See statement below:
The Ethnic Relations Commission, (ERC), extends Emancipation greetings to all Guyanese at home and the diaspora in observing another anniversary commemorating the end of slavery.
The ERC, with its task to promote national harmony, contemplates that in 2021, one hundred and eighty-three years after Emancipation, Guyanese of African descent can reflect on the sanctity and right to freedom; an entitlement of all humankind.
From the ships at sea transporting their chained human cargo to a life of privation and hardship on the plantations, the ancestral experience remained imbued with the courage to change and shape the future for a better existence. The rebellions and the consequences are graphic memorials of that yearning.
Stripped of their identities and cultural baggage, they endured the challenges to re-discover self and value as freedmen. It is that perennial resolve and desire that must remain throughout from every commemoration to the next. The initial foundations of the colonial state were laid by the sacrifices of the bondsmen, not omitting contributions made later by other compatriots to the diverse society.
The ERC encourages all during this commemoration, and in the midst of the pandemic, to extend their hand of friendship and brotherhood to neighbours virtually, as a show of appreciation for that inevitable, memorable event – the abolition of slavery.
It paved the way for the future assembly of more peoples with a repository of unique cultures to share and thrive in one multi-ethnic Guyana. Happy Emancipation Anniversary to all from the management and staff of the Ethnic Relations Commission!
