“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery!” Those words were made popular in song by Bob Marley in his hit ‘Redemption Song.’
Marcus Garvey words
Descendants of slaves who worked under the whip in former British colonies celebrating Emancipation Day, today August 1, may realize those words were first uttered by Marcus Garvey. The Jamaican National Hero brought self-respect and dignity to Africans in the diaspora.
Garvey was the patriarch of the civil rights movement in the United States. He inspired some of this country’s greatest black minds including Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael and Barack Obama.
As we celebrate a day which is important to how we see ourselves as a people, the mental progress of many of the descendants of slaves who worked without remuneration on sugar plantations, leave a lot to be desired.
Farcical at best
Lisa Henderson is a Barbadian national residing in South Florida, perceives the notion of Emancipation Day as “farcical at best.”
“We still haven’t emancipated ourselves from the mental shackles, although the chains have been removed from our feet and necks. As a people we are still at the bottom of the barrel economically, socially and politically. Most of us are still slaves to former slave master’s pruducts and shiny objects. Are we really free?” she asked.
Trinidad and Tobago was the first independent Caribbean country to celebrate Emancipation Day, when the holiday replaced Columbus Discovery Day on August 1, 1985. Before gaining independence in 1962, Emancipation Day was a holiday in Jamaica. It was reinstated as a holiday in 1995 after a five-year lobby by pan Africanists in that country.
Just another day off
For most Jamaicans, however Emancipation Day is just another day off work and the significance is lost.
Karl Whittaker who recently migrated to Coral Springs is convinced most Jamaicans of African descent couldn’t care less. “Back in Jamaica, we were glad to get an extra public holiday. Some would just laze about while others used it as an opportunity to imbibe and chill with friends,” he told CNW.
Emancipation Day is also celebrated in Antigua, Anguilla, The Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, St Kitts and Nevis and Grenada.
