Foundation Ocan Director Lionel Martijn (right) was the guest speaker at the annual Tula lecture. (Photo by Xavier Donker/Ocan)
~ Foundation Ocan Director Martijn gives Tula lecture ~
AMSTERDAM--A formal apology for the slavery past in the former Dutch colonies should never be asked or begged for, according to Director of the Foundation Ocan Lionel Martijn. “As a victim, never again ask for apologies by the perpetrator.”
Martijn stated this during the Tula lecture last week Wednesday at the Amsterdam City Archive De Bazel, organised by the National Institute for the Dutch Slavery Past and its Legacy NiNsee. August 17 is Tula Day, the day in 1795 on which freedom fighter and resistance fighter Tula led the largest revolt of enslaved people in the history of the former Netherlands Antilles.
“I don’t need apologies after 150 years, because it is of no value whatsoever. Let’s find peace in the lack of insight or unwillingness of the perpetrators to offer apologies. Let us invest our energy in creating progress and perspective for the next generations in the Kingdom,” said Martijn.
Instead of demanding apologies, Martijn publicly offered his “well-meant and unconditional forgiveness to all perpetrators who committed, facilitated and allowed genocide, and who profited from this at the expense of the original people of the West and all enslaved people.”
Addressing the long-time issue of whether or not the Dutch government has to issue a formal apology for the Dutch slavery past, Martijn said that when waiting such a long time to take responsibility, things only became more difficult and painful, with “scars reopening as wounds.”
In his lecture, Martijn spoke of the inspiration that Curaçao’s national hero Tula has given people. “Tula fought against injustice and turned out to be a real leader. He was able to collaborate, showed understanding for diversity and understood that a woman had to be involved in the revolt in order to succeed.”
Tula, together with Wacao, Carpata, Mercier and Sablika, left the Kenepa plantation with 50 enslaved people and passed several other plantations where more people joined, proclaiming themselves free people.
The group was extremely courageous, said Martijn, because in those days criticism was always punished with torture, mutilation and burning, often resulting in death. On October 3, Tula, together with two other freedom fighters and 29 enslaved people were murdered by the Dutch colonial authorities in Curaçao.
According to Martijn, Tula in the year 2022 would have been shocked by the “squandering” of freedom, democracy and transparency. “But he will also be surprised by how look for the easy way out instead of fighting to stand on our own feet and to work for this.”
In Martijn’s opinion, the “divide and conquer virus” is part of the genes that are visible in the Dutch Kingdom to this day. “This is one of the reasons for the ever-growing polarisation among the countries. Very consciously, the other is discredited on a daily basis, made suspicious and lured into a trap.”
The time of consensus seems to be disappearing when this togetherness and understanding is so badly needed. “The large difference between rich and poor, despite all the wealth that has been generated within the Kingdom. What is so hard about sharing?”
Martijn said the sharing was not only about money, but also about knowhow, the sharing of investors within the Kingdom. “Allowing each other a positive development instead of engaging in cheap politics at the expense of people who need perspective. Have we sunken so deep that we only want to keep what we have and not allowing the other to have anything?”
Martijn said he was not pleading for charity, gifts or loans. “What I miss is an extended hand to each other. Tula also only asked for freedom and not for money. But he was prepared to work together. Tula would also like to see the formation of a Kingdom team that creates cooperation instead of denunciation. Cooperation is not we against them, but we for us!”
