Creating monuments is a way to preserve history
Published:Monday | January 2, 2023 | 12:06 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
Jamaica is so rich in history, but the knowledge of this past is very poor. There is a saying that ‘the further you look to the past, is the farther you will see for the future.’ We repeat one of the axioms of Marcus Garvey, “A people without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” But where is the practice in advancing the necessary policies to assist in the creation of a setting for such lessons to be taught?
It is against this background that Shalman Scott should be commended for his suggestion, published on December 30 in The Gleaner article titled ‘Monument recommended for slaves massacred in 1831’. The creation of monuments is a form of writing history. There is a kind of state of denial regarding the history and culture.
People with a lack of knowledge of history will not develop the creative minds to be able to free themselves from the history of harsh existence and become independent economically. There has been this tradition of punishing some of those persons who have called for the liberation of black people before and after the Bogle 1865 uprising in Morant Bay, St Thomas. Many of those black radicals have been punished for thinking and preaching what is right. Many of those leaders had to emigrate to make a living because there was no place of employment for them in Jamaica, especially after 1865 and up to the early 1960s. Some of that past is present in today’s society; that is, no tolerance for black radicalism in general and black radical spiritual movements.
The condition regarding the lack of historical knowledge is rooted in a tradition led by the colonial elite, especially in the case of both formal and informal education of history and culture. For example, in 1938, there was a call in a newspaper editorial for abandoning the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Emancipation Day. Similarly, the founding fathers agreed to the abandoning of the celebration of this day in 1962, Independence; and the 1962 Constitution has no reference to the history of the country, especially with the absence of a preamble.
We have such strong tradition of resistance against oppression and creative mass demonstrations in search for a better life. But little is celebrated about these events and the leadership and ideas that have linked their struggles to the quest for a better life since 1838, a quest that has been elusive.
Much of our problems in society may be rooted in the ‘absence of ruins’ and mass ignorance of the past, grounded in the lack of consciousness of self. Lessons from history will contribute to the path of debriefing the former slaves of their past, as well as a guide to the road to full decolonisation of people and society.
LOUIS MOYSTON