A painting of enslaved Africans, some dancing, some sitting, of all ages.

The Tongue We Never Lost at Sea

The civilization of a People lost…
in hell upon the arrival of a strange man
whose idol described our traditional
practices as the evil bedeviling us —
and the roadblock on our way to
his father’s house of many mansions! . . .

An artist's depiction of Bussa's Rebellion - an enslaved African uprising against British rule in Barbados.

Britain’s Legacy of Brutal Slavery in Barbados

Yes, the British Empire is indeed one colony smaller as Barbados formally declared itself independent of its colonial rulers after 400 years yesterday in a big ole fancy ceremony attended by all kinds of dignitaries. England’s Prince Charles delivered a message from his mother, Queen Elizabeth, conveying the “warmest good wishes” and said, “from the darkest days of our past and the appalling atrocity of slavery, which, whatever stains out of his study, the people of this island forge their path with extraordinary fortitude.” It’s nice that he mentioned that appalling history of slavery, but it deserves more than a . . .