African Warriors, Insurgent Fighters, and the Memory of Slavery in the Anglophone Caribbean

Abstract

As the memories of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery have become more prominent across the Atlantic World, what is commemorated has been increasingly influenced by the various needs of the nations and regions which choose to remember. Equally important are those historical aspects that are silenced and forgotten, whether in Europe, West Africa, or the Americas. In the postcolonial Anglophone Caribbean, a region for which the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery had profound impacts, the memories of these events are integral to the shaping of national historical narratives and identities. This article examines how monuments have been used to memorialize and to silence specific historical aspects concerning slavery. This study critically evaluates the impact of these monuments on identity creation processes in these postcolonial societies.