Monday 17 March 2014

Culture: St Patrick's Day In Montserrat

When it comes to Western Holidays celebrated by the African Diaspora, Christmas and Easter are definitely the most popular; not St. Patrick's Day but, while going through news on The Voice website, I came across the very educational article Celebrating St.Patrick’s Day In Montserrat, which highlights how 246 years ago enslaved Africans used the holiday to rebel against Irish plantation owners and how ever since, the Island marks the occasion with week long events to celebrate not only their dual heritage but the bravery, strength and courage of their African Ancestors.

Given that this is a branch of the African Slave Trade that is for the most part overlooked in favour of American and English dominance over the trade, I decided to do a quick search on Google and came across the article St.Patricks Day On A Caribbean Island, which went into even greater depth describing how the Irish were "the most barbaric and inhumane" plantation owners in Montserrat.

The key thing brought to my mind upon reading both articles is that although certain clans continue to ignorantly suggest We shouldn't complain about past discrimination, 'because they've experienced it too', We should never forget that even in their most dire times the scales were still slanted... 

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