Profound Experiences in Britain

and natural resources of the countries it colonized for centuries.

By Hon. Gilroy Usher, Port Loyola

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.”

–Saint Augustine

Yours truly Hon. Gilroy Usher Area Representative for Port Loyola and Minister of State for Youth, Sports, and Transport and UDP Senator Beverly Williams were given the opportunity to represent Belize at the 71st Westminster Seminar for Commonwealth countries in London, Britain. The event was from Monday March 13, 2023 to Friday March 17, 2023. The Commonwealth consist of fifty-six countries. The vast majority were former British colonies, while the few remainder are still British controlled territories. The Head of the Commonwealth is Prince Charles slated to be crowned as King Charles III.

The focus of the seminar, which had more than seventy parliamentarians and other delegates was effective parliaments. Sessions included the role of parliamentarians and parliamentary officials, ethics and standards, engagement with the media, diversity and inclusion, visit to par- liament for a Prime Minister’s Question & Answer session, and actual constituency visits with members of parliament. The representation made possible my first trip to Britain, the mother country of Belize. In the 1600’s my ancestors were brought to Belize then British Honduras from Africa as slaves to cut logwood and mahogany for the ancestors of the British people. Throughout my life, I have heard that the massive amount of natural wealth that the British extracted freely from Belize by totally denying our ancestors their fundamental rights as human beings for centuries, played a major role in making Britain one the most developed countries in the world.

I am thankful for Britain’s contribution to the development of post-slavery Belize. However, I will not shy from saying that the evidence of Britain’s unjust enrichment with the natural resources of its former colonies with slave labour was visible wherever I travelled in the country. The massive public buildings with the latest niceties ;the large and luxurious official residence of the Prime Minister as well as that of the Speaker of the House of Commons which is like the House of Representatives; the massive railway system; public transportation with all modern buses ;the huge welfare system, and miles of long fully paved streets all around as well as many other things are evidence of tremendous development by the mother land through exploitation of the people

To the dismay of a few delegates at the seminar, but in pursuit of justice from the powerful for the poor, I asked the question below which got the hall filled with discussion in support of reparation for slavery.

“With Britain as Head of the Commonwealth and yourself Rt. Hon. David Lammy member UK House of Commons for the Labour Party and first black Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs, what will it take for the British government to recognize that it should apologize for its role in slavery and pay compensation in cash or with specific programs to Commonwealth countries including Belize from which it extracted tremendous wealth with the ancestors of their people as slaves?

My experience with four royalties and a number of delegates at the seminar will remain with me for life. (To be continued next week)