A large cross-section of the Anguillian community gathered at the historic Ebenezer Chapel in the Valley on Friday 15th July for the UWI Distinguished Lecture by University Director of the UWI’s Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) and Member of the United Nation’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Professor Verene Shepherd.
The Lecture, “Honouring Our Ancestors: Gender, Memorialization & the Reparatory Justice Movement in the Caribbean” marked the launch of activities for the 186th anniversary of the Ebenezer Chapel and the commemoration of Emancipation 2016, and was the fourth in the IGDS’ 2016 Lecture Series. The Series that began in March and will continue until December, is intended to guide the region in imaging new social possibilities and fresh ways of thinking through the old challenges of social injustice and gender inequity, as well as to introduce Caribbean people to the prevailing gender discourses.
Professor Shepherd who is a Vice Chair of the CARICOM Reparation Commission mandated by Heads of Government in 2013, sought to encourage Caribbean people to be gender sensitive in the icons selected for honouring and memorialization and to ensure that male activists were not elevated above female activists, whose stellar contributions to Caribbean freedom are often buried in deep layers of ignorance and distortion. This reminder was particularly timely as the CARICOM region approaches another Emancipation celebration on 1st August.
After cataloguing the historical tragedies and brutal treatment experienced by both enslaved men and women in Anguilla and the Caribbean, Professor Shepherd appealed for women in particular (since many men were already on board), to lobby Europe for reparatory justice on behalf of these ancestors. She was keen to provide justification for the reparatory justice movement and to emphasise that reparation for native genocide, African enslavement and colonialism was a right and not an act of begging.
Professor Shepherd highlighted the CARICOM 10 Point Action Plan for Reparatory Justice that includes the establishment of cultural institutions, addressing the public health crisis, and illiteracy eradication and appealed for Anguillians to join the request for the return of its share of the £20 million paid by Britain to the enslavers at the time of Emancipation. The enslavers demanded and received compensation for their loss of “property”, the UWI Professor of Social History pointed out. She noted that according to the University College London’s database and analyses provided by Dr. Nick Draper and Dr. Ahmed Reid, Anguilla’s enslavers claimed £35,669 in 1834 (£25,500,000 at 2011 values) and payment went to such enslavers as Deborah Susannah Hodge (£1.6M in 2011 equivalency), Mary Gumbs (£1.4 in 2011 equivalency), Benjamin Gumbs Hodge (£1.8M at 2011 value) and Rev. Thomas Harrison (£1.8M in 2011 equivalency).
She concluded her lecture by urging Anguillians to stand up for rights and social justice, including gender justice and quoted from South African Desmond Tutu who once said: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”
Professor Shepherd’s presentation was broadcast live by three of the island’s radio stations, blended text with music from conscious reggae artistes converted to the cause of reparatory justice, including Jamaican artiste “Mr. Perfect” and the large and receptive audience responded with not one, but two standing ovations.
The evening’s programme was chaired by Rev. Dr. Wycherley Gumbs, Superintendent Minister of the Methodist Church on Anguilla and included musical and poetry presentations by the Ebenezer Men’s Fellowship, T’arah Niles, Oluwakemi Linda Banks, Lena Gumbs and Devon Brewster. Manager for the UWI BOT Sites with responsibility for Anguilla, Dr. Phyllis Fleming-Banks, introduced Professor Shepherd and also presented her with copies of “Anguilla’s Battle for Freedom: 1967-1969” by Colville Petty and Nat Hodge and “Bless Our Forebears” by Colville Petty, courtesy of the local historian and UWI Alumnus. In his vote of thanks, Circuit Steward Mr. Sanford Richardson noted that it was fitting that such a historic lecture was delivered at the Ebenezer Chapel and formed part of the activities to commemorate the anniversary and honour the enslaved ancestors who had completed the building of the Chapel more than 186 years ago.
The UWI Open Campus Anguilla is expressing thanks to the Methodist Circuit Anguilla, the Chief Minister’s Office and Minister/Ministry with responsibility for Gender Affairs, the Department of Immigration, La Vue, the Media and the Anguillian public at large for the warm support of the Lecture and other activities during Professor Shepherd’s visit.
– Press Release
