Perspective: Harriet Tubman liberated Slaves … As Nanny did for Jamaica’s Maroons … liberators Par Excellence …
As a person of colour, my pride to see women who would be regarded as unsung heroines now getting a rebirth, being finally recognized for their invaluable contribution to human liberation, is for me an idea whose time has arrived.
It is in my perspective, backward thinking to classify the move to put Tubman on a US20 bank note … should be classified as ‘postmortem commodification’ … in fact I see the move as a recognition that these women have left indelible footprints on the annals of human liberation and history. They were leaders and humanitarians ahead of their time. They faced imaginable obstacles and even personal risks to their own lives to help liberate others … they never asked “what is in for me, but rather as US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy said “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”. Just replace country with country folk.
Nanny of the Maroons was very skilled in guerrilla warfare and led an army against British rule in the first Maroon War 1720 to 1739. Her image appears on a J$500 dollar bill.
She is Jamaica’s only officially designated National Heroine (Hero). She has been so recognized for her heroism and leadership skills.
I have long argued in Vision that not all slaves were equal … many were sophisticated human beings and were likely very ambitious. Many were not going to be defined or allow their legacies to be confined to their station in life. They had a burning desire ‘to emancipate themselves from mental slavery. Hercules the celebrated chef in “Birthday Cake for George Washington” was such an individual … a remarkable human being in his own right.
Tubman and Nanny …
What do these two remarkable women have in common …
1) They were liberators …
2) They were humanitarians par excellence …
3) They were never known to be formally educated …
4) They were not known to be born in wealth …
5) They were born into slavery but died out of slavery …
Donald Trump responded to a question about Tubman on Today’s Show: “It is fantastic … but pure political correctness … Jackson was a great president” he concluded.
Let us celebrate their achievements … do resist any temptation to want to detract from their achievements, they have overcome many odds to be so decorated today. Their time has come at last and we are the proud beneficiaries of their successes … they, having triumphed over evil.
Hopeton O’Connor-Dennie is Senior International Correspondent & Photojournalist for Vision Newspaper Canada.
