Denny: Mark Nelson’s removal with celebration

General Secretary of the Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration David Denny wants the day Lord Nelson’s statue is moved from National Heroes Square to be recognised as a day of ‘Black Resistance Against All Forms of Exploitation’.

He made the call on Wednesday, as he and other representatives of local Pan African organisations held a press conference to discuss the significance of the November 16 removal of the controversial statue.

Denny said Barbadians should come together on that day to celebrate the occasion.

“We want to turn it into a day of black resistance against all forms of exploitation. We want the people of Barbados to come out and to participate in the process to remove Lord Nelson from our National Heroes Square. We want them to dress in black, so that they can identify and stand in solidarity with this process,” he said.

“We want people that cannot make it to our National Heroes Square to celebrate the removal of Nelson, from right there in their communities. They can dress in black, stay in their communities, beat pan and party, and celebrate this removal because it has been a very long struggle by our forefathers.”

Chairman of the Pan African Coalition of Organisations Onkphra Wells also welcomed the announcement of the removal of what he said was an object of “oppression” that had for far too long been allowed to stay in the capital city.

However, he said this step should not be the last, and contended that Government and other stakeholders should reclaim other important landmarks on the island.

“What about the national burial grounds at Newton? What about the burial grounds at Fontabelle? What about the burial ground at Carlisle Bay car park, plastered over by tar and concrete? When the slave ships came, all the slaves that were sick or were dead, they built a mass grave at Carlisle and they dumped hundreds of people into that hole. That space remains there, haunting those who can understand the tremendous damage, hurt, and disrespect that has been done to our people. So, the removal of Nelson must be the continuation of us paying respect to those centres where our ancestors are still waiting for the proper transition from this plane to the next,” Wells said.”

Meantime, Denny thanked Black Lives Matterdemonstrators who took to the streets in June to protest systemic racism.

During that protest, it was suggested that Nanny Grigg, a slave who helped plan the Bussa Rebellion in 1816, was a suitable replacement for Nelson in National Heroes Square.

“I think it’s a very good idea that came from the youth during the demonstrations,” Denny said. (SB)