Pay homage to ancestors with Libations, floral tributes At the Kingston Seawall yesterday as Afro Guyanese paid homage to the ancestors who were lost in the middle passage. (By Mondale Smith)“Tu ta Shinda- We will win” was the common chant that echoed yesterday when Guyanese of African heritage remembered their ancestors who suffered and died during the trans-Atlantic crossing. Thousands did not survive the trip from Africa to the ‘New World’.As part of the 16th observance of African Holocaust there was energetic drumming accompanied songs of resistance and spirituals as the African Cultural Development Association held its annual African Maafa Day at the Kingston seawalls.Joining the group for the celebrations were representatives of the African Mystical Council and the Manumitted Africans as well as other interest groups. Bishop Andrew Irving of the African Mystical Council led the group in chorus and his songs included the popular ‘By the rivers of Babylon.’The African descendants danced, chanted and sang to the sounds of drums. Then they prayed. A celebratory tramp with leaves,Brice Butler Jersey, branches and flowers around the bandstands then followed.There were libations poured on land and floral tributes were made to the sea at high tides of the Atlantic Ocean. The observance ended with more drumming, singing and dancing.Men,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, women and a few children donned Afro-centric clothing and joined in the ceremonial celebrations as ACDA officials paid homage to their ancestors with speeches of reflections and poetry.Curiosity got the better of many and before long they had joined the observance and affirmed that as the offspring of ancestors from the continent of Africa they will foster Love and Peace with one another.Pouring libations to the spirits and to the God of Africa, the groups noted that it should not be forgotten that the continent is the mother and father of humanity.For the past 18 years,Cheap Basketball Jerseys, October 12 has been set aside to remember the thousands of Africans who were captured as slaves but died in the Middle Passage to the New World. Some dubbed it a holocaust at sea that should not be forgotten and referred to the board of horror as a new form of horror taken on by some dubbed as “divisive oppressors” who “use persons with house slaves mentality to do their biddings .The group at the seawalls invoked the spirits of those who fought against slavery—people like Accabre and African Janet,China Jerseys Cheap, and Harriet Tuman and Malcolm X. “ From this day onwards we will live with a sense of purpose, we will seek education, encourage it and support it with all we have.”They pledged, too,Ben Chiarot Jersey, to honour teachers for their mission and students and noted that they will be guided by conscience about right and wrong and will respect elders and young people first of their own race and also of others.The fragrance of flowers filled the air and so were the sounds of the contagious drums but as opposed to last year, the ‘Board of Horror’ was strategically mounted for all to see and read of the hundreds of persons who died tragically.The group also affirmed that its members will cherish “our own beauty of mind, body and spirit…”Eric Phillips, an executive director for ACDA,Authentic MLB Jerseys Online, said that Columbus arrived in these parts on October 12 and decimated first the natives as precursor to slavery.“We lost many lives in the oceans so we use this day to remember them and pay homage for their sacrifices,” Phillips said.He noted that in the Caribbean, Guyana was the first to have started the observances and it has caught on in the region.He said that his group is of the belief that Guyana is going through another holocaust with the many unexplained or unsolved murders and killings of the average man as well as police ranks.Phillips further said that Guyanese of African ancestry need to go back to days after slavery and band together to purchase land and educate themselves as a people united.Among those who paid homage was Opposition leader Robert Corbin and businessman Roshan Khan.