‘Barbados: a crossroad of civilizations’ might sound a little excessive. Yet I’ll bet you the island’s history might well have a connection with you, whatever your origin. Here goes!
- Are you from Africa? It’s highly likely that you have cousins in Barbados, with Igbo, Yoruba, or Akan ancestry. Or otherwise.
- Are you French, English, Spanish, Portuguese or Dutch? I’ll spare you the lecture about your nation’s responsibility in the grim history of enslavement. What you might not know about your forefathers, however, is that the 17th century marked the beginning of fierce rivalries between Europe’s colonial empires; and that some of your ancestors may well have been sent as cannon fodder, fighting each other across the Caribbean Seas. The military stronghold established by the British in Barbados was key to fending off their adversaries.
- Are you Irish or Scottish? Some Bajan* blood might well be running through your veins! Perhaps your ancestors were Royalists who fled Cromwell’s revolution in the 17th century and thrived in Barbados. The outcome wasn’t as pleasant for Redlegs who ended up in the colony as ‘indentured servants’ to pay off their debts.
- Do you live in Central America? No doubt you know that the Panama Canal was built in great part by Caribbean labor, including from Barbados, after the decline of sugar plantations in the early 20th century.
- ¿Eres de Cuba? After Panama, many Bajans tried their luck in Cuba where the United States was spending big money on sugar plantations.
- Are you American? Did you know that the first European colony in the United States actually originated from Barbados? English settlers left the island to start sugar plantations in North Carolina, bringing along their wives, sugarcanes and slaves.
- Are you Indian? When the trade of black slaves was banned in the early 19th century, British settlers in Barbados circumvented the new law by importing Indian slaves from neighboring islands.
- Are you Brazilian? You may have had Jewish forefathers who were expelled from the Netherlands first, then from Portugal. In the latter part of the 17th century, some of them brought a revolutionary tool to Barbados: the windmill. This allowed the sugar industry to soar and added to the wealth of European empires.
- Are you Arab? How about mentioning the lesser-known intra-African trade? It supplied the Abbasid Caliphate in Iraq and Cairo with unpaid labor from Africa or other sources, for centuries and centuries. Doesn’t this iniquitous trade appear to be the precursor to the Middle Passage**?
- Are you Chinese? Take a look at what’s going on in Barbados nowadays and you’ll understand how China weaves its business web - and its political might- across the planet.
When it comes to religion, one might think things are pretty straightforward. After all, it’s common knowledge that the slaves in Barbados were evangelized by the British and that 90% of Barbadian people are now Christian. Let’s see if Anglicanism is the only faith on the island.
- When Anglican proselytes on the island tried to convert African slaves by preaching about the Good News, they faced competition from Methodists and Quakers whom they accused of doing the same with an ulterior motive: abolishing slavery.
- Although the island only covers 166 square miles, I dare you to list every single variation of Protestant and Evangelical denominations to be found in addition to the above-mentioned faiths of origin: Pentecostals, Seventh-Day Adventists, Wesleyans, Nazarenes, Church of God, Baptists, Moravians, Twelve Apostles and then some.
- Catholics, on the other hand, had to wait until the Anglican colonial power started to wane before they could gain ground in Barbados, but they certainly don’t go unnoticed nowadays. Just a stone’s throw from Bridgetown’s most beautiful beaches stands Saint-Patrick’s, their magnificent cathedral.
- The Mormons have built their own Church of the Latter-Day Saints.
- Jehovah’s Witnesses will do their best to convert you in any language, including Sign Language, on the streets of Bridgetown.
- Bahá’ís congregate at devotional meetings to reflect upon the writing of Bahá'u'lláh.
- Jews celebrate Bar- and Bat-Mitzvahs in the beautiful Nidhe Israel synagogue built in Bridgetown in the 17th century. Which makes it the oldest synagogue in the Western hemisphere.
- Muslims have a choice of four mosques to worship Allah.
- Rastafarians give thanks to Jah at the Pothouse Spring, their forest shrine, while singing songs by Bob Marley.
- Hindus will paint their bodies in bright colors and have the time of their lives at Holi, and fervently illuminate their temples for Diwali.
Now, what about African religions? An entire chapter could be devoted to them! They are the foundation of all Afro-Creole spirituality, which gave Bajans the strength to endure enslavement; they are still celebrated every year with deep devotion on Emancipation Day***, August 1st.
Those cultures, beliefs and civilizations all coexist peacefully in Barbados, this tiny speck of an island. It is no wonder that Bridgetown is now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
There's so much more to Barbados than its beaches and coconut trees. It’s yours to discover!
Translated by Edna Setton
28 July 2022
*Bajan (pr. bay-djun): noun or adjective, derived from “Barbadian”.
**The Middle Passage: the forced voyage of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World.
***Emancipation Day : to mark the entry into force on 1 August 1834 of the Slavery Abolition Act adopted by the British Parliament one year earlier.