Black people live with generations of inherited grief, which Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga says creates severe emotional “dis-ease”. Colonialism created a frac tured state, geographically and emotionally, and its ruinous effects are still apparent today. One of the most dangerous effects is viewing and evaluating oneself based on values and virtues that are foreign. Some would quickly rave about a croissant than sit in awe of the culinary marvel that is the Jamaican patty. Then there are those eager to attend a low-ranking Florida college than The University of the West Indies. Some would rather pluck a Donna Karan dress from the rack than a far superior Meiling creation. And, there are those who pride themselves on being able to spot a Turner but can’t identify a Waldemar.

“Thanks to slaves and sugar, life was sweet in the Empire where the sun never sets,” says Jamaican painter Patrick Waldemar in the artistic statement of Lest We Forget, the artist’s current collection on show at the Olympia Gallery. Waldermar’s collection of acrylics and watercolours revolve around the role that Jamaican sugar played in enriching British coffers while depleting the natural and human resources of the island.

Another line in Waldemar’s statement reads, “Under moonlight, however, molasses became brown sugar, became light sugar and life not as sweet.” One of Waldemar’s most striking (it’s hard even to rank them) pieces, Black with Sugar Please, sees a nude black man reposed in a cane field with a cup of tea. Upon close inspection, the teacup, sitting amongst cane leaves, is adorned with the face of Queen Victoria. The painting interrogates many ideals, including repose art that still predominantly features white bodies; it highlights the joy of seeing a black man at rest and reduces royal imagery to decor, a mere figurine, a utensil.

When The University of the West Indies (The UWI) was formed in 1949, it chose Oriens Ex Occidente Lux as its motto; a Latin phrase meaning “Light rising from the West.” With this audacious move, The UWI signalled to the colonisers that Caribbean people defy the laws of geography and are beacons wherever they go. Look at how the region’s culture has influenced cuisine, fashion, and the arts globally. The region has been in a decades-long dialogue, signalling back to the empire that we are ready to become untethered. What Haiti was brave enough to do on January 1, 1804, the rest of us took as a cautionary tale. That is until Trinidad and Tobago on August 1, 1976, and more recently, Barbados on Tuesday, November 30. As Waldemar notes, “Pomp and circumstance no longer rule the day. Those who once followed, today proudly go their own way. Crying ‘bun it down.’”