Pan-Africanists ready to see Lord Nelson go; Gov’t commended

The Pan-African Movements in Barbados are eagerly awaiting November 16th to see the back of Lord Nelson from National Heroes Square.

“It has been a very long struggle by our ancestors and by revolutionary forces in Barbados, who from as far back as 1813 would have made the call for the removal of Lord Nelson from what was then called Trafalgar Square,”said General Secretary of the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration (CMPI), David Denny.

Last week, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, with responsibility for Culture, John King, announced that the more than 200-year-old structure is to be removed and transported to a temporary storage site under the guidance of experts, before being returned to public display on the compound of the Barbados Museum and Historical Society at The Garrison, St. Michael.

Confident that the statue will be removed this time around, he commended the

Mia Mottley-led Administration in advance for listening to its citizens.

“All the Pan African Organisations are very happy that the Government of Barbados has taken a very progressive position to remove Lord Nelson on November 16th. For us, this is very important because this is something we have been struggling for and many of our brothers and sisters who were involved in those battles are now sitting as our ancestors. And therefore I know that they are happy to know that we were able to achieve this objective.”

Addressing a press conference at Art Forms, Pelican Village yesterday, he gave credit to The Black Lives Matter movement, expressing, “It helped to create the conditions for what we are seeing here today”.

“The marches on June 6th and especially June 13th, created the conditions for Barbadian people to push the struggle for the removal of Lord Nelson to another stage. In fact, it created a level of consciousness among the Barbadian people because throughout Barbados on all the radio stations, social media – the people of Barbados were demanding the removal of Lord Nelson.”

He continued, “Most likely what the government recognised is that it was a popular movement and therefore they agreed to respect that popular movement that was calling for the removal of Lord Nelson. And it wasn’t only a popular movement in Barbados, but it was popular globally because many of the statues that represent white supremacy and slavery were being removed, especially by the youth of the world.”

Although November 16th will be commemorated as ‘International Day of Tolerance’, as designated by the United Nations 50 years, the CMPI General Secretary is declaring the date – A Black Day of Resistance Against All Forms of Racism, Exploitation and White Supremacy.

He is therefore calling on all Barbadians to come out and support the process to remove Lord Nelson, and wear all black.

“We want to turn it into a day of black resistance against all forms of exploitation. We want the people of Barbados to come out and participate in the process to remove Lord Nelson from our National Heroes Square. We want them to dress in all black so they can stand out as they stand in solidarity with this process. We want people that cannot make it to National Heroes Square to celebrate the removal of the statue from in their communities – dress in black, beat pans and party and celebrate the removal of Lord Nelson.”

Denny also made it clear that activism will not dissipate as the call will intensify for Nanny Grigg – one of the senior enslaved people who helped to plan the 1816 slave rebellion – to be given National Hero recognition.

“It is for us to maintain the struggle and to keep the activism out there to demand the Nanny Grigg be recognised as our National Hero in our National Hero Square. In fact, immediately after Lord Nelson is removed we should hold a spiritual ceremony to cleanse the entire area,” he added.

Chairman of the Pan-African Coalition of Organisation, Onkphra Wells also praised the government on making the move to uproot Nelson. A move, which he described as being based on “the voices and the struggles of the people”.

“Reclaiming our sovereignty as a people, to end the psychological terrorism, the damage – freeing ourselves from that mental slavery that Nelson represents.”

“White supremacy has a continuation of the colonial indoctrination because when the colonist leaves the island; leaves the space – they leave relics to perpetuate the enslavement of the minds of the resources, of the governance, of the education, of the family, of the church – all these institutions they leave to perpetuate the continual indoctrination and assimilation of the people. And so, Nelson and all those institutions that portray the colonial elements of white supremacy – in order for us to reclaim our sovereign spaces – they have to go,” Wells stressed. (TL)