At 11 minutes past 11am on November 11 2014 a two minutes silenced was observed at Brixton’s Windrush Square in remembrance of Afrikan soldiers that died in Britain’s world wars. The observance was part of the unveiling of the temporary installation the “African & Caribbean War Veterans Memorial Monument” at the Black Cultural Archives, also in Brixton. At the unveiling Elder Gus John, associate professor of education and honorary fellow of the Institute of Education, University of London, and Director of Gus John Consultancy Limited, delivered an address that included the following words:
“We are gathered here today, not to glorify war… rather, it is to ensure that Britain does not succeed in erasing from history the brutal fact that despite the enslavement of Africans, despite the fact that only 60 years after the end of enslavement of Africans on plantations in the West Indies, some 16,000 West Indians were persuaded to join the British West Indies Regiment and risk life and limb in the killing fields of Europe.”
Afrikan regiments that fought in these wars included: Nigerian Marine Department, Trinidad Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, African Carriers, Porters, & Labour Corps, Gambia Regiment, Gold Coast Regiment, Nigeria Regiments, Sierra Leone Regiment, King’s African Rifles, Trinidad & St Vincent C Company, Grenada & Barbados D Company, Uganda Battalions, Somaliland Camel Corps and the West Indies Auxiliary Territorial Service, to name a few.
However, there is a danger that aspects of this history may indeed be erased. As indicated above the memorial is only temporary and if enough funds are not raised by the end of Mosiah (Aug) 2015 it will be sold off the highest bidder at auction – who will do with it what they will. A sum of £27,000 is required of which £3,315 has been raised by 117 people in 9 months via the http://www.gofundme.com/nubianjakmemorial website.
Laudable as the courage of these Afrikan men and women that made the ultimate sacrifice for the British Empire, there are alternative views. One of these that given that these sacrifices were made for Britain, it should be paid for by the UK government. As Prof. John asserts: The British state should pay for this monument and should ensure that there is one such in Docklands, in Cardiff, in Manchester, in Liverpool and in Glasgow. The Nubian Jak Community Trust should not have to fund this creation, whether by crowd funding or any other means… As such, it should be erected permanently on the green opposite the Houses of Parliament, preferably with a finger of indictment pointing straight at the palace of Westminster.”
This is a train of thought that also reaches into the Mary Seacole memorial debate, as columnist for The Voice Dotun Adebayo suggests: “So when a well-meaning group such as the Mary Seacole Appeal begs for funds to build a permanent memorial to the nurse at St Thomas’s Hospital in London I, for one, feel queasy about contributing. I feel it is the British army and the British state that the appeal should be aimed at. Not black people. It is the army and state who should feel that they owe this ‘black’ woman a posthumous ‘debt’. It is not us the sons and daughters of Africa who should feel guilty about not being able to raise the tens of thousands such a permanent memorial in the form of a statue would cost. It is the prime minister and his government.”
Bro. Dotun regards it as “desperation” that Afrikans in the UK try and cling on to someone he feels has done “absolutely nothing” for us. There are probably those that hold similar views for the Afrikan casualties if European wars. Nevertheless, although “profoundly misplaced,” Prof. John indicates a different rationale for Afrikan participation in the wars: “Their belief that by joining they would help to ensure that Britain granted home rule to the islands in the region at the end of the War and that political and economic repression by colonial Britain would cease.”
So we ask the question,
Who should fund the memorial for Afrikan casualties of European wars?
01. Are you aware of the campaign to fund the memorial?
02. Have you or will you contribute to it?
03. Should we not concern ourselves with those fighting “white man’s wars”?
04. Or does Afrikan tradition dictate that we honour our dead even if their rationale was “profoundly misplaced”?
Our special guests are:
Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and UNIA-ACL Ambassador for the UK. A veteran activist of over 30 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An Africentric Guide To Excellence.
Bro. Jak Beula Dodd: is an entrepreneur specializing in African-centred products for the education, leisure and entertainment industries. He is also an author, columnist, songwriter, musician, social-worker, entrepreneur and former international model. He is best known for inventing the award-winning board game Nubian Jak. Through his Nubian Jak Community Trust Bro. Jak had spearheaded the erection of over 25 blue plaques honouring important historical figures and events in Afrika UK including Malcolm X, Claudia Jones, Amy Ashwood Garvey and the New Cross Massacre. He is also the driving force behind the Afrikan soldier World War I & II memorial campaign. www.africanandcaribbeanmemorial.com
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in Afrika UK including Malcolm X, Claudia Jones, Amy Ashwood Garvey and the New Cross Massacre. He is also the driving force behind the Afrikan soldier World War I & II memorial campaign.