By Mario Cacciottolo
BBC News

Sorry is often said to be the hardest word but Andrew Hawkins felt compelled 
to apologise to a crowd of thousands of Africans.
His regret was not for his own actions but offered on behalf of his 
ancestor, who traded in African slaves 444 years ago.

Sir John Hawkins was a 16th Century English shipbuilder, merchant, pirate 
and slave trader.

He first captured natives of Sierra Leone in 1562 and sold them in the 
Caribbean. His cousin was Sir Francis Drake, who joined him on expeditions.

Hawkins is famed for reconstructing the design of English ships in the 1580s 
and commanded part of the fleet which repelled the Spanish Armada in 1588.

'Family joke'

But it was his drive to acquire and sell African slaves which prompted 
Hawkins's distant relation to take his own journey to that continent several 
centuries later.

Andrew Hawkins, of Liskeard, Cornwall, is a 37-year-old married 
father-of-three who runs a youth theatre company and claims to be the 
sailor's descendant.

"It had always been part of the verbal history of our family, that we were 
related to Sir John Hawkins.

"It was a standing joke in the family that we had a pirate in the family.

"When I was a child I was quite pleased to learn of this family link and in 
Plymouth John Hawkins is a bit of a local hero.

"His picture used to be up in a subway there, along with Plymouth heroes. As 
a boy I used to be pleased to see it and to think I was related to him."

'Unjustifiable'

But in 2000 Andrew's perspective was forever altered when he learned the 
truth about his ancestor.

"I heard David Pott, from the Lifeline Expedition, speak in 2000 and he 
mentioned how Hawkins was the first English slave trader.

"It was a bit of a shock and it really challenged me, particularly because 
Hawkins named his ships things like Jesus of Lubeck and the Grace of God.


SIR JOHN HAWKINS
Born Plymouth, 1535
Cousin of Sir Francis Drake
Famed for voyages to West Africa and South America
Trades slaves in the Caribbean in 1562, beginning England's participation in 
slave trade
Helped fight the Spanish Armada in 1588 (Photo: National Maritime Museum)

"That really offended me, particularly the latter name. God's grace has 
nothing to do with being chained up in the hold of a ship, lying in your own 
excrement for several months.

"So often things are done in the name of God that are horrific for mankind 
and I think God would consider what Sir John Hawkins did to be an 
abomination.

"It's quite shocking that he could think it was justifiable."

Andrew says slavery was never justifiable, even in the 16th Century, when 
people often say society "didn't know any different".

He says: "We don't try to justify the Jewish Holocaust but this was an 
African Holocaust.

"We have to face our history and our own personal consequences. I went to 
show people that I didn't think what happened was right and not everybody 
thought it was acceptable."

Andrew and his fellow members from the Lifeline Expedition made their 
apology at The International Roots Festival, held in the Gambia in June.

This event, which runs for several weeks, encourages Africans to discover 
their ancestral identity.

Crowd hushed

The group of 27 spoke up at a football stadium in the capital Banjul, at the 
end of the festival's opening ceremony.

They made their way to the stadium by walking through the streets laden in 
yokes and chains, before eventually speaking their words of atonement.

They included people from European nations such as England, France and 
Germany but there were also representatives from Jamaica, Barbados, Mali, 
the Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone.


"Black people came to apologise because black people sold black people to 
Europeans," Andrew said.

Andrew estimates the 25,000-capacity stadium was about two-thirds full, with 
delegates from African nations, Gambian vice-president, Isatou Njie-Saidy, 
and Rita Marley, widow of reggae legend Bob Marley, among the crowd.

He says: "The crowd died down to a hush. Some were looking at us, others 
were reading through their programmes to work out what we were doing.

"One lady at the front must have realised because she started applauding, 
then everyone did the same.

"That was a moving moment, because I wasn't sure if they would be happy to 
see us."

Multi-lingual apology

The group apologised in French, German and English - the languages of the 
nations responsible for much of the African slave trade.


It's never too late to say you're sorry
Andrew Hawkins


The apology had not been rehearsed. Andrew said: "It's hard to remember what 
I said. I did say that as a member of the Hawkins family I did not accept 
what had happened was right.

"I said the slave trade was an abomination to God and I had come to ask the 
African people for their forgiveness."

'Emotional responses'

Vice-president Njie-Saidy joined them on stage and, in an impromptu speech, 
said she was "touched" by the apology before coming forward to help the 
group out of their chains.



Andrew says: "I was really overwhelmed with her generosity because she chose 
to forgive us, which is a very powerful thing.

"Afterwards people came on to the pitch to talk to us and there were some 
very emotional responses."

But does Andrew really believe it was worth apologising for events that 
happened more than four centuries ago, on behalf of a relative who is so 
very distant?

"Yes. It's never too late to say you're sorry," he said.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/5105328.stm

Published: 2006/06/23 13:42:04 GMT

© BBC MMVI

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤