______ FEATURED POET |
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| COPYRIGHT © 2006-2020 rosalienebacchus.com. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS PAGE WAS LAST UPDATED ON: 12 FEBRUARY 2020 |
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| Eighty three freed slaves bought land with barrows of coins. Purpose driven lives. HAIKU POEM ROSALIENE BACCHUS |
Long time ago was a passage of time,
That brought our people to the cotton fields
Subdued innocent beings.
With hands that tilled the soil
Picked the cotton, chopped the sugarcane.
From the slave ship to the plantation
Profits for his majesty's kingdom
Their backs to the sun, their feet to the
ground
Yes, baccraman . . .
The overseer over the killing field.
My grandmother told me the everlasting story
She was born there,
Plantation Northbrook became Victoria Village
Gallant men and women
Extolled the purchase
When freedom came.
Reflections of their past
Stirred my emotions,
No cotton to pick, no cane to cut.
Of Yesterday's pain
Became
Tomorrow's freedom.
BACCRAMAN - GUYANESE CREOLE FOR 'A WHITE MAN'
Come Walk With Me: From Guyana to North
America A Book of Verses by Francis Yvonne
Jackson, Chicago, USA, 2010.
| Victoria Village: Pain to Freedom Francis Yvonne Jackson |
| GUYANESE-BORN COMMUNITY LEADER CHICAGO - USA |
| PURPOSE DRIVEN VICTORIA - GUYANA |
Service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy on this
earth.
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. (1929-1968)
earth.
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. (1929-1968)
| YVONNE'S CHOICE GIMME HOPE JOANNA EDDY GRANT GUYANESE-BORN MUSICIAN |
| REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION |
FRANCIS' BOOK OF
VERSES IS A
TRIBUTE TO HER
AFRICAN ROOTS
AND THE PEOPLE
WHO HAVE
JOURNEYED WITH
HER THROUGH LIFE.
VERSES IS A
TRIBUTE TO HER
AFRICAN ROOTS
AND THE PEOPLE
WHO HAVE
JOURNEYED WITH
HER THROUGH LIFE.
| ILLUSTRATION BY BARRINGTON BRAITHWAITE |
Victoria Village -
located on the East
Coast Demerara, 18
miles from
Georgetown, capital
of Guyana - was the
first village set up by
freed African slaves.
In November 1839,
five years after
Britain's Abolition of
Slavery Act, a group
of 83 freed Africans
from five neighboring
plantations pooled
their savings from
years of working as
apprentices to buy
Plantation Northbrook.
They purchased the
abandoned cotton
plantation of about
500 acres for 30,000
guilders, equivalent
to 2,000 British
pounds or $10,000.
Their downpayment
of more than $6,000
was paid mostly in
coins, transported to
the seller in wheel-
barrows. The balance,
covered by a
promissory note, was
redeemed three
weeks later.
Plantation Northbrook
later became Victoria,
in honor of Queen
Victoria.
SOURCE: The African
Village Movement,
Ministry of Culture,
Youth and Sport,
Republic of Guyana.
LEARN MORE
located on the East
Coast Demerara, 18
miles from
Georgetown, capital
of Guyana - was the
first village set up by
freed African slaves.
In November 1839,
five years after
Britain's Abolition of
Slavery Act, a group
of 83 freed Africans
from five neighboring
plantations pooled
their savings from
years of working as
apprentices to buy
Plantation Northbrook.
They purchased the
abandoned cotton
plantation of about
500 acres for 30,000
guilders, equivalent
to 2,000 British
pounds or $10,000.
Their downpayment
of more than $6,000
was paid mostly in
coins, transported to
the seller in wheel-
barrows. The balance,
covered by a
promissory note, was
redeemed three
weeks later.
Plantation Northbrook
later became Victoria,
in honor of Queen
Victoria.
SOURCE: The African
Village Movement,
Ministry of Culture,
Youth and Sport,
Republic of Guyana.
LEARN MORE
| VICTORIA VILLAGE GUYANA |
| VILLAGE SCENE - LADY WITH FOOD HAMPER EAST COAST DEMERARA - GUYANA PHOTO BY FRANCIS YVONNE JACKSON |