Category Archives: colonialism

GUYANA: 132 CARMICHAEL STREET — WEEKENDS

May 14, 2023 – By Stanley Greaves

FRIDAY

Today was payday. Waterfront workers received wages from the pay office of companies. My Father’s was Sandbach Parker Ltd. Sometimes when he was working elsewhere I had to take his tag, a piece of round copper stamped with a number to receive his pay. Men in the line would ask questions about my identity then send me to the head of it.

Women consorts and common- in- law wives would be waiting outside to secure the household money. Most men usually went to rumshops to celebrate the end of a work week. Huston’s Rum Shop and Bar was conveniently situated in Robb Street between Main and Water Streets near Sandbach Parker. When my Father came home I would examine his pocket. If the rounded end of a big can of sardines or salmon in tomato sauce revealed itself I knew that he had earned twelve dollars, a good week. I eagerly awaited Sunday morning.

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SANKOFA Pilgrimage to Barbados Set for May 6-13 2024

Liberia Map

Barbados Today-

Nearly 160 years after hundreds of Barbadians travelled and settled in Liberia, a group of diaspora and home-based Liberians are preparing for a historic pilgrimage to the Caribbean Island bearing significant historical ties to Liberia.

Barbados Map

Under the umbrella of the SANKOFA PILGRIMAGE TO BARBADOS, the trip is being organised by Ambassador Llewellyn Witherspoon in collaboration with the Barbados government, 159 years after the forebears departed Barbados for Liberia. It is a product of dreams of Barbadian-Liberians in Crozierville and Prime Minister Mia Mottley to “revitalize the deep historical ties between Barbados and Africa.”

Liberia has produced two presidents of Barbadian ancestry, including President Arthur Barclay, who, as a boy, spent the first 11 years of his life in Barbados, and his cousin, Edwin Barclay, who was born in Liberia.                  Continue reading

Rockefeller Foundation – Fireside Chat with the Prime Minister of Barbados and UK’s Minister of FCDO

RACE and Society — How secrets affect families

Walter seated surrounded by family (Credit: Alexandria Gamlin)

Many families have a hidden past that is often never spoken about – Cagney Roberts explores what impact these can have after his friend Alexandra Gamlin revealed her own family’s secret.
Last year, my friend Alex came to visit me in London from the US. We met over 10 years ago in New York City: I am a Black British Londoner, and Alex is originally from Michigan. During her visit, we talked about our careers, our families – and family secrets.                        Continue reading

Guyana: How Did My European Ancestors Migrate to Guyana? – Rohlehr family

Henry Louis Gates Jr. and NEHGS Researcher Meaghan Siekman

Dear Professor Gates:  RE the Rohlehr family

I am a first-generation American whose family hails from Guyana (and, further back, Germany). My father has a German last name: Rohlehr (pronounced “Rohlair”). I would like to know more about my ancestors in that line who first came to Guyana from either Germany or the Netherlands. 

The story goes that during the Bismarck era in Germany, my ancestor Gertrude Rohlehr had seven sons. Six were killed in war, so she sent her remaining son, Swartz, away from Germany to save him. He made his way to New Amsterdam, Guyana, from Holland, where he ended up having two sons, Peter and John, with an unknown African woman.                    Continue reading

WORLD ECONOMICS: Globalization is About to Collapse. Here’s Why – Video

WORLD ECONOMICS: Globalization is About to Collapse. Here’s Why – Video

No economic model can compete with Globalization. It has lifted billions out of poverty, virtually eliminated famine, and provided untold riches that our ancestors could only dream of. Despite the pros and cons of globalization, it is doomed to fail.

Chapters: 00:00 – What Is Globalization? 01:24 – History of Globalization 02:38 – Modern Globalization 05:34 – Globalization After the Cold War 07:35 – Pros and Cons of Globalization 13:11 – Anti-globalization in the US 16:48 – Fragility of Supply Chains 18:57 – Geopolitical Pressures on Globalization 25:17 – Population Collapse.

AFRICA: Ghana grants citizenship to African Americans & Caribbeans as part of initiative

Ghana grants citizenship to African Americans & Caribbeans as part of beyond the return initiative

Ghana grants citizenship to African Americans & Caribbeans as part of beyond the return initiative. Ghana has granted citizenship to several African Americans and Afro Caribbeans as part of the country beyond the return initiative to attract resettlement of Africa descendants. In 2019, Ghana successfully hosted the Year of return with a raft of activities, at home and abroad, to encourage the descendants of those who were forcibly sent into slavery to return home to Africa.

COMMENTS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNW0sIaBl2g

 SPORTS: FOOTBALL: Pelé: Why black Brazilians like me mourn the King

 By Malu Cursino –   BBC News – Sports

Brazil and the world are grieving, and many of us mourn an idol we never saw on the pitch.

Being 23 years old, I was not around during the start, middle, or even the end of his glowing football career. But that does not matter. Pelé was and always will be a household name.

Growing up in Rio de Janeiro, a city of exuberance and vibrancy, football played a crucial role in our life.

Maracanã, where Pelé scored his thousandth goal, was emblematic of my day-to-day routine until I moved to the UK, aged 11.

We were always nearby. The buzz and frenzy during match days could be felt across the city. Traffic would be slower, restaurants busier, and the streets much louder.

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Caribbean: How Haiti and the Dominican Republic became two worlds

HISTORY: Patrick Dargan – Guyana’s original non-White politician

By Nigel Westmaas – December 11, 2022 – Stabroek News  Patrick Dargan

Patrick Dargan is accredited as Guyana’s first ‘formal’ non-white politician to occupy one of the highest rungs of government under the British colonial order, namely the Combined Court.

Described as “the most dominant and fearless politician in his era” and celebrated as “Tribune of the People” and “national hero,” Dargan epitomised the era and the struggle to break the barriers of institutional racism amid a colonial order defined by the aristocracy of sugar. Described variously as a ‘Creole of mixed blood’, ‘mixed’ or black lawyer,

Dargan became prominent, according to Walter Rodney (1981), after the political gains of the 1891 constitution, which gave “public spirited colonists their opportunity”  and  opened the possibilities for future black and brown (and mixed race) political aspirants.     

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