CARIBBEAN OBSERVES EMANCIPATION

By: Kimberly Ramkhalawan

kramkhalawan@caribmagplus.com

August 2, 2022

Monday August 1st saw nations across the Caribbean observe Emancipation Day.

Trinidad and Tobago, the first nation in the world to declare it as a holiday back in 1985 as observance to the abolition of slavery, often commemorates it with its, parades, and a cultural village put on with the Emancipation Support Committee and sometime in collaboration with the Ministry of Arts and Culture. This year saw the return of the annual procession through the streets of Port of Spain, its capital city, following two years of the pandemic where such gatherings were prohibited.

It is customary to commence the procession at 4am, with this year the procession route leading from the Massy All Stars Pan Yard in East Dry River, in Port of Spain, to the Yoruba Village Monument, followed to the Arise Monument in front of the Treasury Building (on Independence Square, Port of Spain). 

A tribute Yedaase: A Tribute to Our Ancestors took place here followed by a Kambule Procession through the streets of Port of Spain, ending at the Lidj Yasu Omowale Emancipation Village, Queen’s Park Savannah. Musical festivities ensued after , with the final show of the Rhythm and Voices of Africa presented.   

Guyana’s President Dr.Irfaan Ali held celebrations at the President’s house this year, while the country is held its Emancipation Day festival, at the National Park in Georgetown. And while many of his country men donned the colourful attire with the traditional Ankara print, President Ali shared that he believed the occasion to push national unity and his ‘One Guyana’ ideal.

Many islands in the Caribbean, while a specific date isn’t set, it is often observed on the first Monday in August and includes St.Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Grenada, Bermuda, and the British Virgin Islands to name a few.

This year for Barbados its Emancipation day official holiday coincides with Kadooment Day, which is celebrated every first Monday of August. This year, it falls on August 1, and also marks the closing of it six-week Crop Over Festival celebrations. ‘Kadooment’ is a Bajan phrase meaning ‘large party.’ This holiday is centuries old, dating back to the time of slavery. Barbados was one of the biggest sugar cane producers in the 1700s because of slave labor. Kadooment Day and Crop Over day were introduced in the late 18th century to celebrate the successful harvest of the sugar crop. This year Prime Minister Mia Mottley has been in the mix at several Crop over festivities, while during the Grand Kadooment she was spotted in the company of Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed.

Jamaica also held large parades this year in its observance of the day, the country also emerging from its two years of lockdowns without events.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness also joined in the festivities, expressing his elation to see the return of the float and street parade as part of its Emancipation Celebrations in Half-way Tree Square. This year the country which also celebrated its Diamond Jubilee Independence anniversary, Prime Minister Holness said it was their commitment to building a more peaceful nation remains at the forefront of everything done, symbolized what he called a monumental day, alongside Opposition Leader Mark Golding, Archbishop of Kingston, Reverend Kenneth Richards by releasing “peace doves” in Half-Way-Tree square, as a demonstration of national unity on this our Emancipation Day.

Antigua and Barbuda celebrates carnival on and around the first Monday of August. Since 1834 Antigua and Barbuda have observed the end of slavery. The first Monday and Tuesday in August was observed as a bank holiday so the populace can celebrate Emancipation Day. Monday is J’ouvert, a street party that mimics the early morning emancipation. This year was no different and hundreds took to the streets to participate in the J’ouvert Morning revelry.

Last year, Belize became the most recent state to join in other Caribbean nations in the observance of Emancipation Day on August 1st.

Ahead of observations across the Caribbean islands, CARICOM Deputy Secretary-General Dr Armstrong Alexis welcomed an African Royal Delegation of Community Leaders to the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana. The representatives of AIDO Network International have been collaborating in recent months with the CARICOM Reparations Commission. 

According to the Secretariat, “the CARICOM Reparations Commission has drafted in collaboration with AIDO, a draft MOU that seeks to promote Pan-Africanism, African and Caribbean history and culture; knowledge and cultural exchanges; advancing the claim for reparations for slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans; advocating to address peace and conflict resolution and other human and civil rights issues affecting people of African descent; and facilitating investment, business and economic development”.

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