UG to host virtual symposium on 184th Emancipation anniversary

The University of Guyana will be hosting a two-and-a-half-hour symposium on Tuesday, August 2, to commemorate the 184th anniversary of the Emancipation of enslaved Africans in Guyana.
The symposium, which will be held virtually from 18:00 hrs to 20:30 hrs, will focus on Afro-Guyanese who have made significant contributions to various facets of national development in Guyana.
The symposium would be opened with remarks from the University of Guyana’s Vice-Chancellor XI, Prof. Paloma Mohamed Martin; First Assistant Dean, Faculty of Education and Humanities (FEH), Bonita Hunter; Head of the Department of History and Caribbean Studies, Dwayne Benjamin; among others.
The panellists would be leading academics from the University of Guyana and universities abroad, and would focus on the contributions of Afro-Guyanese and cultural practices to the development of Guyana. Professor Alyssa Trotz would deliver a presentation on Insurgent knowledge – reflections of the radical praxis of Walter Rodney. Professor Courtney Abel would do a presentation on JOF Haynes – prominent Guyanese Jurist. Estherine Adams would present on Eusi Kwayana, his role and contributions. Shammane Joseph-Jackson would present on historical wrongs in the First Village, and Dr Nigel Westmaas would present on Patrick Dargan- First Afro-Guyanese in the Legislative Assembly.
The symposium would also feature cultural presentations in the form of comfa and African drumming by the Hebrew Family of Guyana, poetry recital by Konyo Addo, steel pan rendition, and a short audiovisual presentation on comfa tradition in Guyana by Dr Jeremy Peretz.
Emancipation is celebrated annually, on the first day of August, in recognition of the struggles of African ancestors in the British Caribbean to gain freedom and dignity in an oppressive, authoritarian system that characterised the plantation economy in Guyana and the Caribbean. This year marks the 184th Anniversary of the Emancipation of enslaved Africans, who, by virtue of being emancipated on 1st August 1838, became freed men and women and transitioned to wage labourers. The proclamation of Emancipation was signed in 1834.
Attendance at the symposium is free of cost, and is open to the public. Persons who wish to join the proceedings are kindly asked to register ahead of the symposium https://zoom.us/j/98700679089?pwd=VGxpSWo1VDA1bHlFVkdWSDlUQWlJUT09.
This site is already open for registration from members of the public.