Jamaica’s Consul General to New York, Alsion Wilson has shared an independence message with the Jamaican diaspora ahead of Jamaica’s 59th independence, August 6, 2021.
Her independence message reads:
My fellow Jamaicans in the Diaspora,
I am honoured to take this opportunity to convey warm Jamaican greetings to you on our 59th Anniversary of Independence, under the theme “Stronger Together”.
Since the adoption of our Emancipation Act in August 1838, our strength and resilience as a nation have improved the collective destinies of all Jamaicans. It is with this resilience of spirit that our forefathers – united in purpose -secured our political Independence on August 6th, 1962, marking the birth of our nation.
This year, our Anniversary takes place as the world recovers from COVID-19. Therefore, our Jamaican Diaspora and Friends of Jamaica must remain firmly committed to working stronger together towards building the resilience of our fellowmen and women.
A product of this partnership effort is our Tablet and Laptop Initiative, which provided nearly 4,500 students with remote learning devices. To further strengthen our educational resilience, we recently facilitated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Education Ministry and Monroe College, to allow for increased access to scholarships and grants for our Jamaican students.
With our Medical Friends of Jamaica, we have co-hosted a Free Covid-19 Vaccination Pop-Up Clinic with NYC Health and Hospitals, and Sensitization Sessions with Hartford Healthcare. Special thanks to all frontline workers in our Diaspora who have worked tirelessly during this most difficult time.
As we enter our 59th year of nationhood, let us continue to harness all our skills, talents and resources towards making “Jamaica, the place of choice to live, work, raise families, and do business”.
Our success as a nation can only be achieved if we continue to work even stronger together, as we are “Out of Many, One People”.
In closing, it is my wish that we will truly achieve Harambee, which is Swahili for “all pull together” in reference to the value of teamwork and community.
