Dear Editor of the Anguillian Newspaper:
As an educator, I am always drawn to education articles that are published in your newspaper. Let me take this opportunity to congratulate the” largest graduating class” (2012) of Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive High School on their outstanding success. A special thanks to parents, guardians, teachers, counselors and all those individuals who supported these students during their academic careers. An old African proverb states “Each one teach one reach one” and “It takes a village to raise a child”.
The following is an Op Ed regarding an article entitled “School Children learn Arawak History” that was recently published in your newspaper. According to the article, an educator who accompanied the students on the trip made the following statement; “I think these tours are very important, giving the children an opportunity to learn about their ancestral background”. “Most of them do not know what happened in the past, so it is good to link them to where they came from and maybe they can appreciate where they are now”. Indeed school trips are an important part of learning outside of school; yet, the notion that learning Arawak history; will give the children an opportunity to learn about their “ancestral background” is misleading and questionable.
According to historians, British colonists began settling in Anguilla around 1650 and brought enslaved Africans to the island sometime thereafter. As a result, to be best of my knowledge, generations of Anguillans are a population predominantly of African descent. I trust that the Continent of Africa our ancestral homeland; is also celebrated and given equal time in the Social Studies curriculum throughout Anguilla’s schools (primary to secondary school). It is imperative that our children are taught the legacy and value of their heritage and the global contributions of people of African descent on the Continent of and throughout the African Diaspora. They must feel pride in their African Caribbean heritage and its connection to the Continent of Africa: (the world’s second largest continent; first human being found in Ethiopia and Tanzania, has fifty-four independent nations, where over a billion people live, has the world’s largest supply of natural resources and wherein lies the Cradle of Civilization along the banks of the River Nile in Egypt). Yet in spite of Africa’s riches, our children must also learn and analyze the real reasons why many African nations are still in turmoil. (Suggested reading “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa” written by a brilliant Guyanese scholar the late Dr. Walter Rodney who spent a great deal of time as a professor at the University of Tanzania in East Africa.
Our children must be taught (based on what is grade appropriate) about Africa’s Ancient African Kingdoms, her people, culture, history, traditions and the link to her children within the African Diaspora. It is important that they learn, understand and analyze why and how colonization carved up the Continent of Africa; that led to the Trans Saharan Enslavement Trade, the Trans Atlantic Enslavement Trade, (when millions of Africa’s brightest men, women and children were stolen kidnapped and sold into wrongful enslavement to build and enrich the colonial empires in the Americas and the Caribbean when sugar and cotton was king). They must also learn that later on, the Triangular Trade also became a lucrative trade that enriched Africa’s colonizers).
Another unit can also focus on Africa and the African Diaspora, the African nations struggle for independence led by African leaders (the late legendary Dr. Kwame Oseygafo Nkrumah of Ghana and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (“Zik”) of Nigeria. Both leaders attended one of the traditional African American universities (Lincoln University in Pennsylvania); and were so inspired by the African American Civil Rights Movement for freedom, justice and equality; they returned to their homelands and led the struggle for their nation’s independence from Britain in the early sixties. In that vein, our children must also be taught the contributions of two Caribbean nationalist leaders, Edward Wilmot Blyden of St. Thomas (“Grandfather of African liberation”) and George Padmore of Trinidad (“Father of African Liberation” who served as an advisor to Dr. Nkrumah) towards the struggle for African independence. Dr. Frantz Fanon, a son of Martinique is celebrated throughout colleges and universities; because of his writings, his philosophy and his enormous contribution to the struggle for independence in Algeria. Of course, special topics on and around Contemporary Africa would also give the students a broad overview of a Continent that is still in transition.
Our children must also learn that in spite of the Middle Passage (journey of millions of Africans who were stolen, kidnapped and brought across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas as a free chattel labor force); we as a people are survivors; because we are able to stand and bear witness that our proud African ancestors stood up and revolted against being wrongfully enslaved; and that is why we have an Anguilla today with a population that is predominantly of African descent.
I am perhaps a little passionate about this topic; because during on my early education in Anguilla, I learned absolutely nothing about Caribbean or African history. However, once I had more formal education and did my own research, I made a connection and became aware of our rich African heritage, as well as recognizing the retention of Africanisms in many Anguillan traditions. For instance, to name a few, where did we get our community sharing tradition of “jollification” and “susu” an old time savings plan, and celebrating an annual harvest of first fruits from our crops? Of course, from Africa the Motherland. How well do I remember back in the day, intergenerational families gathering at night when the moon came out, eating roast corn and the children would hear old time stories from our parents and elders? In most traditional African societies, villagers also gather at night in the village square to share a rich oral tradition of storytelling. Where did we get some of our dance, art forms, song and musical traditions? Where did we get some of our traditional cuisine, food sources and cooking styles? Where did we get and retain most of our beliefs, folklore, folktales and folkways? For instance, as in many traditional African societies; there was not a child during my early childhood, who was not passed over the coffin of an elder, so that we would revere and remember our deceased loved ones.
In closing, I will also share with you that each year during the Annual Summer Festival in Anguilla (July-August); we are also celebrating retentions of ancient African traditions. To be more specific, stilt dancers, parading and masquerading moving through villages to spread good tidings, putting together costumes and masks made of natural objects beads, shells, fabrics; and the use of feathers creating headdresses as in African tradition; as a symbol of our ability as humans to rise above problems, pains and heartbreaks and to experience growth. God bless the Continent of Africa and her children in the Diaspora that includes Anguilla the crown jewel of the northeastern Caribbean.
(Name held on request).
(Published without editing by The Anguillian newspaper.)
