On Sunday, 14th April, 1816 the freedom fighter Bussa, a head ranger at Bayley's Plantation in the parish of St Philip, lead what is now referred to as the Bussa Rebellion. He passed away that day but his bravery and consciousness influenced several uprisings in other plantations across the region.
In 1985, the Bussa Emancipation Statue created by sculptor Karl Broodhagen was unveiled in Barbados to honour his status as a national hero for his contribution to African freedom.
The clean up of the memorial was the inaugural project for the Black Empowerment Association which describes itself as having the socio-political and spiritual empowerment of African people at its core.
In a press release sent to Barbados national media they wrote;
“[The Bussa Statue] is a symbol of us breaking the chains of slavery at Emancipation. It is shameful how little care has been taken of it. A mere five weeks ago it was Emancipation day in Barbados and [yet] the [Bussa memorial] area remains overgrown with weeds, overrun with snails and covered with debris. The words on the sign are completely illegible in some places and missing all together in others... What is also an issue is the [poor public] access to the statue, which is [currently] an obstacle course [involving the] dodging [of speeding] vehicles just to end up in knee high grass and illegible signage.
It was an embarrassment to us and should be for all of Barbados that our guest, Toyin Agbetu, who is not only a tourist (on his honeymoon), but a British African social rights activist and founder of the Pan-African group Ligali had to see our Emancipation statue is such condition. Barbados ought to be ashamed that this is how we present one of our “National heroes”, especially after Bridgetown being recently recognised as a UNESCO world heritage site.”
Several bystanders visited the site during the cleanup operation including a national newspaper and local residents. There were calls for the government to add a pedestrian crossing to the site as well as assigning a cleaner to periodically maintain the site, repair the illegible etchings and install permanent night time lighting.
External Links
Bussa Outrage Clean Up ProjectNational Hero of Barbados - Bussa - The Freedom Fighter
In 1985, the Bussa Emancipation Statue created by sculptor Karl Broodhagen was unveiled in Barbados to honour his status as a national hero for his contribution to African freedom.
The clean up of the memorial was the inaugural project for the Black Empowerment Association which describes itself as having the socio-political and spiritual empowerment of African people at its core.
In a press release sent to Barbados national media they wrote;
“[The Bussa Statue] is a symbol of us breaking the chains of slavery at Emancipation. It is shameful how little care has been taken of it. A mere five weeks ago it was Emancipation day in Barbados and [yet] the [Bussa memorial] area remains overgrown with weeds, overrun with snails and covered with debris. The words on the sign are completely illegible in some places and missing all together in others... What is also an issue is the [poor public] access to the statue, which is [currently] an obstacle course [involving the] dodging [of speeding] vehicles just to end up in knee high grass and illegible signage.
It was an embarrassment to us and should be for all of Barbados that our guest, Toyin Agbetu, who is not only a tourist (on his honeymoon), but a British African social rights activist and founder of the Pan-African group Ligali had to see our Emancipation statue is such condition. Barbados ought to be ashamed that this is how we present one of our “National heroes”, especially after Bridgetown being recently recognised as a UNESCO world heritage site.”
Bussa Emancipation Statue after cleanup
Need for Action
Several bystanders visited the site during the cleanup operation including a national newspaper and local residents. There were calls for the government to add a pedestrian crossing to the site as well as assigning a cleaner to periodically maintain the site, repair the illegible etchings and install permanent night time lighting.
Damaged etchings at Bussa memorial
External Links
Bussa Outrage Clean Up ProjectNational Hero of Barbados - Bussa - The Freedom Fighter
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A mere five weeks ago it was Emancipation day in Barbados and yet the Bussa memorial area remains overgrown with weeds, overrun with snails and covered with debris. It is shameful how little care has been taken of it.
Black Empowerment Association (Barbados)
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