The Hanging of Paul Bogle
When Paul Bogle
learned his fate, he felt vindication.
He was proud to die. Being
falsely accused and imprisoned by evil colonial authorities for fighting
against the injustices being perpetrated against his people, and being put to
death on a tree, is similar to the life and death of Jesus Christ whose message
he preached.
Even though England abolished
slavery in its former colony of Jamaica, and the former slaves were able to
choose their employer, field of work and allowed to vote, they were still
desperately impoverished and as a result, they could not vote being unable to
afford the high poll tax. Even though blacks
outnumbered whites thirty-two to one, whites had all the political and economic
power. Abuse was constantly being
inflicted against the so-called “emancipated” blacks. The desperate conditions produced many
organizers to fight for their liberation.
The final straw came when a destitute
black squatter who was using a part of an abandoned plantation to grow food for
himself and his family, was arrested for trespassing. The local blacks protested.
Paul Bogle was at the forefront of
organizing poverty-stricken blacks to strive for their freedom from colonial
tyranny and oppression. He organized a
group of protesters to march to Morant
Bay
to join their other brothers in solidarity.
When they arrived at the courthouse in
Morant Bay, they were attacked by a group of colonial vigilantes. A riot erupted. Eighteen people were killed and the black
protesters took over the town of Morant Bay.
Two thousand black rebels roamed the countryside and killed two white
planters and forced others to flee. This
resulted in the colonial government of an emancipated population to send troops
to Morant Bay to kill the poorly armed rebels and bring Paul Bogle to be
executed.
Being
lead to death by 10, 000 soldiers, Paul meditated on his life. It was all worth it. On the day of his martyrdom, it was 96
degrees in the shade.
With hands tied behind his back and a rope around his neck, he addressed
his soon to be vanquished colonial slave drivers:
“Some
may suffer and some may burn;
but
I know that one day my people will learn;
as
sure as the sun shines, way up in the sky;
today
I stand here a victim – the truth is I’ll never die”
As his body hung from the cotton tree
and swayed in the wind, he thought - “Now the revolution can begin.”
Published: http://the-nyc-mind.tumblr.com/ (17th Aug 2013)
Published: http://the-nyc-mind.tumblr.com/ (17th Aug 2013)
