Dear Editor,
I read somewhere and I quote: “Studying history will sometimes disturb you, studying history will sometimes upset you, studying history will sometimes make you furious and if studying history always makes you feel proud and happy, you probably aren’t studying history”. And so it also is with telling stories about our history. Some of those stories will disturb or even infuriate us, but the stories must be told.
I will read a passage from the book Statia Silhouettes, in which the late Charles Arnold speaks about Mr. Moore and the Golden Rock Plantation:
“The slave master that we knew most about is a fellow by the name of Moore. He owned Golden Rock at the time. After freedom – which the Dutch Government I think paid at the equivalent of more or less 2,500 dollars for the freedom of every slave on the island. And this Mr. Moore, they had a fellow by the name of Jim. And he used to take pleasure in seein’ ’em beat Jim every day. And the whipper – they also had a slave whipper. So, a fellow, also, my father family Harkless, Harkless, he was the whipper.”
While talking with local historian Walter Hellebrand about our history, he drew my attention to the old records. It is actually documented that the Golden Rock Plantation or Golden Rock Estate, as it was called by the late Charles Arnold and the late Kenneth van Putten, was cultivated in 1636 by the Dutch where things like tobacco and later on sugarcane were harvested.
Prior to Mr. Moore owning the Golden Rock Estate, it was owned by Abraham Heyliger. As was common practice in those days, Heyliger made a list of all of his properties. The enslaved were not seen as people in those days, so they were also listed as property. Based on these old records, we know quite a few of the names of the enslaved. So, on this Emancipation Day, or July Day as we call it in Statia, I pay homage to all the ancestors whose lives were ripped apart due to the evil practice of the transatlantic slave trade.
Many of their names we do not know. But I will now say some of the names of the enslaved on Statia, who were held in captivity by Abraham Heyliger. And as I do so, I reflect on their struggles, their suffering, their triumphs and their will to survive. Here are the names: Bull, Mumu, Boca, Congo Phoenix, February, Jack, Zeeland, Kwaku, Congo Dick, Jacob, Saba Jacob, Jemmi, Kleintje, Suzanna, Saba Suzanna, Jengay, Diana, Barbara, Umpu, Dinia, Noortje, Pindar, Jantje, Blossom, Coimba, Son of Marietje, Rose, Eva, Nanny Ibo. Of course, there are many more names.
William Moore, the father of Mr. Moore, bought the Golden Rock plantation in 1791 from the heirs of Abraham Heyliger. The plantation then came with 53 enslaved Africans.
Are the bones that are currently being dug up at the Golden Rock planation those of Nanny Ibo, Blossem, Noortje or Congo Phoenix? Or are these the bones of their descendants?
We must restore the human dignity of our enslaved ancestors. Perhaps one of the ways to truly restore their dignity, to give them peace and to help us heal is to put a temporary halt to the excavations and engage in meaningful and respectful dialogue with the community of Statia about how best to honor them, how best to move forward.
“Happy, Happy July Day. I glad I live to see that day.”
Xiomara Balentina
Bigotry is always ugly, but even more so when it comes from religious organizations. People look to the gospel for guidance and understanding, not vitriolic hatred. People are not born as bigots and racists. These traits are learned usually from parents, teachers, and, in this case, religious organizations.
Caribbean Cause’s hateful manifesto (that appeared in the Curaçao Chronicle recently) is no less insidious than Adolph Hitler’s Mein Kampf in short form. Have the signatories from these Caribbean churches forgotten the history of religious and social persecution of people over the millennia? Have they forgotten that their island ancestors were without civil rights as well? Apparently so. Theirs is a vicious attack on LGBT people simply because a flag representing inclusiveness is flying over US embassies and consulates in their countries and around the world.
It is not altogether surprising, however, given that the majority of churches supporting this hateful assault on human rights are Evangelic and Pentecostal denominations, which are famous for their “fire and brimstone” approach to administering the gospel. There are hundreds of positive Bible topics to choose from, yet these churches tend to focus on attacking what they consider to be immoral, with homosexuality a long-time favourite.
Hate-mongering organizations such as Caribbean Cause are to Christianity what ISIS, Boko Haram, and Al-Qaeda are to Islam: extremists who are not truly representative of a particular religion or most of the people who adhere to it. As such, they are experts at reinterpreting religious text to fit their needs, then broadcast the distorted bile to receptive parishioners. It’s a tactic that perpetuates a cycle of misinformation and intolerance towards people unjustly considered to be outside their own narrow-minded definition of normal. These religious zealots represent the dark ages of church tyranny and brutality. Their views and actions are based on fear and ignorance, not legitimate science.
Their fanatical assertion that LGBT Marxists and the US government are subverting the fundamental freedoms, rights, or conscience of citizens worldwide is simply absurd. And it is truly shameful that holding high a symbol of diversity, equality, and inclusiveness would lead to demonizing LGBT people and be used as a pretence for criticizing US foreign policy as “cultural imperialism”. It’s good the US and most countries of the free world respect the rights of LGBT people. It says something about who they are as a society.
Sadly, a few Caribbean island nations still have oppressive and antiquated anti-gay laws reflecting historically passed-down intolerance – something that ends only when the cycle of prejudice is broken. Using religion as a moral justification for discrimination devalues not only religion itself but also the efforts of all those who fought and continue to fight for civil rights and social equality for all people.
Gunsor Buther
Curaçao
Dear Editor,
The history of the Caribbean clearly shows that Caribbean people have migrated when the opportunity was afforded and their economic circumstances could be improved. Where this is still possible, it is still occurring and where it is not possible, extensive and creative efforts are constantly being made to migrate to territories where the quality of life is perceived to be better. This occurs at all levels including the crucial high-skilled sector which is so essential for island nations to develop.
At the same time we hear from independista groups that when connections with European powers are finally untied completely, a wave of nationalism will sweep over the newly independent country and will drive an improved administration, economic activity and a cohesive nation will perform better when released from the European created restrictions.
It seems clear to me that unless there is some unprecedented cultural change, a change to independence in St. Maarten would lead to the population behaving as the economic actors they always have been and choose jurisdictions that provide the safest option for the best quality of life. Are those choices likely to be in the long-term interest of country St. Maarten?
Robbie Ferron
Dear Morgan Resort,
Congratulation on the opening of your new shiny resort in Beacon Hill.
The unsightly mess you left in our neighbourhood makes me think of Syria every time I come home.
Can you pick up after yourself please, it’s the least you can do.
Jean de la Salle
Beacon Hill
Dear Editor,
Addiction has been a major problem in our small community since the drug “crack cocaine” swept across the world and our shores in the 1980s and 1990s. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a subsequent epidemic where the rise in fear, anxiety, and stress created historic increases in substance abuse, drug overdoses, and corresponding mental illness globally and of course in St. Maarten as well.
Initially, humanity dealt with the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 disease. Individuals had to sift through the conflicting messages from authorities. The world lost control and the people lost their personal freedoms. Overnight abrupt changes were made to life, to everyone’s plans both immediate and future. Deep, crippling concerns were birthed for everyone’s health, not just in St. Maarten but across the entire globe. Physical health and soon behind it burgeoning concerns for mental health and overall well-being of everyone as well as that of their relatives and loved ones. Added to this were lockdowns, home confinement for indefinite periods of time, with no one having any answers, shifting people into both isolation and a paralyzing lack of autonomy and causing a substantial and growing financial losses.
As was seen with other pandemics of our time such as Ebola, H1N1 and other viruses, negative psychological effects including post-traumatic stress symptoms, anger and confusion followed the pandemics. As is to be expected, these major stressors often lead to an increased risk of psychopathology such as anxiety or depression.
During the pandemic, about 4 in 10 adults in the U.S. have reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder, increasing from one in ten adults who reported these symptoms from January to June 2019.
In 2017, the global estimated prevalence of depression showed a proportion of 3.44 per cent (ranging between 2 per cent and 6 per cent.). Now research suggests that during the COVID-19 outbreak, rates of depression in the general population have risen to almost 7 times higher.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of June 2020, 13 per cent of Americans reported starting or increasing substance use as a way of coping with stress or emotions related to COVID-19.
More people are using drugs, and there are more drugs, and more types of drugs are available now than ever before in human history. Over the past decade, there has been a diversification of the substances available on the drug markets. In addition to traditional plant-based substances – cannabis, cocaine and heroin – the past decade has witnessed the expansion of a dynamic market for synthetic drugs and the non-medical use of pharmaceutical drugs and prescription medicines. All of which poses an even greater challenge to the prevention of drug use and the treatment of drug use disorders than in the past.
Even at Turning Point, the number of outpatient clients seen has doubled. The requests received from the community for voluntary clients have increased.
Here are some important stats from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s Drug Use:
Around 269 million people globally used drugs in 2018, up 30 per cent from 2009, with adolescents and young adults accounting for the largest share of users.
Among the estimated 269 million people who used drugs in the past year, some 35.6 million people (range: 19.0 million to 52.2 million) are estimated to suffer from drug use disorders, meaning that their pattern of drug use is harmful, or they may experience drug dependence and/or require treatment.
And according to the CDC, before the pandemic in 2019 there were 70,000 deaths by overdose in the US. However, during the pandemic this number rose to 92,000, the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a 12-month period, according to recent CDC provisional data.
Based on recent discussions held at the Ministry of Justice, it has been revealed that there has been an alarming rise in specific substances not before prevalent as abused substances in St. Maarten. Global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic such as the rise in substance abuse and mental health disorders, drive us to be more prepared for the coming aftermath that this difficult period will undoubtedly bring. Because when society ignores the harmful impacts of drug use and the disorders it creates, the repercussions can extend far beyond the individual to affect the health and well-being of others, including their families, neighborhoods and the community at large; thus, actively creating an island where there is social disadvantage, low educational attainment, increased difficulty in finding and sustaining employment, and financial instability and poverty.
As we all work through this difficult time, Turning Point would like to ask everyone in our community to be a support system for those around them who may be struggling with addiction. Personify caring for each other. Also, please anticipate that Turning Point will be reaching out to community leaders and organizations to discuss ideas on how we can together, combat substance abuse on the island.
For additional questions or concerns, contact
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Turning Point Foundation
International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is Saturday, June 26.
