MAAFA Remembered, Freedom Demanded

Today, October 12, 2025 African Guyanese will gather at the Seawall Bandstand to commemorate the African Holocaust—also known as the MAAFA, a Kiswahili word meaning “great disaster.” This solemn gathering is not merely a moment of remembrance; it is an assertion of identity, a reaffirmation of purpose, and a collective call to action.

The African Holocaust was one of the darkest chapters in human history. For over four centuries, from 1441 to 1888, millions of African men, women, and children were violently uprooted from their homelands, trafficked across the Atlantic, and enslaved under brutal systems of forced labour. Families were torn apart, languages and cultures suppressed, spiritual traditions outlawed, and lives destroyed. The transatlantic slave trade was more than a crime against individuals—it was a crime against humanity.

Yet, even in the depths of inhumanity, the African spirit refused to die. Resistance was constant—from the great rebellions led by Cuffy, Quamina, and Damon, to the quiet acts of defiance that preserved identity and dignity. The story of the African in Guyana is not one of passive suffering—it is one of unyielding resistance, resilience, and revolutionary transformation.

Following Emancipation in 1838, African Guyanese led what historians now recognise as one of the most visionary social movements in the Caribbean—the Village Movement. Through collective savings, pooling resources, and communal labour, they purchased land, built villages, founded schools and churches, and laid the foundations for modern Guyanese society. These were not merely acts of survival—they were acts of nation-building.

Yet, the legacy of slavery did not end with abolition. Its echoes remain embedded in our economic structures, political systems, and national psyche. Today, in an oil-rich Guyana with one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, African Guyanese remain disproportionately excluded from the benefits of this new wealth.

While the national GDP per capita has surged to over US$32,000, in African Guyanese communities it lingers around US$8,000. Ancestral lands, once purchased through hard-earned sacrifice, are now being sold, leased, or transferred to wealthy elites and foreign nationals—often with state complicity. Meanwhile, the contributions of African Guyanese to the very foundations of this nation are being erased under the veil of slogans like “One Guyana”—a phrase that rings hollow in the face of persistent inequality.

Freedom is not free. It was not granted in 1834 first through Amelioration and in 1838 with Emancipation, and it will not be handed down today. It was fought for in the cane fields, on the plantations, and in the courts of public opinion—and it must continue to be defended through unity, activism, and unrelenting vigilance.

The African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) is right to demand justice—land justice, economic justice, and constitutional reform. African Guyanese deserve a fair share of the nation’s wealth, recognition of their ancestral lands, and political inclusion that moves beyond the divisive and outdated winner-take-all governance system.

It is time for the report of the 2016–2017 Ancestral Land Commission to be made public. It is time for an Ancestral Rights Bill that protects the cultural and economic legacy of African Guyanese. It is time to declare an African Martyrs Day and teach the full history of this land—truthfully, unapologetically, and inclusively.

To the African Guyanese people- your history is not one of defeat, but of unmatched triumph. You are the descendants of survivors, builders, thinkers, warriors, and visionaries. The same blood that flowed through Cuffy and Damon flows through you. The same courage that built the Village Movement resides in your communities today. You are not marginal. You are foundational.

This commemoration is not only about mourning what was lost—it is about reclaiming what was built, what was stolen, and what must now be restored. It is about recognizing that the fight for dignity, respect, and equality is far from over.

So rise. Organise. Speak. Educate. Resist. Demand your rightful place—not at the margins of national development, but at its centre.

Honour your ancestors not just with flowers at the seawall, but with fearless commitment in your hearts. The future of Guyana must reflect the sacrifices of the past—and that future will only be just, if it is truly shared.

Because freedom is not a destination—it is a duty. And it requires, always, eternal vigilance.