In Rotterdam, five new streets in Charlois are named after persons who fought against slavery and colonial rule in the former Dutch colonies of Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles. Alderman Bert Wijbenga (Integration and Society) agreed with the advice of the street and memorial committee and the Charlois area committee. In 2021, the first residents will move into their home on Tulastraat. The other named street names are Thicopad, Janey Tetarypad, Virginia Gaaipad and Bonipad.
Resident Simão Miguel sent a suggestion to the Street Names and Memorial Committee for naming a street to Tula in November 2019. Simão Miguel: “I am happy that these street names have been named in such a short time! There is not always a good place for a new street name. It is good that the colonial past is visible in Rotterdam. Not only on the side of the victors but also on the side of the people who fought those rulers. Those are real heroes who resisted. A source of inspiration for everyone in the city. ”
Tula
Tula (year of birth unknown-1795) was the leader of the slave rebellion in Curaçao in 1795. He protested the injustice done to slaves and strove for freedom and equality. Inspired by the French revolution, the establishment of the Batavian Republic and the slave rebellion on Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti), on 17 August 1795, the slaves laid down their work under the leadership of Tula and went to the governor in Willemstad for their freedom to argue. This was the beginning of the largest slave rebellion in the history of the Netherlands Antilles. The rebellion was crushed in September 1795, after which Tula and 31 other slaves were put to death on October 7, 1795. Tula has become the symbol of resistance to slavery in Curaçao and was declared the national hero of Curaçao in 2010. Every year on August 17, the day of the freedom struggle, the uprising is commemorated in Curaçao.
Thico
National slave Thico (year of birth and death unknown) was the spokesman for the slave insurgents in Aruba. Inspired by the slave rebellions in Curaçao and Saint-Domingue, Thico turned against their owners in 1795 with about thirty slaves. The Dutch Commander Specht writes about this: “… having a Neeger Thico belonging to the State and there at the service of the Commander sig seer boldly and brutally unwilling to serve, but to be free,” As a punishment, Thico was sent to Curaçao shipped, where after a few months of imprisonment he was found to be unsaleable and was therefore employed as a lugging slave in Fort Amsterdam.
Janey tetary
Janey Tetary (1856-1884) led protests against the working conditions of the Hindu contract workers in Suriname. In 1880 Tetary traveled as a contract worker from India to Suriname. She was a Muslim and was rejected by her husband in India at a young age. In Suriname she joined the ‘Zorg en Hoop’ plantation. Between 1873 and 1916, Surinamese migrant workers rebelled against the working conditions on the plantations where they worked in Surinam dozens of times. In 1884, Tetary organized an uprising with contract worker Ramjanee, fighting for the promised payment and a decent life. The female contractors, led by Tetary, took full part in the battle. After the rebellion was crushed after two days, the colonial government had Tetary and seven others put to death. In 2017, Janey Tetary received a statue in Paramaribo.
Virginia Gaai
Virginia Dementricia, later Virginia Jay (1842-1867), was a slave who rebelled against her owners in Aruba. She violated the rules imposed on her several times and was punished with forced labor every time. In 1859 she tried to run away which failed and resulted in more arduous labor and imprisonment. Soon after her release, Virginia was arrested again and charged with “street turmoil and resistance to the police.” This time she received a corporal punishment. Her owner sold her in 1860. In 2005 Virginia was immortalized in a three-part multimedia folding screen by the Aruban artist Vanessa Paulina. Since then it has been considered a symbol of resistance to slavery in Aruba.
Good
Boni (1730-1793) was born the son of a runaway slave girl who had joined the Cottica Maroons. Once an adult, he took over the leadership of the Cottica Maroons. From Fort Boekoe near Commewijne in Suriname, he led a guerrilla war against Dutch colonial rule. In attacks on plantations, they captured supplies, tools and weapons and liberated women. When in 1772 Fort Boekoe was taken by the colonial troops, Boni managed to escape together with a large group of maroons and together they continued the battle from new fortresses on the border of French Guiana. In 1793, Boni was betrayed and murdered in his sleep.
The streets are being constructed for the new construction project ‘In the Zuiderpark’, as part of the Hart van Zuid area development.
Street Names and Memorial Commission
The street and memorial committee of the municipality of Rotterdam advises the college on new street names and requests for memorials in public space. The city archivist chairs the committee. The committee includes both official members and civilian members. The commission has been in existence since 1941.
