Historian: We need to take pride in our culture
Against this backdrop, he is urging the Government of the day to place a more concerted effort of storing documents pertaining to the history of the Virgin Islands (VI) in the Archives Unit.
“It’s a sense of pride…of what we and our forefathers have done,” he said.
His sentiments were echoed by Umoja host, Cromwell Smith, who stated that Virgin Islanders don’t “present our history from a subjective perspective, meaning that we don’t add value.”
He noted that it’s disappointing that more emphasis on how the VI was able to make its own toys and used unique and ingenious tools to carve wood to build boats in the old days have not be highlighted.
“We just talk casually that we used to build boats...when other people project their culture and their history, and us not having value for ours, we tend to gravitate towards theirs or because we are conditioned to think that theirs is the best.”
In light of this, Dr. Lettsome stated that sometimes he wears a jack shirt but is teased for his choice. He said he proudly tells his tormentors that “this is what my ancestors used to wear”.
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