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Toyin Agbetu is the founder of Ligali, a London-based pan-African human rights organisation challenging the misrepresentation of the African people in the British media. On 27 April, during a church service organised by the British establishment in Westminster Abbey to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of transatlantic slavery, Agbetu stood up, in the presence of the Queen and Tony Blair, and challenged Britain to apologise for slavery and pay reparations. He was immediately arrested and held in a police cell for 10 hours. In this piece, Agbetu explains why he took that action on that high day.
On 27 April, I sat in Westminster Abbey watching the entire British political elite celebrate the deeds of their ancestors in an event commemorating what they portrayed AS British humanitarianism. As the profligacy and moral hypocrisy of the Wilberfesr celebrations mounted to a deafening crescendo. I calmly arose from my seat, walked towards the entrance and on my way out told the heads of the three leading institutions of British imperialism why I would not stay seated as they insulted my people and our ancestors.
For centuries. Africans have been told that we must he sympathetic and make allowances for what Rudyard Kipling referred to as "the white man's burden". We must turn the other check, smile and parade our "welcome" placards whilst European nations continue to wage an unprovoked war on Africa. During the particular period of world history being celebrated this year, imperial Britain was one of the most unrelentingly aggressive nations in the world.
Without any regard to a moral or spiritual consciousness, ir abused its immense military power to unnaturally enrich its socio-economic development by enslaving, oppressing, murdering, raping and stealing Africa's children and natural resources. Britain's foreign policy of unprovoked attack and aggression is such that it was simultaneously extended to other indigenous peoples of the world.
At the government-funded jamboree in Westminster Abbey, 1 stood up at the point when the congregation was directed to kneel before (tod and beg forgiveness for "trading" our (African) family into slavery.
As I walked into the aisle. I said "not in our name" in opposition to their claim that we Africans were responsible for bringing British slavery upon ourselves and that it...