OP-Ed

In this story from our Remember Statia print publication, the descendants of a Nigerian mother and daughter can only trace their earliest roots back to Statia.

When Umoja Generational Wealth (UGW), the global community for African and African Diaspora entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals, holds the Ubuntu Awakening Summit 2025 in São Tomé & Principe in August, we intend to deliver.

This weekend, together with alderman Bob Roelofs, I laid a wreath on behalf of the municipality of Arnhem for the first time during the Poppy Day commemoration in Oosterbeek. A first, prompted by my questions in the city council about why Arnhem—with its rich history of freedom and resistance—had so far been absent from this international ceremony.

“Just to deliberately pile on top of what I already wrote about my July 1st lecture at HAN. It’s not that I’m against remembrance,. It’s that I’m against celebrating the victory of misdirection. This is not just about the Netherlands and not just about Keti Koti. This is about acceptance of greed that masquerades as a party. Because remembrance without truth is hollow. And celebration without justice is an insult. To all of us!
This is not a one-day, one-off hype thing. A July 1st or a June 19th or Black History Month thing. It’s a lifestyle.
If the truth is a lie, it will set you free.”