Sylvia Wynter's Dream

The Caribbean was built on the backs of the enslaved and indentured labourers. I am sure that our ancestors had to be tough and aggressive in order to survive their rigorous daily routines and their militant enslavers. There is no doubt slavery has caused trauma which has been passed from generation to generation and continues to trickle down today in various aspects of our lives. I think it is time we learn new behaviours. I’m not saying to forget that slavery happened, and to forget the traumas inflicted on our people, but I think there are efforts we can make to let go of some of the negativity that our inherited trauma has caused. As Marcus Garvey said, we must “emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind.” It’s no easy feat, nevertheless, we must forget. Forget aggression, forget how to hold on to trauma and forget the colonizers words that nothing black is good. Forget the people and the words that say Creole is broken English for the uneducated and poor. Belizean Kriol is the language of our people – the language that praises our rich cultural diversity and God given land.

Let’s liberate ourselves as Bob Marley encourages us to do in one of my favourite songs Redemption Song.