By: Joseph Richard Jessie Martínez, Sociologist; joejessie93@gmail.com

The Raizal People are a Protestant Afro-Anglo-Caribbean ethnic group, product of the mixture between African slaves and European colonial (mostly English), descendants who were living in the Archipelago of San Andrés, Old Providence and Ketleena. They are recognized by the Colombian State as one of the Afro-Colombian ethnic groups under the national multicultural policy, issued since de proclamation of the new constitution of 1991.

The history of the Raizal People dates back to the second decade of the seventeenth century, (Parsons, 1985) , when a group of English mariners came across the islands while sailing the western Caribbean. The history of my people, like in most Caribbean islands, has been characterized by the capture, forced deportation and enslavement of black people. Black people were forcibly transported from their homes in Africa, across the perilous Atlantic Ocean to islands like Jamaica, Barbados and others, to work on sugar plantations for the rest of their lives. Some of these slaves were relocated to the islands of San Andrés and Old Providence to work also in established plantation.

During the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the main labor employed on the Caribbean plantations was slave labor. Likewise, it was in this time when the islands began to have a stable human settlement and started the construction of the Raizal social and economic composition and culture, as we know it today.
During the third decade of the nineteenth century, the traditional economic dynamics of plantations began to change in the Archipelago. It was there in 1834 when leading slaveholders began the liberation of the enslaved population.

Many factors influence the liberation of slaves in the British Empire. On the one hand, the industrial revolution, which began since the eighteenth century, allowed Britain to produce better from free trade and free labor. On the other hand, the cruel and inhumane treatment given to slaves began to generate universal clamor to abolish trafficking and enslavement of people. In addition, the constant revolts on the plantations “shocked the British government and made them see that the costs and dangers of keeping slavery in the West Indies were too high” (E2BN, 2009)

In the meanwhile, special magistrates were sent from Britain to undertake the responsibility for punishing unruly apprentices and masters. The apprenticeship system was imposed for the British colony and plantation owners and it was designed to ease the transition from slavery to freedom, by forcing the ex-slaves to remain on their plantations for a period of six years. Its main purpose was to prevent the immediate large-scale abandonment of estates by the workers, although, with cruel irony, it was the masters and not the slaves who were awarded compensation for the loss of their "property." The system proved too burdensome to administer and was prematurely terminated in 1838

As a result of many social, economic and politics situations, in 1833 Thomas Buxton presented The Emancipation Bill in the British Parliament. The Act was passed and came into effect on 1 August 1834. The rise of reform movements helped lead to state-imposed emancipation in British colonies like Jamaica and Barbados during the 1830s.

In 1834 the Baptist pastor, Phillip Beckman Livingston declared the freedom of his slaves in the Island of Old Providence. He contributed in the emancipation effort and his pronouncement was characterized by four fundamental elements: 1. Emancipation (Freedom), 2. Land Position, 3. Education and 4. Evangelization.

The Raizal People of San Andrés, Old, Providence and Kethlena, like many former British colonies in the Caribbean and areas of the United States; celebrates during the first week of August, Emancipation day as a commemorative date in which the African descent salves was liberated from slavery

Now, Emancipation is a term used to describe various efforts to obtain political rights or equality, often for a specifically marginalized group. The word emancipation was in common use in political affairs of 18th and 19th century around political discourse. But, Emancipation in the western world involved many more elements than are commonly assumed. It was an economic, social, racial, and spiritual disturbance, with massive global and cultural implications that impulse this event of “liberation from oppression.”