More than two centuries after thousands of enslaved Africans rose against the brutal plantation system in Demerara, the legacy of the 1823 Demerara Revolt remains one of the defining chapters in Guyana’s struggle for freedom.
But as Guyana marks the anniversary of that historic uprising, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament K. Sharma Solomon is blasting the Government for failing to give the revolt the recognition he says it deserves, warning that the lessons of the struggle are especially important at a time when concerns are growing about the protection of freedoms in contemporary Guyana.
The Demerara Revolt began on August 18, 1823, when thousands of enslaved Africans across more than 30 plantations rose against a system that denied them basic human rights and treated them as property.
Their demand was fundamentally about freedom.
The uprising spread rapidly across plantations along the East Coast of Demerara. While the revolt was initially largely peaceful, colonial authorities responded with overwhelming military force.
At Bachelor’s Adventure, British troops opened fire on the enslaved population. More than 200 people were killed, while hundreds of others were captured, imprisoned or executed.
Fifty alleged leaders were taken to Georgetown, tried and hanged. Their heads were subsequently severed and displayed on poles as a warning to others.
Quamina, one of the principal figures in the uprising, was hunted down and killed. His body was publicly displayed at Success plantation in an attempt to terrorise the enslaved population into submission.
Yet the brutality of the crackdown could not erase the significance of the revolt.
News of the uprising reverberated in Britain and helped expose the violent realities of slavery in Demerara. It strengthened the abolitionist movement and contributed to the growing pressure for an end to slavery throughout the British Empire.
Ten years later, slavery was abolished throughout most of the British Empire under the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, with emancipation taking effect in 1834.
For Solomon, the revolt therefore represents far more than an event in Guyana’s colonial history. It was part of the long struggle that helped advance the cause of freedom.
He said the failure of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture to properly mark the anniversary is particularly troubling.
“It is deeply troubling that on this historic anniversary, the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and the Minister responsible have failed to give this defining moment in our national history the recognition it deserves.”
Solomon said the omission raises broader questions about how the country defines and preserves its history.
“This is not a minor omission. It raises a serious question about what we understand culture to mean and whose history we are prepared to remember.”
He argued that the revolt should occupy a central place in the national consciousness, be taught in schools and be properly commemorated by the state and cultural institutions.
Solomon also took aim at what he described as a narrow understanding of culture, insisting that national culture must include the painful experiences that shaped Guyanese society.
“A Ministry of Culture cannot pick and choose the history it remembers. Culture is not merely music, dance, entertainment and festivals. Culture is memory. Culture is identity. Culture is the honest preservation of the experiences of our people, including the painful chapters that shaped the society we have become.”
His criticism comes against the backdrop of wider concerns about the state of democratic freedoms, accountability and the protection of rights in Guyana.
For Solomon, the history of the Demerara Revolt carries a contemporary warning: freedoms secured through the sacrifice of previous generations cannot simply be assumed to be permanent.
He said the Government cannot celebrate African heritage while failing to properly remember the Africans who fought and died for freedom on Guyanese soil.
“The Government cannot speak proudly about African heritage while remaining silent about the African men and women who fought and died for freedom on the very soil of Guyana.”
Solomon called on the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture to acknowledge the failure and apologise to people of African descent in Guyana, particularly the descendants of those who suffered and died during the uprising.
He stressed that the call was not about placing personal blame on present-day officials for atrocities committed more than two centuries ago, but about the responsibility of a modern state to preserve its history honestly.
“This is not about assigning personal guilt for crimes committed more than two centuries ago. It is about accepting the responsibility of a modern state to remember its history properly and to honour those upon whose sacrifices the freedoms of today were built.”
Solomon said the legacy of slavery, colonialism and the plantation system continues to shape Guyana, making remembrance particularly important.
“The past is never dead. It is not even past.”
He said the men and women who participated in the revolt did not know whether their actions would ultimately succeed, but they understood that slavery was fundamentally wrong.
“Those men and women did not know whether their struggle would succeed. They knew only that slavery was wrong, and they were prepared to stand for freedom.”
Solomon said Guyana owes the participants of the Demerara Revolt “remembrance, respect and truth” and maintained that the Ministry responsible for the nation’s culture must do more to preserve and honour that history.
The revolt’s enduring message, he said, is not simply that slavery was defeated, but that freedom itself has always required people willing to stand against oppression — and that every generation has a responsibility to protect the freedoms inherited from those who fought before them.
