The Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Commission (ABRSC) welcomes with enthusiasm the decision of the Cabinet of the Government of Antigua and Barbuda – in response to its advocacy – to appoint a committee ‘to conduct research and provide recommendations on the renaming of three streets in St. John’s, as an initial phase of a broader initiative’. We are also pleased that the objective is – in the first instance – ‘to commemorate and honour the legacy of Marcus Mosiah Garvey, George A. Weston, and George Alexander McGuire’ and in the second ‘to identify other Antiguan and Barbudan unsung heroes who were never honoured or celebrated’.
It is important we recognise that the decision of Cabinet is one with regional significance. In 2017, nearly a decade ago, the CARICOM Reparations Commission, of which the ABRSC is a founding member, resolved in its recommendations to CARICOM Governments that ‘all statues and memorials dedicated to persons who ushered and directed the genocide against the native people of the Caribbean, such as Christopher Columbus, and those who defended and practised the crime of enslaving others, denying them their humanity… be removed from places of public celebration.’ Further in a 2019 resolution, the CARICOM Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) at its 36th Meeting called for ‘a coordinated regional initiative to rename monuments that glorify colonial violence’.
There is Commonwealth judicial precedent for re-naming efforts. ABRSC recalls the 2020 decision of the British Crown courts that the public display of statues of enslavers and committers of crimes against humanity is a ‘hate crime’ and that ‘reasonable force’ can be used to remove them. Our ‘hate crime’ is the desecration of our public spaces and institutions and our ‘reasonable force’ is government policy and public opinion.
The ABRSC interprets these decisions not only as a rejection of the continued existence of public spaces bearing the names of those who committed ‘colonial violence’ but also a call to find space and opportunity to honour those who have worked heroically to advance the development of our nation.
ABRSC sees the decision to establish the naming/re-naming committee as support for the United Nations (UN) initiative of the Second International Decade for People of African Descent (2025–2034) under the theme to ‘promote recognition, justice, and development for people of African descent worldwide’. We interpret ‘recognition’ as the acknowledgement of the contributions and humanity of people of African descent and the opportunity to promote education about African heritage and history.
ABRSC calls for full public participation in the research the committee is expected to conduct and the recommendations it should make. We will suggest to the committee the staging of at least one public consultation but urge responsible written recommendations be sent to ABRSC by August 31st (email: abreparations@gmail.com; facebook: @Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Commission) for:
Names/locations of public spaces/institutions which should be considered for re-naming, and the recommendations – with historical information and reasoning – for those ‘unsung’ s/heroes who should be considered for honour.
