The A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change in its Emancipation Day message called on all Guyanese to recognize that emancipation was not granted to enslaved Africans as a gift for them to enjoy for the first time. Rather, it was a restoration of rights to Africans who had already lived freely in their homelands before they were captured, enslaved, and shipped across the seas.
“Freedom and self-determination were therefore already birth rights of many Africans. The formal abolition of slavery in 1838 therefore must be properly and justifiably recognized as ACKNOWLEDGING AND RESTORING THAT EARLIER FREEDOM”, the statement read.
“Today marks the 184th anniversary of the abolition of chattel slavery, one of the world’s most dehumanizing systems of man by man. The APNU+AFC salutes all Guyanese, especially those of African descent for whom Emancipation Day holds landmark significance. We, therefore, join in the celebrations and commemorations across the country”, the statement said.
More, In The Ring.
