3/3/2023 0 Comments Music binder pro 3.5If you choose to do so, we urge you to start with an apology and recognition of the need for atonement and reparations. You therefore have the unique opportunity to redefine the relationship between the British Monarchy and the people of Jamaica. You, who may one day lead the British Monarchy, are direct beneficiaries of the wealth accumulated by the Royal family over centuries, including that stemming from the trafficking and enslavement of Africans. We will also remember and celebrate our freedom fighters, including our National Heroes, who bravely fought against British tyrannical rule and abominable human rights abuses. We nonetheless celebrate the many achievements of great Jamaicans who rejected negative, colonial self-concepts and who self-confidently succeeded against tremendous odds. We are saddened that more progress has not been made given the burden of our colonial inheritance. ![]() ![]() We will, however, celebrate 60 years of freedom from British colonial domination. We, therefore, will not participate in your Platinum Jubilee celebration! We have not forgotten! As Cameron correctly noted: “ these wounds run very deep.” We still await an apology for the offensive and insensitive statements. Many of us were outraged and demanded an apology through several open letters by former PM PJ Patterson, Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, and University of Technology, Jamaica professionals, as well as newspaper articles, including one by Dr Henley Morgan. In fact, on Septemformer Prime Minister (PM) David Cameron addressed a joint sitting of both houses of the Jamaican Parliament, and told us to “move on from this painful legacy,” merely acknowledging the “horrors of slavery” and asserting British leadership in the abolition of slavery. During her 70 years on the throne, your grandmother has done nothing to redress and atone for the suffering of our ancestors that took place during her reign and/or during the entire period of British trafficking of Africans, enslavement, indentureship and colonialization. Her ascension to the throne, in February 1952, took place 14 years after the 1938 labour uprisings against inhumane working/living conditions and treatment of workers painful legacies of plantation slavery, which persist today. We see no reason to celebrate 70 years of the ascension of your grandmother to the British throne because her leadership, and that of her predecessors, have perpetuated the greatest human rights tragedy in the history of humankind. We also note that your visit is part of the celebrations to mark the 70th Anniversary (Platinum Jubilee) of the Coronation of your grandmother and the 60th Anniversary of Jamaica’s Independence.
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