PRESS RELEASE: UCF Caribbean wants ‘Monument of Honor’ for enslaved ancestors in St. Eustatius

Photo: Ruins of the Waterfort (or fort Amsterdam) in which the slave house was located. In the background the Godet African burial ground

(Dutch version)

ST. EUSTATIUS / 23 December 2021 / -- Ubuntu Connected Front

Ubuntu Connected Front (UCF) Caribbean wants a ‘Monument of Honor’ in St. Eustatius for all African people who have ever set foot on St. Eustatius in the eras of slavery. Rather than focusing on the abolition of slavery, UCF wants a prominent and permanent memorial site where the spirit and strength of our ancestors can be honored. A place where we can recognize the crimes that were inflicted upon them and how their abuse by the colonial powers contributed to the economic power structure of the Dutch republic that the Kingdom of the Netherlands was built on. Kenneth Cuvalay, chairman of UCF Caribbean: “We would like the Monument to be a gathering point for memories, African traditional ceremonies and prayers, not just for the residents of St. Eustatius but for other Africans in the diaspora as well. Tens of thousands of African children, women and men have forcefully set foot on St. Eustatius during the trans-Atlantic and inter-island slave trade only to endure all horrors of slavery. We must give them the dignified respect they have earned but never received. 

St. Eustatius’ slavery past

St. Eustatius has a difficult relationship with its slavery past. Many cities in the Netherlands are now diving into history in search of traces of its slavery past. In St. Eustatius these traces are abundantly present. Not known by many, St. Eustatius was the largest transit port in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the inter-island slave trade in the Caribbean in the 18th century. In 2021, it seems like you are still walking around in colonial times with colonial images and names in the public spaces and with landmarks such as Fort Oranje, battery De Windt, a memorial for infamous Dutch colonizer Michiel de Ruyter and one for a former Queen. Also, the much-promoted historical fact of the first salute to the US in 1776 was given by a slave owner. Not one sign of recognition of the crimes that our ancestors endured is given. No wonder that SECAR and other archaeologists come to St. Eustatius and dishonor the graves of our ancestors (see protests against excavations https://www.change.org/LeaveOurAncestorsInPeace)

The role of government should be creating preconditions for rewriting the history of slavery of St. Eustatius and thus doing justice to our ancestors. Recognition is the first step. It is important to teach our children that they are descended from African warriors and survivors and that our history is full of struggle and resistance. The majority of the inhabitants of St. Eustatius are of African descent, but generally relate more to the Caribbean identity. UCF wants to create more awareness for the importance of their African roots and the impact of the slavery past on their present situation. St. Eustatius is still ruled as a colony and many people on the island live in poverty.

Family Heritage Project

Earlier this month, UCF started the Family Heritage project “Make the Connection” organized under the umbrella of the St. Eustatius African Burial Ground. It’s a community-based research project and the first volunteers have already registered. Cuvalay: “Telling our own story is important to replace the Eurocentric narrative. We don’t need Piet Hein in the school curriculum, we need Marcus Garvey. We don’t need Michiel de Ruyter, we need slave revolt leaders as Tula and Dupersoy, and so many more names of our African inventors and heroes which are never spoken of. In that regard, our prescriptive Eurocentric curriculum must be decolonized.”

One of the early discoveries of the Family heritage project is that the parents of the famous pan-Africanist Edward Wilmot Blyden were born on St. Eustatius. With the family trees of the participants, we are trying to make a connection to names of enslaved Africans in colonial archives. Eventually we want the names of all ancestors who were born before the abolition of slavery to be memorized on the monument”, says Cuvalay. Structural funding for research and education about our slavery past should be part of the memorial. A lot more research into our history needs to be done and we want to do that from an African perspective.

Monument project proposal

UCF is working on a community-based inventory survey on the realization of the Monument. The Old Market in Oranjetown would make a symbolic location for the Monument as this was the place where the sale auctions of our ancestors took place. How the Monument should look like is not in our plans, that is something for the community to discuss and decide on. What we do include in our proposal is to raise awareness for the deplorable condition of the ruins of the Waterfort (fort Amsterdam) in which our ancestors were housed before transshipment to the surrounding islands. It is threatened by erosion and the government needs to make resources available for its protection. The ‘Memorial of Honor’ and the Waterfort together with the Slave Path would make a powerful tribute, a guide and inspiration to us as African descendant community. The struggle of our ancestors is not yet over though. Not until we regain our full sovereignty, restoring our dignity and full reparations. We people of African descent must now accept and continue with responsibility the moral duty of the struggle our ancestors are waged as their legacy.”

[Note: the Slave Path is a steep cobbled road up from the old Lower Town to the Old Market]
###

Information for the Editor

Contact: Kenneth Cuvalay, chairman UCF Caribbean,

Email: steustatiusafricanburialground/at/gmail.com

St. Eustatius African Burial Ground Alliance

The St. Eustatius African Burial Ground Alliance protests the excavations of their ancestors at an 18th-century African burial ground in St. Eustatius (see https://www.change.org/LeaveOurAncestorsInPeace).

St. Eustatius slavery past

In the 18th century, St. Eustatius was the largest transit port in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the slave trade between the Caribbean islands. The United Nations and the European Parliament have condemned the transatlantic slave trade and slavery as a crime against humanity. The Dutch government has not.

About Ubuntu Connected Front (UCF)

Ubuntu Connected Front is a political party in the Netherlands founded in 2017. It participated in the 2021 Parliamentary election and although it did not receive enough votes to win a seat in the House of Representatives, it was the most popular party in St. Eustatius, receiving 50,8% of the votes. Motto: “Equality is a human right, not a privilege”. UCF focuses on equal rights for people of African descent.

Ubuntu
Ubuntu means "humanity" in African Bantu languages. It is often translated as "I am because we are", or "humanity towards others". It is Ubuntu Connected Front’s core belief that all people have rights, which promotes equality of treatment and eliminates marginalization and deprivation.

Black Agenda. 

The 'Black Agenda' of Ubuntu Connected Front (UCF) can be found in the "Manifest for NL Transformation" at the UCF website (Chapter 5).

The Black Agenda consists of three pillars:

1. Recognition concerns the impact of our slavery past as a crime against humanity. 
2. Justice is about historical restoration of rights. 
3. Development aims to achieve equal development opportunities for everyone.
   

THE DAILY HERALD Islands | UCF wants monument for enslaved African ancestors, Wednesday December 22, 2021

 

PERSBERICHT: UCF Caribbean wil 'Monument of Honor' op St. Eustatius voor Afrikaanse voorouders die slachtoffer waren van slavernij

Foto: Ruïnes van het ‘Waterfort’ (ook wel fort Amsterdam genoemd) aan de zuidwestkust van St. Eustatius waarin het slavenhuis was gevestigd. Op de achtergrond de resten van de Godet-begraafplaats

 

(English version)


ST. EUSTATIUS / 23 december 2021 / -- Ubuntu Connected Front


Ubuntu Connected Front (UCF) Caribbean wil een ‘Monument of Honor’ op St. Eustatius voor alle Afrikanen die ooit gedwongen voet op St. Eustatius hebben gezet in tijden van slavernij. Het ‘Monument of Honor’ moet een prominente en permanente herdenkingsplaats worden waar de geest en kracht van onze voorouders geëerd kunnen worden en de misdaden die hen zijn aangedaan erkend worden door de Nederlandse regering als een misdaad tegen de menselijkheid. De economische machtsstructuur van de Nederlandse republiek is voor een groot deel op deze misdaden gebouwd. Kenneth Cuvalay, voorzitter van UCF Caribbean: “We willen dat het Monument een verzamelpunt is voor herinneringen, Afrikaanse traditionele ceremonies en gebeden, niet alleen voor de inwoners van St. Eustatius maar ook voor andere Afrikanen in de diaspora. Tienduizenden Afrikaanse kinderen, vrouwen en mannen zijn tijdens de trans-Atlantische slavenhandel en de slavenhandel tussen de omliggende eilanden met geweld aan wal gebracht op St. Eustatius om daarna alle verschrikkingen van de slavernij te moeten doorstaan. Wij moeten ze het waardige respect geven dat ze hebben verdiend, maar nooit hebben gekregen.”


Slavernijverleden St. Eustatius

St. Eustatius heeft een moeizame relatie met haar slavernijverleden. Veel steden in Nederland duiken de laatste jaren de geschiedenis in op zoek naar sporen van hun slavernijverleden. Op St. Eustatius zijn die sporen letterlijk overal. Onbekend bij velen is dat St. Eustatius in de 18e eeuw door haar centrale ligging de grootste doorvoerhaven was van het westelijk halfrond. Het speelde een belangrijke rol in de trans-Atlantische slavenhandel, maar zeker ook in de slavenhandel die plaatsvond tussen de Caribische eilanden onderling. Anno 2021 lijkt het alsof je op het eiland nog in de koloniale tijd rondloopt en zie je overal koloniale sporen in de openbare ruimte: een mooi opgeknapt fort Oranje en batterij De Windt, een gedenkplaat voor kolonisator Michiel de Ruyter, een grote zuil voor een voormalig koningin en de breed uitgedragen aandacht voor de zogenaamde ‘First Salute’ uitgebracht aan de VS door een slavenhouder. Er is geen enkel zichtbaar teken van erkenning van de misdaden die onze voorouders zijn aangedaan. Geen wonder dat SECAR en andere archeologen hier menen hun gang te kunnen gaan (zie protest tegen de opgravingen).

De rol van de overheid is om randvoorwaarden te scheppen om de slavernijgeschiedenis van St. Eustatius te herschrijven en daarmee recht te doen aan de rol die onze voorouders in die geschiedenis hebben gespeeld. Erkenning is de eerste stap. Het is belangrijk om onze kinderen te leren dat ze afstammen van Afrikaanse strijders en dat onze geschiedenis vol strijd en verzet tegen de slavernij is geweest. Dat ze heel trots mogen zijn op hun Afrikaanse voorouders. In dat opzicht moet ons prescriptieve eurocentrische curriculum gedekoloniseerd worden. We hebben Piet Hein niet nodig in het schoolcurriculum, we hebben Marcus Garvey nodig. We hebben Michiel de Ruyter niet nodig, we hebben Tula en Dupersoy nodig en zoveel meer namen van helden uit onze Afrikaanse geschiedenis in de Caribbean waarover nooit wordt gesproken.


Erfgoedproject familienamen

UCF is eerder deze maand gestart met het Family Heritage project “Make the Connection”, georganiseerd onder de paraplu van de St. Eustatius African Burial Ground Alliance. Het is een community-based onderzoeksproject waarbij met de stambomen van de deelnemers een connectie wordt gemaakt met namen van slaafgemaakte Afrikanen in koloniale archieven. Uiteindelijk willen we dat alle gevonden namen van voorouders die zijn geboren in slavernij op het monument komen te staan”, zegt Cuvalay. “Structurele financiering van onderzoek en educatie moet onderdeel zijn van het herdenkingsmonument. Er is nog heel veel te onderzoeken over ons slavernijverleden en de doorwerking ervan in het heden en wij willen dat vanuit ons perspectief doen.”


Projectvoorstel monument

UCF werkt aan een community-based draagvlakonderzoek voor de realisatie van het Monument. De Old Market in het centrum van Oranjestad zou een symbolische locatie kunnen zijn voor het Monument aangezien dit de plaats was waar de veilingen van onze voorouders plaatsvonden. Hoe het Monument eruit moet zien, staat niet in onze plannen, dat is iets voor de gemeenschap om te bespreken en over te beslissen. Wat we wel in ons voorstel opnemen is om aandacht te vragen voor de deplorabele staat van de ruïnes van het Waterfort (fort Amsterdam) aan het strand van de Oranjebaai waarin onze voorouders werden ondergebracht om verkocht en doorgevoerd te worden naar omringende eilanden. Het wordt bedreigd door erosie en de overheid zou fondsen moeten vrijmaken voor de bescherming ervan. Het is een belangrijk monument binnen ons culturele erfgoed. Het 'Monument of Honor' en het Waterfort zouden samen met het Slave Path (een kleine steile weg omhoog van de oude Benedenstad tot aan de Old Market) een krachtig eerbetoon vormen, een gids en inspiratie zijn voor ons als Afrikaanse nazaten. De strijd van onze voorouders is echter nog niet gestreden. We zijn er pas als we onze volledige soevereiniteit herwinnen, onze waardigheid hebben hersteld en volledige ‘reparations’ hebben gerealiseerd. Wij, Afrikanen in de diaspora, hebben de verantwoordelijkheid en de morele plicht om de door onze voorouders gevoerde strijd als hun nalatenschap te aanvaarden en voort te zetten.


###

Informatie voor de redactie

Contact

Kenneth Cuvalay, voorzitter UCF Caribbean

Email: steustatiusafricanburialground/at/gmail.com

Foto 

Ruïnes van het ‘Waterfort’ (ook wel fort Amsterdam genoemd) aan de zuidwestkust van St. Eustatius waarin het slavenhuis was gevestigd. Op de achtergrond de resten van de Godet-begraafplaats

St. Eustatius African Burial Ground Alliance  

De St. Eustatius African Burial Ground Alliance protesteert tegen de opgravingen van hun voorouders op een 18e-eeuwse Afrikaanse begraafplaats in St. Eustatius (zie https://www.change.org/LeaveOurAncestorsInPeace).

Slavernijverleden St. Eustatius

St. Eustatius was in de 18e eeuw de grootste doorvoerhaven in de trans-Atlantische slavenhandel en de slavenhandel tussen de Caribische eilanden onderling. De Verenigde Naties en het Europees Parlement hebben de trans-Atlantische slavenhandel en slavernij veroordeeld als een misdaad tegen de menselijkheid. De Nederlandse regering niet. 

Over Ubuntu Connected Front (UCF)
Ubuntu Connected Front is een politieke partij in Nederland, opgericht in 2017. Ze nam deel aan de parlementsverkiezingen van 2021 en hoewel ze niet genoeg stemmen kreeg om een ​​zetel in de Tweede Kamer te behalen, was ze de populairste partij op St. Eustatius, met 50,8% van de stemmen.

Ubuntu
Ubuntu betekent "menselijkheid" in Afrikaanse Bantoetalen. Het wordt vaak vertaald als "Ik ben omdat wij zijn", of "de mensheid tegenover anderen". Het is de kernovertuiging van Ubuntu Connected Front dat alle mensen gelijke rechten hebben, wat gelijke behandeling bevordert en marginalisering en ontbering elimineert. “Gelijkwaardigheid is een mensenrecht, geen privilege”.

Black Agenda

De 'Black Agenda' van Ubuntu Connected Front (UCF) is te vinden in het "Manifest voor NL Transformation" op de UCF-website (Hoofdstuk 5).

De ‘Black Agenda’ bestaat uit drie pijlers afgeleid zijn van de missie van het Internationaal VN Decennium voor mensen van Afrikaanse afkomst 2015-2024:

1. Erkenning betreft de impact van ons slavernijverleden als misdaad tegen de menselijkheid. 
2. Rechtvaardigheid gaat over historisch rechtsherstel. 
3. Ontwikkeling streeft naar gelijke ontwikkelingsmogelijkheden voor iedereen.
   

Deception on St. Eustatius

As published in the section "Opinion" of The Daily Herald, St. Maarten, Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Dear Editor,

On April, 21st 2021 a new excavation started on the terrain of the airport of Statia. In earlier excavations near the airport the archeologists of SECAR found many remains and artefacts. So it was no surprise when after a short time they found graves of enslaved African people. Others could have told them before, based on archival research, but SECAR played the farce of surprise.

Statia Government kept on promoting the dig with many press releases and extra money. The white hired so-called experts got paid above and/or replacing their normal salaries. The Statian people of African descent got very angry. A large scale signatures campaign was launched and many people give their support to it. Normally and understandable, because for the white archeologists the desecration was only usual when the graves were of non-white people. Not once have they looted graves of white people! State secretary Knops visiting the grave site of ancestors of the people he is said to hate, didn’t do any good either.

SECAR tried to lure the population in a town hall meeting (June 21st), but that became an enormous disaster. Now more and more people were speaking out against SECAR, the various named archeologists, the excavation, but also against the Dutch controlled government.

Protests were also heard on other islands against the colonial controlled excavations of the white Dutch, British, French and/or US scientists. To prevent further polarization or even the activation of something that might be as dormant as the Quill, an open rebellion, the advisers of the Statia Government, among others the wife of former government commissioner Van Rij and the Leiden University professors of archeology, advised to pause the diggings, and find a plan to deceive the population. Their goal was that SECAR c.s. could continue grabbing profits over the skeletons of African descent enslaved people.
At July, 14th, eventually the government had to stop the diggings, but it was exactly at the moment of the start of hurricane season, so not very principle.

The advisors and the ministry of Interior in Europe had ordered that a commission should be installed. Typically a Dutch civil servants solution to stretch time and to downplay the anger. By the end of July the so-called St. Eustatius Heritage Research Commission (SHRC) was installed by the government to find a plan to get opinions of the population streamlined to fit within the government’s plans. Not that the government would follow any of these population’s opinions, but merely to give it the image of cooperation and hand reaching. This commission was composed of all foreign so-called experts, and only a few well chosen, Statian-born people were allowed to be the representing lightning rods. If something went wrong the president of the commission, Mr. Haviser, would use them as scapegoats. Yes, the same one who dares to call the kettle black in regard to racism!

It was, so was written in the government press release, the intention that no excavation should be executed before a report of this commission was discussed with the population.
But several things interfered with that apparent hollow promise of Ms. Alida Francis, government commissioner of state secretary Mr. Knops: 

• A point has been reached where all leading positions in the St. Eustatius civil servants organization are full of expats, and Ms. Claudia Toet, also parachuted by Mr. Knops, and her gang of helpers are therefore in full control of all developments on the island.
• Very fast, many development plans have been started to prevent that any political power change in European Netherlands could undo what’s already started. The money flow to St. Eustatius has about doubled that of the former normal budget to arrange this!
• And apparently the different archeologists were in dire straits and needed money, so Mr. Haviser, chairman of the People’s Deceiving Commission anticipated any report or advises by giving his permission to his friends to continue digging on a nearby location. He, who did excavations himself on St. Eustatius, and then, so-called independently telling his also Leiden-University friends that they may continue. As is known broadly, all archeology profit centers on the 6 “Dutch” Caribbean islands are founded by the University of Leiden, who still is in control.
  

Already earlier, in August 2021, another, this time underwater archeology survey was done. And here, again, another government funded entity was used to give permission: STENAPA.

Now it’s almost full circle: 

• Den Haag / Statia Government plans to execute the Statia Spatial Development Plan; 
• STENAPA or the SHRC who are used to give permission or a declaration of no objection; 
• SECAR destroying graves and digging up remains; 
• Leiden and other universities as modern body snatchers, breaking down bones; 
• And various foreign companies profiting from execution of these development plans.
  

But it does not stop here. Someone, some organization or business is helping hiding the looted excavated human remains from their African descendants. Digital forensic investigation will reveal who is guilty of this.

On November 28th 2021, SECAR started another dig near the airport. Again human remains can be found. And as so many thousands of enslaved people of African descent have died on the plantations around the terrain of the airport, it wouldn’t be surprising if the grave robbers did it again. And we all know for sure that the looters will keep it secret this time!
This is unacceptable! Stop the dig!

Heritage on St. Eustatius is not owned by any foreign expert or scientific mercenary. All heritage on the island belongs to the population. Any desecration of graves of non-white people must be seen as an act of race discrimination!

Jack Theuns

Ally of the St. Eustatius African Burial Ground Alliance