Tuesday, 2nd September 2014 (North Side, Anguilla) — During the past few weeks the words of world famous Reggae artiste Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley’s Redemption Song have repeatedly surfaced in my head. I keep hearing the tune and the lines he sang: “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; none, but ourselves, can free our minds”. So I went on YouTube to find the lyrics.
I don’t know whether these were his very own words or the thoughts of someone else that he expressed through his music. Yet this powerful statement has remained dominant in the forefront of my mind.
It seems that the spirit is guiding me to help raise our conscious awareness on how we continue to keep ourselves mentally enslaved. Even though the shackles of leg irons and wrist chains have vanished, our minds are still encapsulated in less constructive thoughts, words and deeds that stop us from moving forward.
Most people don’t seem to recognise how enslaved they are to modern day television programming, or the brainwashing they’re exposed to from some media outlets and what they may be taught in schools and churches. They don’t question authority nor even enquire whether what they are led to believe is in reality the truth. Of course, I have always been one to question and search for the right answers.
I ‘ve been thinking quite a bit on this subject, and on the 28th of July started composing a few paragraphs for this piece. It was my intention to write about freeing ourselves from mental slavery by changing the thought patterns that we’ve been programmed to believe. I’d planned to compose a message focussing on our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Anguilla’s Summer Festival.
In my conscious mind, I felt we needed reminding ourselves of the deeper meaning behind this jollification. However, I got caught up in entertaining friends who were visiting the island and joined in the festivities, so my writing was put aside.
Without contemplating what’s the actual focus of our celebrating the first week of August, many of us go and fête. For most, it’s merely a big party to drink and be merry. But do we really comprehend the significance of this August Monday bank holiday celebrated every year? It’s really supposed to remind us of the emancipation of enslaved Caribbean people that occurred on 1st August, 1834 and it symbolises the freedom we possess today.
Tonight the spirit has nudged me once again to use my gift of writing and sharing thoughts to help us raise our conscious awareness on emancipating ourselves from the mental shackles that still bind us. The inner voice that serves as guidance is pushing me to complete this assignment, especially after I received a gentle reminder during a religious service I attended on Sunday, 31st August.
Whilst listening to Brother Wilmoth Hodge, who is a Minister-in-training, preach at Bethel Methodist Church, I clearly heard God speaking through my own inner voice. The Most High’s message was that I needed to write on emancipating ourselves in terms of today’s world and our lifestyles. What I heard that triggered my need to write was when the preacher spoke of five men who were slaves on Anguilla. He mentioned how they had been hung after having been caught committing an offence. As they were malnourished from working on the plantations, they broke into someone’s house searching for food to eat.
It’s a horrific impression being put to death as punishment for stealing sustenance to keep the body going whilst doing hard labour. Why would anyone who has love and compassion for his fellow human beings hang another individual for that reason? I cannot fathom doing anything like that.
From my humane perspective, it’s horribly cruel to kill someone who because of starvation stole a morsel of bread to assuage the belly’s hunger pains. Community service or working towards paying back the person from whom the food had been stolen would have been a more viable solution for the supposed wrongdoing.
Brother Wilmoth also read several passages of scripture from the third chapter of Exodus in The Holy Bible. Exodus 2:23 to 3:15 speaks of the children of Israel being kept in bondage by the Egyptians. The Israelites were a chosen people, but they were oppressed. Yet God (the “I AM THAT I AM”) through Moses delivered them out of captivity.
Today most of us are free of the confinements of slavery. Yet we must take heed of what is happening globally, in many countries, where numerous evil-spirited persons continue the oppression and bondage of various populations in diverse nations. Extremists and radicals, political leaders and rebels, police and national guards are fighting worldwide to keep people in darkness, to control where they go, what they do and how they live their lives.
We need to examine what happens within our Caribbean region when governments impose visas, extensions of stays and paying fees to travel or reside in certain places for restricted periods. In my opinion, it’s another form of controlling the movement and freedom of people which is a type of modern day slavery. As human beings, on the whole, we haven’t yet progressed far enough in our mental enlightenment to attain complete freedom in our minds. Though there are a few holy saints who’ve managed to reach this state of higher consciousness.
Presently, we are living in times of great upheaval when many people are faced with tremendous challenges to survive daily. So to encourage us to aspire to greater heights and to give us hope, I’d like to focus on how we must not merely be in survival mode, but how we can actually thrive living life joyously and handling better whatever exists in our current circumstances.
We must know and teach our stories of the past
One of the truths I have always believed is that if we know our history or her-story, the stories of our ancestors, then we know from whence we came. Knowing the lineage of our families’ heritage not only allows us to understand our roots, but it also gives us a source of great inner strength.
With my family’s maternal side, we were able to trace our roots back to the first African who was stolen from his homeland on the Mother Continent, chained, bound, and brought against his free will to North America. The story of his enslavement, as told in the book written by my Great Aunt Minnie Simons Williams, tells us that this ancestor was able to re-purchase his freedom and that of his wife and daughters. Unfortunately, due to the cruel system of slavery imposed by the “White Massas” (slave owners), he could not buy the freedom of his sons who continued to be bound to the plantations.
It is through my mother, aunts, and uncles telling this family history that I was able to free myself from the mental slavery imposed on all peoples by the racist, colonial or supremacy beliefs and attitudes of various “controlling masters” as well as corporate, government and organisational systems. I knew without a doubt that my forebear had paved the way to freedom; therefore, I was set free in my mind even before my birth.
On Anguilla, today, I find many of our young children not knowing the history of their families let alone their home country. When I’ve taught in classrooms, I sometimes test the knowledge of the students by asking if they know who James Ronald Webster is, or if they have heard of the Anguilla Revolution. You’d be surprised to know the small number of hands that were raised to answer the question.
Knowledge is empowering, so we must learn to teach our children from whence they came and how Anguillians fought to become separated from the Associated Statehood of St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla, or whatever titbits of history will inspire and encourage them to do better and achieve more successes in their youthful lives.
Change your mind and open the flow of prosperity
Another truth that I speak of – to many friends, family members and other persons whom I encounter on life’s path – is how changing our minds, to be more positive thinking in words, thoughts and speech, can profoundly shift our conscious awareness. It impacts our lives tremendously. With this kind of shift we allow ourselves to be open to opportunities for prosperity to flow forth.
We all know the old saying that “God does not like an ungrateful giver”. I’ve truly learned that when I give without expectation of reward, and when I am grateful for everything that I receive, then more abundance flows through my life. There’s also the adage of “giving thanks”. I give thanks daily to God even for the breath of waking up, or to be able to rest peacefully at night.
One of the major reasons, I believe, that some people have so much lack or want in their lives is that they do not give thanks for what they receive. As humans, we are constantly complaining about what we don’t have, and never seem to really appreciate what we do have, like a roof over our heads, food to eat, gas in the car, and so forth. If we would just give more gracious thanks then, may be, Jah would hear our wishes and we would be blessed more abundantly.
Often times, I speak of creating limits to our spending habits. We spend so much money on things that we don’t really need or want and aren’t satisfied with what we have. Too many persons I personally am acquainted with are caught up in the world of consumerism. They feel the need to buy the latest or the newest make and model of whatever items are on the market. Shopping for them has become an addiction replacing whatever is missing in their hearts and souls. The same is true with consuming food and beverages that do damage to our physical bodies’ health.
I can testify for myself, and from what I’ve witnessed happen with individuals, that when we work on the inner self and become satisfied with what’s on the inside of us, then there isn’t any need to seek it in the outer material world. When we become at peace with ourselves, whatever we buy is sufficient to fulfil our real needs and isn’t bought to fill a void that’s missing in our lives.
In so many ways, I’ve observed how we are mentally enslaved and how we’re training the younger generations to follow in our footsteps. Whether it’s bringing snacks for children to eat whilst attending church services that makes them pay attention to eating rather than focussing on worshipping the Lord; or speaking unkind words, spreading rumours and gossip about people when we don’t have any concrete evidence that what we say is the truth. These are ways in which we continue to be mentally enslaved because these actions have profound negative effects and consequences on everyone around us.
All of us can find room for improvement in how we deal with ourselves and with each other.
Recognise what we do that promotes freedom of mind and what keeps us mentally enslaved. Find better ways of expressing ourselves that are nurturing to us and to others. Examine our own actions. Listen carefully to words spoken and determine what is the truth. Speak the things we know to be true.
We must as always remember to be the instruments of change that we envision, and do what we can to move ourselves and our nation forward. May God’s divine grace continue to inspire us to free our minds from mental slavery!
Kay M. Ferguson is a free-spirited writer who creates word sounds to raise the conscious awareness of the Anguilla community. To link with Kay, e-mail her at anguillawriter@gmail.com. Send an e-message via www.facebook.com/kaymferguson or tweet @kaykayferguson.
