On Thursday, October 26, 2023, I went to visit a Balanta community in the Rucuto tabanca (village). The visit was requested after word spread that I had traveled to the United Nations and demanded reparations for Balanta people recently while confronting the U.S. State Department for its state-sanctioned ethnocide against the Balanta people in America and the violation of their rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Geneva Convention. The visit was part of my CALL TO ORGANIZE BALANTA PEOPLE WORLDWIDE in order that they can exercise their rights under international law since no government, not even the government of the Republic of Guinea Bissau, is protecting them. Thus, it must be Balanta people themselves, working on both sides of the Atlantic and wherever they find themselves, who must take responsiblility for their own well-being and development. Like Amilcar Cabral, I realized I must travel throughout Guinea Bissau, visit the Balanta villages, and organize them one by one.
So on the morning of October 26, I and Daniel Nabicamba, Founder of the Dafana Institute, set off to visit the Balanta people living in Rucuto, about 45 kilometers from the capital city of Bissau. The gallery of photos and the videos below will tell the story and show you what happened. But it’s important to say now how we got to this point in order to emphasize that
THIS IS WHAT REAL REPARATIONS LOOKS LIKE!
Let’s review:
In the 1760’s, a boy from a village in Untche (in modern day Guinea Bissau) was captured and taken prisoner at the slave fort in Cacheu and trafficked to Charleston, South Carolina were he was subjected to “Negro Codes” that amounted to state-sanctioned ethnocide and was subsequently subjected to chattel enslavement. Here is the actual historical documentation.
The history of my family in America is thus told from the point of view that we are captured Balanta prisoners of war held under the jurisdiction of the United States suffering political and economic slavery created through the forced citizenship erroneously imposed by the 14th amendment of the US Constitution without our consent.
On September 28, 2010, I took a DNA test and discovered my Balanta paternal origins. This began the process of repairing from ethnocide and chattel enslavement. Since then, I have been preserving my ancestral culture and language. In 2019 I founded the Balanta B’urassa History and Genealogy Society in America and I published the three-volume Balanta B’urassa, My Sons: Those Who Resist Remain - the first comprehensive history of the Balanta People from their pre-Kemetic origins. I also published Balanta Kentohé Language Lessons Series 1 , 2 and 3 complete with 35 free video lessons.
In January of 2020, I made my first vist to Guinea Bissau, started negotiations with the government, met with Balanta elders, and distributed free Balanta language books in the villages. This resulted in the ground-breaking Decade of Return Initiative and the Citizenship Program for the Balanta prisoners of war in America.
5. Members of the Balanta B’urassa History and Genealogy Society in America have been resposible for renovating a Headquarters that served as the Olympic Training Center for the Guine Bissau Olympic Swim Team, providing naming ceremonies for Balanta prisoners of war in America, distributing food in nine Balanta villages, helping five groups of Balanta, Fula, Djola and Brame descendants return to their ancestral homeland, established the Lineage Restoration Council of Guinea Bissau, served as the Patron and financial sponser of the Sports Society of Guinea Bissau senior girls futbol team that won the league championship in 2023 and placed three players on the women’s National team, represented Guinea Bissau for the first time in the African Continental Swimming Championships while establishing the Guinea Bissaus Swimming Federation and much more.
6. The ultimate result has been a sustained diplomatic and development effort for Balanta people on both sides of the Atlantic.
THE ONLY THING MISSING HAS BEEN RECOGNITION AND FUNDING TO FURTHER REPAIR THE CONNECTION AND IMPROVE THE TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE RURAL VILLAGES
On Friday, October 27, I was informed that the two proposals I submitted to the Decolonizing Wealth Project - Liberated Capital’s Case for Reparations Fund were rejected. That was $225,000 that was going to be used to bring development to Balanta people on both sides of the Atlantic.
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During my visit, my Balanta hosts showed me the vast acres of rice fields that they plant and harvest by hand. What they wanted was a single tractor! Later, they showed me a break in their construction and they wanted to send a team to fix it which would require a team to stay there for 3 or 4 days. All they needed was a 50 kilogram bag of rice so that they could eat and work. Fortunately, BBHAGSIA member Nicole Holmes donated the money and the work has commenced.
All of this is to say that the purpose of reparations is to repair the damage done after a war to the communities that were invaded in Africa, and the people who were harmed, starting with the prisoners of war that were trafficked, enslaved and suffered ethnocide. My life is now a living example that repair and recovery from eight generations of ethnocide is possible and this is what it looks like - experiencing and bringing the physical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, social, economic and political transformation necessary to Africans at home and abroad as one people!
A Visit to the Balanta Village in Rucuto, Guinea Bissau
After sending the 50kg bag of rice and other food, the reapir was completed on November 4, 2023 thanks to the reparations provided through the Balanta B’urassa History and Genealogy Society in America through the Decade of Return Initiative.
