-Hopetown soiree told
By Shabna Ullah
Guyanese from all parts of the country, some of whom were decked out in their African attire, turned up for the annual soiree at Hopetown on Thursday night to join in the re-enacting of the struggles of their ancestors.
Amid African drumming, Queh Queh and other dances, dramatic poems and a libation ceremony, persons who gathered at the old Fort Wellington School building were told that their “ancestors were not slaves; they were enslaved.”
Colleen Grant, a New York-based resident reminded the gathering of the struggles of their ancestors and said that “they did not come to the Americas willingly. They came bound in shackles… and were thrown in the bowels of ships as human cargo…”
She said they were “shackled together and packed like cattle on the slave-ship” and when they died they were tossed overboard. She is disappointed that despite what they went through a plaque or a monument was not erected to honour the ancestors.
Grant said too that a number of their ancestors died because of the “atrocious conditions” and that those who survived the dungeons in Ghana, Nigeria and “other known slave forts” had to endure further indignations.
Noting that the village of Hopetown was founded by the descendants of enslaved people of African descent”, she said the celebration of emancipation in the village started from the morning when slavery was abolished and that the traditions of the ancestors have been “upheld with pride.”
Grant along with her mother, Agnes Grant and three other siblings were part of a group that visited Ghana, Africa last year to celebrate Emancipation. They displayed a number of photos that depicted the various cultures in Africa.
As persons attended the cultural events which were also held at the Falcon Crest Disco in the village, many chose to line the road as they drank and danced to loud music emanating from sets.
Several stalls were set up with traditional African dishes such as cook-up, konkee, fufu, met-em-gee and cassava pone while other foods such bar-b-que and fried rice were also on sale.
East Canje
The event was also celebrated in other parts of Berbice with the East Canje Cultural Group hosting it at the Goed Bananen Land (GBL) ground for the first time.
A coordinator, Jackie Taylor Victor said the group plans to make it an annual affair. The event was organized so that residents would no longer have to travel to different parts of the country to be a part of the yearly celebration.
A candlelight parade and church service was held on Thursday evening in front of the Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company and the Guyana Power & Light buildings at Cumberland. Participants then proceeded to the GBL ground where a church service was held. Celebrants then relived African culture through drumming, story-telling, sharing jokes and reminiscing on the past.
The event was expected to continue yesterday from 10 am with a road show and parade – led by a Majorette group – from Cumberland Village, through Betsy Ground, then to the GBL ground for another cultural session
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African drumming, backed by a popular sound system was expected to be provided by Colin Grant and troupe.
Similar activities were held at Kildonan and other parts of the Corentyne, the Orange Chapel Congregational Church at Sandvort Village, West Canje and the All Saints Scots Church at Princess Elizabeth and Vryheid Road in New Amsterdam.
