, July 26 is celebrated here as a day of national significance. It is the day that we commemorate that 1937 riots in Barbados that was a defining moment in Barbados history. Look at the connection. Those are the stories that we have to be able to tell, not just for ourselves but for our generations yet unborn.”:
Unless we are careful guardians of our own stories, the past can never be repeated. I don’t know if you all can remember fundamentally, that in these contemporary times there are already efforts to reframe the narrative of slavery and its impact. Across the United States there are already places in which they are rewriting textbooks, in which they are putting aside certain texts and creating a narrative that not only were slaves complacent but that they benefited and were satisfied. So, if we are not careful, if we don’t pass on those stories, if we don’t pass on the legacy of resilience for our children, we have to be careful, least it is repeated. And again, that is a part of this journey that three and four generations have passed that and it means that we have fundamental responsibility from this pilgrimage that we are true to that mantle.
Madge Dalrymple, Product Officer with the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) is proud of the opportunity to share a bond with not just Liberia but the entire continent of Africa as a whole. “I started my research, that I have found my maternal great grandmother. She was born in 1888 and died at the age of 103. Also, according to ancestry.com, my heritage is 30 percent Benin and Togo, 28 percent Nigeria and ten percent Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Although I do not know the tribe or village which my ancestors came from, we are all connected, that I know. I will again reinforce that you find your family tree. The marketplace highlights the multicultural backgrounds of Barbadians by way of food, games, documents etc.”