Maafa Truth 2007: The Campaign

Operation Truth 2007

Operation TRUTH 2007 is a campaign organised by Afrikan people in the UK to put an Afrikan perspective on local and national government plans to commemorate 200 years since the Abolition of the so called Slave Trade in 1807. OT 2007 is the pioneers of a nationally co-ordinated campaign against Abolition 200 and are committed to undermining the Wilberfarce fiasco.

Operation TRUTH 2007 is a Pan Afrikan campaign to highlight objections to any activities which recognise and endorse the year 1807 as being positively significant to Afrikan people. OT 2007 will be mobilising the Afrikan community to oppose these commemoration plans. Our primary mission is to ensure that an Afrikan perspective is promoted widely within our community to ensure that Afrikan people are aware of the fundamental role that our Ancestors played and many of us continue to play in fighting against oppressive forces for the right to self determine.

As a campaign site Operation TRUTH 2007 is supported by its sister site TRUTH 2007 which provides an information and educational resources for use by schools, community groups, churches and other organisations committed to promoting TRUTH in relation to the story of our Ancestors and our historical experience and interactions with others, including the Maafa.

The Position

The Maafa was an act of genocide committed against Afrikan peoples and we know that this inhumane and wrongful act is still impacting on Afrikans in the Diaspora and continues to blight the lives of Afrikans on the continent today. The law passed on March 25th, 1807 in the British Statute books is one that is insignificant to the Afrikan community as it made no difference to our social, legal, economic or political standing. We were still considered to be soulless beings that were less than human. It was at the time argued that it would be cruel to free us as we would be incapable of ‘coping’ with our freedom. Not a single Afrikan was freed by the 1807 Act.

There is little doubt that the 2007 Wilberfest ‘Celebration/Commemoration’ will continue because of the political and financial backing of the government. However Afrikan people have a right to determine what aspects of this traumatic period in our history should be commemorated and in what way. The fight for freedom and our continued quest for justice in the education system, housing, employment and mental health and penal institutions, demonstrates that our situation has not changed to any great extent.

The Afrikan community views this whole episode, not just as being about history, but also current affairs. We also view it in political, economic and psychological terms. To this end we feel that the descendents and beneficiaries of the oppressor should not be defining the terms and conditions in which people they have and continue to oppress, acknowledge and respond to the nature of their oppression whether historical or present day.

We would not consider it appropriate for example, for Germans to be calling the shots, giving ‘funding’ or defining the parameters of any event in relation to the Jewish Holocaust, nor would we feel it is appropriate for men to be mobilising and organising and defining the terms of any anniversary celebrating the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. How many of us feel it is appropriate for a woman who has experienced violence and sexual violation by a man to then be told that you must conduct your journey of healing as defined by men?

Operation TRUTH 2007 exists to highlight the fact that the 2007 ‘events’ are nothing more than a PR exercise where local authorities and the government will again generate wealth and credibility by exploiting the descendents of enslaved Afrikans 200 years on from the alleged abolition. In the same way that the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 did not end discrimination against women and the Race Relations Act 1976 did not end racism and discrimination against Afrikan people, 1807 was the date a law was passed, not a date where we witnessed a change in practice, attitudes, values or the cessation of the generation of wealth from this activity, the wealth which is evident in the city of Bristol and others today. The very fact that it is considered something to ‘celebrate’, commemorate or acknowledge (with or without consultation with Afrikan people) demonstrates the governments total lack of understanding and sensitivity about the depth of offence that this has caused.

Hail our Freedom Fighters of the MAAFA*, let us stand on their shoulders as the new foot soldiers of the liberation battles we must face in 2007 and beyond.