‘Know your DNA’

Prominent historian Trevor Marshall wants black Barbadians to be aware that Africa is in their DNA.

Making the point that features of Africa are very much a part of the island’s cultural heritage, Marshall said while black citizens of other Caribbean countries have recognised that they are descendants of African slaves, only in Barbados there are dark-skinned people declaring that they are not Africans.

“We are tired saying to people that your DNA shows that you are African. Barbadians are the only people that do not accept that their DNA is African. So there is a major issue. I don’t know if it’s a curriculum issue, or what. It may be a matter of simple shame.

“We associate Africa with people who are monkeys. We associate Africa as a place with no culture, no scientific discovery, nothing. But most of all, we associate Africa with slaves; we think that Africa has no religion,” he said.

An outspoken Marshall made these remarks as he spoke to the media on Tuesday, after he delivered a dramatic presentation on Africa to the students of Sharon Primary School, at the Sharon Moravian Church, St. Thomas.

“A whole heap of negatives abound in the schools and even up to university level. You can still find people at university as black as tar, who say ‘I am not African.’ That has led me to suggest that anybody as dark as ourselves here, who do not accept that they ... have African heritage, should be committed to the Psychiatric Hospital for observation for the next six months,” he said.

Marshall further stated that it is important to educate children about their African ancestry, while they are still young.

Marshall alluded to the fact that while it is okay for women to embrace “European” influenced hairstyles, it is very important for black women to understand that cornrows and afros originated in Africa and should also be embraced. He said he was happy to see that female students at the primary level were wearing African hairstyles to school.

The historian’s talk with the young children was lively and energised, as he showed them a number of African dances, and highlighted African foods that are used in Barbados.

He said the beat of the African drum heard in Calypso songs and the dancing seen on the road Crop Over day, came from Africa.

The students and teachers completely enjoyed when Marshall called on them to sing along a number of upbeat choruses with him.

“Africa is in Barbados. It is in us and around us. As a historian for the last 40-odd years, teaching at the [Barbados] Community College and universities here, Trinidad and Jamaica, I have accumulated knowledge about the African heritage.

“There is no better place to expand on it, and to deliver, except to children, the leaders of tomorrow. Hopefully, one or two of these [students] here will understand that we are of African descent,” he said.

Over the next month, the students at Sharon Primary will join hundreds of boys and girls across the island in celebrating their African culture, through various activities. (AH)