The British are coming!! The British are coming!!
“Cup Match is an event which marks the day that Bermuda was discovered by Admiral Sir George Somers, in 1609. It also marks Emancipation Day.”
This was the One Bermuda Alliance (OBA), 2018 Cup Match message, a wilfuland racist distortion by the opposition party of Bermuda, about the true meaning of Bermuda’s Emancipation and Cup Match celebrations.
Our Cup Match originated from black Bermudians, children of those formerly enslaved, taking two days to celebrate Emancipation at the beginning of August.
The very first cricket match was played in 1902.
For their own twisted reasons, the OBA has attempted to make the emancipation of black people secondary to the exploits of an English privateer/pirate and coloniser.
The real George Somers
Long before either was knighted for sea-going exploits in England’s service, George Somers and his friend Amyas Preston, were professional privateers.
They were among hundreds of Englishmen of that day who became involved in the privateering business because of its promise of adventure, glory and quick, substantial profit.
They set off across the Atlantic, bound for the West Indies, arriving off Dominica in May.
After a rest, they sailed southwest toward South America, arriving at a little group of three islands just off the coast of Venezuela, called Isla Margarita, Coche and Cubagua. Venezuelan Indians dove for pearls there.
The raiders managed to capture a few Spaniards and their slaves at Coche, then headed across to Cumana, a town on the Venezuelan coast
In the morning, they burned Caracas and some surrounding settlements to the ground, as they had threatened.
Taking whatever they could, they marched back to their ships and set sail for England.
Preston and Somers arrived in September 1595, after six months at sea”
European pirates/ privateers and colonisers are not to be celebrated much less to be celebrated during our emancipation observations.
This reeks of systematic racism.
In the year 2018,the same set of British colonisers have voted to for the Overseas Territories (OTs) of; Bermuda, Cayman Islands and the Virgin Islands to open our books but have not imposed the same rule for the Crown Dependencies (CDs) of Jersey, Guernsey and The Isle of Man.
The main difference between the OTs and the CDs are that the OTs are Caribbean Islands/peoples whilst the CDs are European Islands/peoples.
Seemingly, not satisfied with those actions, in July of 2018, the House of Lords in the UK debated forcing the Overseas Territories to accept Same Sex Marriage.
“Lords in the UK have suggested that Britain should force Bermuda to legalise same-sex marriage in the same way it forced the island to adopt public registers”
Royal Gazette July 25, 2018
So, the question that must be asked is this, how long before they decide to force their will on the Overseas Territories regarding our immigration policies?
Stand up
As Caribbean people, we will have to decide quickly if are we going to continue to be forced to accept rules from an empire built on piracy and colonization.
• An empire that compensated thousands of slave owners in these islands, yet gave the untold millions of the very same persons that they enslaved, absolutely nothing.
• An empire that just voted to damage/ destroy our financial services within the next 18 months.
Over the next few weeks the British will attempt to interact with its OTs as a gesture of goodwill.
The unfortunate reality is this, the British Empire clearly has a 500-year history of; colonisation, enslavement, dictatorship and cultural imperialism that continues to this very day.
We, the people of the Caribbean, will be foolish to think that they will suddenly change their ways.
Only we, can truly emancipate ourselves from those shackles.
“You can't educate I
For no equal opportunity:
Talkin' 'bout my freedom,
People freedom and liberty!
Yeah, we've been trodding on the winepress much too long:
Rebel, rebel!”
Bob Marley
.png)
.png)
.png)
Follow Us On
11 Responses to “The British are coming!! The British are coming!!”
Its been proven time over : HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
Great read and Facts my brother ,
I trust your Political collegues will brain storm with you on our way forward , for we (BVI) are heading BACKWARDS
Some will argue that this type of talk just need to go away and should have no place in our 21st century “civilized” world, without understanding how traits are embedded in our DNA, and the effects of slavery are no different.
Adding to this, is the continual feeding of systemic dimensional mechanisms that are at play within the Global Kabal/Cabal by their chosen shepherds of the masses (of all ethnicities).
Highly noteworthy. This has nothing to do with those of all ethnicities who understand our mental and psychological plight as a people.
Those of major influence know who we are; we are the ones who have been detached from knowing who we are.
Immediate. Our political arena today is up (for grabs) for those who can genuinely make a positive and significant difference for generations to come; a lot is at stake, and there is not much room for mistakes this time around.
This upcoming election will surely unearth whether or not, we understand what it takes to set the Foundation towards eventual Generational Freedom or remain as/in Freedumbs (the physical state of feeling free but still trapped in the mental/psychological state of oppression)- big difference between the two.
Honourable Thomas C. Famous. I don’t know you personally, but I respect you for presenting your perspective to us. Watch yourself for you are sailing a tight-ship for sure. Who have eyes to read, let them read and hopefully comprehend....” Enough said.
Hon Famous, good read. Here my farthing contribution to the discussion. Starting around the 15th Century, Britain fanned out around the globe with imperialism building a vast empire (West Indies, Asia, America’s): Britannia rules the waves, the sun never sets over the Commonwealth. Cotton, sugar and other commodities/raw material had to be shipped to Britain for use in its factories, fueling its industrial base and putting its citizens to work. It was a resource curse of sorts, ie, a country is rich in natural resources yet the people are poor with a lower standing of living and quality of life than many resource-poor countries. Moreover, Slavery ( the worst crime in history against humanity) cheap, force and exploitative labour were used to produce the goods used in British factories. Further, the brutish, dehumanizing, abusive.........etc action of slavery was abolished in 1834(Abolition Act 1833); Emancipation of slaves in the VI occurred on 01 August 1834.
The only people that didn’t benefit from slavery were the slaves and their dependents; there were no dividends for the slaves blood, sweat and tears. Great Britain appropriated £20M (today’s value £17B) to compensate some 3,000 slave owners in Britain and the West Indies, per a study by Nick Draper of the University College of London. Reparation for slave descendants.
Further, Emancipation, coupled with drop in sugar prices, some revolt.......etc, resulted in planters abandoning the VI, castigating the territory as a non-productive, poor, poverty stricken place that was only good supposedly as a bird factory. Moreover, raw material from the West Indies/Caribbean depleted, the UK casted the islands adrift, albeit independence granted. Nevertheless, the VI remains an OT with some self governance. However, the UK still has influence over the VI with its action serving the interest of the UK, not the VI. An example of such action was the amendment to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act that required Caribbean OTs to establish registers of beneficial by December 2020. It is important to note that this requirement is not applicable to crown dependencies: Guernsey, Isle of Man, and Jersey.
1. Where will the money come from?
2. How much money should be appropriated?
3. How will the receipents be identified?
4. Will the payments be paid to individuals or an agency or programmes?
5. Will the families of slave owners who received compensation be expected to contribute for reparation payment?
6. Is the payment deserving?
they seem to be provoking independence debate. This is the opposite of colonising.
The educated here and in the U.K. realise it ought to really be UK and particularly the well managed OTs, together encouraging their allies and taking on the World. U.K. financial services is stronger with us working well and we are stronger with them working in a business friendly way as well rather than the stupidity of these registers.
All this was centuries ago. Some in this region need to look at what is happening now and in the future. It is important to know our history but to learn from it and not to use it and an excuse going forward for poor governance or performance, to cause racial division (the irony) or as a political smokescreen.
BVI for one has had billions of dollars come through here in the last thirty years. Looking around you cannot tell. The privateers who took that we’re only black and only born here.
We are at a serious crossroads now and a OneBVI spirit and collective effort and ingenuity will pull us through it. The other option doesn’t look good at all for These islands.