Black Achievement Award for Activist Barryl Biekman, Who Fought for Decades for an Apology for Slavery

Barryl Biekman (1950) has waged a decades-long struggle against indifference in the Netherlands when it comes to its colonial past. On Wednesday evening, she received a lifetime achievement award at DeLaMar Theatre, as the closing event of Black Achievement Month, in recognition of her commitment.

Barryl Biekman from the National Platform for Slavery History, together with Jerry Afriyie from the Black Manifest, participated in a roundtable discussion in the House of Representatives about the history of slavery.

Biekman is the chairperson of the National Platform for Slavery History, a coalition of fifteen Surinamese and Antillean associations, clubs, and activist groups aiming to raise historical awareness in the Netherlands regarding the colonial past and advocating for the establishment of a national monument.

In the 1970s, Biekman, then a civil servant from The Hague with a remarkable dose of fighting spirit, joined the Afro-Surinamese women’s movement Sophiedela. “It was a time when we began a process of awareness within the community about our roots,” she said in an interview with Het Parool.

“We looked to Africa and read books about the cruelties of the colonial era. We organized gatherings to exchange ideas with one another. Naturally, the question of justice also arose: how strange it is that no one has ever said sorry.”

No Participation of the Recipients

In 2001, Biekman was part of the Dutch delegation that accompanied Minister Roger van Boxtel to a UN summit in Durban against racism, discrimination, and xenophobia, where the Dutch government expressed regret. At least, “regret, bordering on remorse.”

When Prime Minister Mark Rutte wanted to offer a formal apology on behalf of the government in 2022, she objected. The plan, she wrote, was “received as utterly unexpected, misunderstood, hurtful, and offensive,” mainly because there was no participation of the recipients of the apology.

“For me, it’s important that an apology comes from King Willem-Alexander on behalf of the cabinet,” Biekman said in Het Parool. “The abolition of slavery was signed by King Willem III, so it is also a matter for the Royal House. Furthermore, the apology should be made on the territory where that reprehensible slavery took place.”

Ultimately, the king offered that apology on July 1, 2023, during his speech at Keti Koti in Amsterdam’s Oosterpark.

Positive Contribution

The ‘lifetime achievement award’ of Black Achievement Month is for “a person from the Black community who has made a significant and positive contribution to Dutch society over a long period of time” and has been awarded annually since 2017. Previous winners include artist Felix de Rooy, director Frank Zichem, psychiatrist Glenn Helberg, actresses Gerda Havertong and Helen Kamperveen, and, in 2023, documentary filmmaker Ida Does.

Besides Biekman’s lifetime achievement award, awards were also presented in various categories on Wednesday evening. Winners included Imara Limon, chief curator of the Amsterdam Museum (arts and culture), Jay Gibbes, youth coach at PSV (people and society), Olympic 3×3 basketball champion Worthy de Jong (sports), professor Guno Jones, who holds the Anton de Kom chair at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (science and education), and Charlene Austin, founder of Okra Agency (entrepreneurship).

Source: