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Author Topic: Anti-slavery action at Westminster Abbey
bigcitygal
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posted 28 March 2007 03:39 AM      Profile for bigcitygal     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:

"You, the Queen, should be ashamed!"

All was solemn at the slavery service in Westminster Abbey ... until a bright-shirted demonstrator let loose, says David Smith who watched the drama unfold

David Smith
Tuesday March 27, 2007

Guardian Unlimited

The slavery bicentenary service was about 45 minutes old and running as smoothly and sombrely as any usual major national commemoration at
Westminster Abbey: the singing of hymns, readings from the Bible and an air of inviolable solemnity.

All this was shattered when, from behind my seat in Poets' Corner, a man strode rapidly into the space in front of the altar and began screaming at the top of his voice. The Queen, Prince Philip, Tony and Cherie Blair, John and Pauline Prescott, Gordon and Sarah Brown and the Archbishop of Canterbury watched in stunned disbelief. The bright-shirted black demonstrator, Toyin Agbetu of the African rights organisation Ligali, was only a dozen feet from all of them, with apparently no security guards to block him.

The Archbishop had just delivered his main address and the service had moved on to "confession and absolution". But the reading was stopped in its tracks by Mr Agbetu's outburst: "You should be ashamed. We should not be here. This is an insult to us. I want all the Christians who are Africans to walk out of here with me!"

In a deeply worrying sign in this supposedly terrorist-conscious era, the security guards near my seat were so utterly surprised that they only looked at each other, uncertain whether to intervene. Finally, they did. Seven guards and two ushers gathered around Mr Agbetu and a hand was placed on his arm.

"Let go of me!" he yelled, raising his arms like a suspect confronted by armed police. "I have no weapon! I have no weapon!"

The Queen, on a raised platform and out of Mr Agbetu's immediate reach, watched with pursed lips. The Duke of Edinburgh frowned. Neither seemed frightened for their safety. In the pews, Mr Blair watched with dismay as if already preparing a speech about this "regrettable incident". Mr Brown, whose eyes had been sleepy, was jolted awake. Kwame Kwei-Armah, the actor
and writer, dressed in a glittering golden African robe, watched with sorrow in his eyes.

The more that the security men tried to manhandle Mr Agbetu, the more he resisted. Suddenly the interruption turned serious. There were pushes and shoves, even punches. Twice Agbetu and several bodies went crashing into the knees of appalled guests, who were wearing their smartest suits and dresses.

(snip)

By now many guests and journalists around me were on their feet, straining to look. There was a sense of danger and drama. It was clear Mr Agbetu would not go quietly. Possibly not without a fight.

After what seemed an eternity, Mr Agbetu was shuffled towards the quire, in the direction of the exit. But he pointed at the Queen and yelled:
"You, the Queen, should be ashamed!" The monarch did her national duty by remaining icy calm.

Mr Agbetu was now directly beneath the prime minister. He turned to face him and Mr Blair glared back. The thousands of guests watched in hushed anticipation, wondering what would come next, wondering if Mr Agbetu might even leap on him. Instead the protester screamed: "You should say sorry!"

Mr Agbetu continued walking and shuffling, still resisting the hands being placed on him, still shouting his dissent. Hundreds more guests in the
nave got to witness the spectacle. The abbey's ushers still looked unsure quite how to handle him. Finally, outside the building, Mr Agbetu was not bundled away as might be expected. Instead, he gave an impromptu press conference.

"I had always planned to make this demonstration," he said. "The Queen has to say sorry. It was Elizabeth I. She commanded John Hawkins to take his ship. The monarch and the government and the church are all in there patting themselves on the back."

· David Smith is a reporter on the Observer


[ 28 March 2007: Message edited by: bigcitygal ]


From: It's difficult to work in a group when you're omnipotent - Q | Registered: Apr 2005  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
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posted 28 March 2007 04:05 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Excellent article. I love the dry way the writer talks about how the Queen did her duty by staying icy and calm, and how Blair was likely making up a speech about the "regrettable incident".

Yesterday while watching the news in the morning, they actually mentioned that the Queen's family benefited greatly by slavery. Not that this is any new news, but it was interesting that it got ONTO the news.

The whole set-up of the service bugged me, but I can't put my finger on why. I mean, if they HADN'T marked it, then that would have been a problem too. But almost all the focus, on the news at least, was on all the powerful white people who attended (the royal family, the Blairs). All the close-ups were of them on the news reports I saw yesterday morning. And of course, all the reporters I saw covering it were white too.

CBC Article

quote:
However, he continued his tirade outside, demanding the Queen apologize for her royal bloodline because it had long condoned the slave trade in the British colonies. One of her predecessors, Queen Elizabeth I, provided ships in 1561 so that slave trader John Hawkins could lead some of the first British slaving expeditions.

The service on Tuesday commemorated the 200th anniversary of the 1807 legislation that made the slave trade illegal within the British Empire.

Although Britain didn't make it illegal to have slaves until 1833, its bans led the way for other countries.

The transatlantic slave trade, which began around 1500, saw traders sail from Europe to Africa, where they traded or sold manufactured goods for slaves. Then they shipped the slaves — often crammed amid abysmal conditions into the vessels' holds — across the Atlantic, mostly to European colonies in the Americas and West Indies.

There, the slaves were sold or traded again for the raw materials of the New World, including cotton, sugar, coffee and valuable minerals, which were shipped back to Europe.

By the 18th century, all the major European powers were involved in the trade, which saw the enslavement of more than 11 million and perhaps as many as 25 million men, women and children.


[ 28 March 2007: Message edited by: Michelle ]


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
writer
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posted 28 March 2007 04:39 AM      Profile for writer     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Johnny Hogg, a descendant of Wilberforce, was one seat over when the protester rose.

"This is a public relations disaster on a day like today," Hogg said afterwards. "Four white people wrestling a black guy to the ground is not what you want (in news clips and pictures)."

Toyin Agbetu, 39, it turns out, is a writer and founder of a non-profit organization and website called Ligali, which challenges negative stereotypes of people of African descent in the media. He had obtained a media pass to be present in the abbey.

Hogg and descendants of William Clarkson, the other white abolitionist who supplied Wilberforce with much of his ammunition, say Agbetu injected a dose of raw reality into a dignified, carefully scripted service.

"These things run very deep," said Saphie Clarkson.

"He's got a point," said Caroline Roots, a Clarkson descendant. "When I saw him, I thought, `Blimey, how did that happen?' He snuck under the wire."

"If nothing else, it makes us realize this is still such a big issue that still makes people angry today," Hogg said.

Outside the abbey, the Queen later laid a wreath at the Innocent Victims Memorial in honour of all those who suffered and still suffer from slavery.

Leo Muhammad of the Nation of Islam wasn't impressed.

"Crocodile tears," he said. "The Queen is complicit; the monarchy is complicit. All this you see around here was built on slavery."

'This is a disgrace'
Royson James



From: tentative | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
bohajal
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posted 28 March 2007 04:55 AM      Profile for bohajal   Author's Homepage        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I admire Toyin Agbetu's guts. Not impressed nor intimidated by the pomp and circumstances, protocols and decorum, he focused on his message and delivered it.

The British (and others) enriched themselves on the slave trade and on slaves' toil, causing millions of black people dislocation, death and other tragedies in the procee but Blair finds it not doable to apologize for fear some restitution would be in order.

The very economic reason for slavery in the first place is still at the centre of the British's refusal to apologize. Isn't this adding insult to injury ? How noble !

[ 28 March 2007: Message edited by: bohajal ]


From: planet earth, I believe | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
oldgoat
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posted 28 March 2007 06:21 AM      Profile for oldgoat     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
What he did was brave, and how he did it was tremendously dignified. There also seem to be some MSM elements who come surprisingly close to getting it, rather than some sort of "hooligan disrupts church service" that we might expect.

The photograph in The Star of Toyin Agbetu standing by himself with all those white members of the most privleged elite sitting staring into their laps is a powerful image, and I think one we'll be seeing for a while.


From: The 10th circle | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
B.L. Zeebub LLD
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posted 28 March 2007 07:12 AM      Profile for B.L. Zeebub LLD     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I was in Dakar, Senegal just two days past and in The Gambia (a former British territory within Senegal) the day previous. In Dakar we visited La Goree, an island where slaves were gathered before being shipped to the Caribbean, etc. There were commemorative plaques, and statues, and plenty of white tourist curiosity, but what struck me was the hollowness of all of that when set against the backdrop of the immense poverty evident in Western Africa as a whole. The French left Senegal, the British vacated The Gambia and washed their hands of them but one can still feel that many of the people feel they have been wronged; That even our tourism is evidence of an ongoing crime.

I think an apology is the very least people who so directly profited from the slave trade could do.


From: A Devil of an Advocate | Registered: Sep 2004  |  IP: Logged
bigcitygal
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posted 28 March 2007 07:18 AM      Profile for bigcitygal     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I've edited my post, but I wanted to let people know that I don't have a link to the full text as it came to me via my regular reliable sources as an email, not a link.

I've also googled fruitlessly to find a link to Smith's piece and can't find one. If anyone does, please post it here.

As for my comments, I'm also in awe and respect of Toyin Agbetu's brave stance and his dignity. I almost wish I had been there to give him a standing ovation and to applaud him in front of those powerful colonists.

While googling I did find out more about Toyin Agbetu and the work he does. He fucking rocks!

ligali.org

everygeneration.co.uk

blackbritain.co.uk

[ 28 March 2007: Message edited by: bigcitygal ]


From: It's difficult to work in a group when you're omnipotent - Q | Registered: Apr 2005  |  IP: Logged
Catchfire
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posted 28 March 2007 08:02 AM      Profile for Catchfire   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
"You, the Queen, should be ashamed!"
From: On the heather | Registered: Apr 2003  |  IP: Logged
bigcitygal
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posted 28 March 2007 09:11 AM      Profile for bigcitygal     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Hey, Catchfire! I was just coming to post the link, which Michelle so nicely found for me.

Thanks a lot, Catchfire!

And can I say, I noticed this is on the front page of the Star (article that writer linked to above). Excellent.

And again, hooray for Toyin!


From: It's difficult to work in a group when you're omnipotent - Q | Registered: Apr 2005  |  IP: Logged

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