| COBG calls for 'non-compliance' with city agenda. |
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The Consortium of Black Groups (COBG) have called for non-compliance with the city of Bristol's plans for commemorating the bicentenary of the UK abolition of slave trading. At a meeting of the Bristol Partnership on 16th March 2006, a statement was read out by Madu Ellis, representative of the COBG on the city's 'Local Strategic Partnership'. It condemned the city's track record on consulting Black and Afrikan communities and proposed that Afrikan heritage people would not take part in the commemoration. The Consortium of Black Groups (COBG) have called for non-compliance with the city of Bristol's plans for commemorating the bicentenary of the UK abolition of slave trading. At a meeting of the Bristol Partnership on 16th March 2006, a statement was read out by Madu Ellis, representative of the COBG on the city's 'Local Strategic Partnership'. It condemned the city's track record on consulting Black and Afrikan communities and proposed that Afrikan heritage people would not take part in the commemoration. The statement was founded on the decision at previous community consultations to position the COBG as the lead body for Afrikan Caribbean communities in Bristol to respond to the city's official plans for the year, and co-ordinate its activities. This statement came as a surprise to the Partnership who were hoping to gather support for their planned activities, and secure participation in the programme. The COBG have deemed the city's approach to the year as opportunistic: "The community feels that the 2007 ‘events’ is 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." The statement also predicted that the city's activities were unlikely to make any real impact on the lives of Afrikan people, and disputed the idea that the year would be anything to celebrate. "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 very fact that it is considered something to ‘celebrate’ commemorate or acknowledge (with or without consultation with Afrikan Caribbean people) demonstrates that the city council totally lacks understanding and sensitivity about the depth of offence that this has caused." The statement goes on to deem it inapprpriate for the city council to be to owning this commemoration which has had a lasting impact on Afrika, its people and worldwide diaspora. " 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?" After the statement, the proposal could not be agreed by the Partnership and an emergency working group was established to discuss the city's proposals and the COBG concerns. The COBG move puts the city in a difficult position as there is powerful political support for the city to play its part in the bicentenary, which will be commemorated across the UK. Furthermore, Bristol as a chief UK slave trading port during the eighteenth century, has a unique obligation to address the issue. The city has often been accused of denying its past around its role in the slave trade, and must therefore find a way to show it is taking action, while balancing the concerns and sensitivies expressed by the COBG statement. |
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