• Latest
The UWI and West Indian Cricket

Emancipation Day Message

4 years ago
Scholarships for Online Guest Service Gold Tourism Certification Course

Scholarships for Online Guest Service Gold Tourism Certification Course

11 hours ago
Trini deported from Grenada, charged with murder

Trini deported from Grenada, charged with murder

17 hours ago
Claims of coronavirus at SGU designed to create fear and panic

Covid-19 update: Grenada Dashboard 17 May 2022

17 hours ago
No Holiday for Carriacou Carnival

Notice of issuance of writs

17 hours ago
Higher Gas Prices for March 2014

Gas prices for May 2022

1 day ago
Drug bust

Drug bust

1 day ago
Opposition Leader chains himself to Parliament table

Dissolution of 5th session of 10th Parliament

1 day ago
Collaborative Sea Turtle project on endangered sea turtles in Grenada

Collaborative Sea Turtle project on endangered sea turtles in Grenada

2 days ago
The Big Jubilee Read: 2012–2022

The Big Jubilee Read: 2012–2022

2 days ago
Traffic notice: Settlement Road, Frequente

Traffic notice: Settlement Road, Frequente

2 days ago
Orphaned at 15 fuelled PhD graduate’s interest in nonprofit work

Orphaned at 15 fuelled PhD graduate’s interest in nonprofit work

2 days ago
Lifeguard saves 75-year-old man at Bathway Beach

Lifeguard saves 75-year-old man at Bathway Beach

2 days ago
NOW Grenada

Main Header Ad 468x60

  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
NOW Grenada
No Result
View All Result

Article Header

Emancipation Day Message

This story was posted 4 years ago
1 August 2018
in PRESS RELEASE
3 min. read
Professor Sir Hilary Beckles
Share

We join annually with communities across the world in marking the moment in which the crime of chattel enslavement was confronted and uprooted from our existential realities. For us, the moment is 1 August; other dates are determined elsewhere and officially recognised. 

Marking the moment in a celebratory fashion remains necessary despite the despicable nature of the gesture of Emancipation, legislated by Britain in 1838. It was an act in which black peoples were finally defined by Parliament as property, and their enslavers deemed entitled to compensation for property loss.

Today is an opportunity for descendants of the enslaved, and enslavers, to reflect upon the causes and consequences of these crimes against humanity, and in particular their significance on how we live today, and will in the future.

Rising up from the barbarity of bondage, we have dedicated our development energies to the advancement of democratising social values, with a primary emphasis on building societies that are free and fair; upon platforms of multiracialism and multiculturalism.

As descendants, we celebrate the values of human decency left as an additional burden for our ancestors to carry. Every day they imagined would be an Emancipation day. They protected and projected the best tried and tested human values – joys of family life, fine spirit of community living, vitality of food security and material production, moral commitment to equity and justice, and critically the overarching, indispensable importance of freedom as the source of all happiness.

Effectively transcending and conquering the legacies of enchainment, impoverishment and racial denigration continue to elude us. Residual elements of the plantation-based past continue to shape our societies and determine their trajectories.

This year, we find it necessary to litigate the restoration of democratic rights and citizenship, illegally stripped away by the British government from thousands of Caribbean descendants rightfully living in that country since the immigration door was opened to passengers aboard Empire Windrush in 1948.

Last year, evidence of hostility against the Caribbean community by the British state erupted against the background of data, unearthed by historians, showing that the finance bond, by which the British government raised £20 million in 1834 to pay reparations to slave owners, remained active until 2015.

This fact powerfully shows that, for the British state, the slavery world persisted well into the 21st century, putting to rest its argument that “slavery was a long time ago”. These contemporary examples show how the effects of historic crimes still surround our societies. ‘Emancipation’ for us remains a work in progress and in no way can be considered a distant event that is settled and closed.

It is specifically for these reasons that we celebrate Emancipation Day as a moment in which we demand reparatory justice. The Caribbean calls upon the enslaving governments of Europe, and their national institutions, all enriched and empowered by their crimes against humanity, to return to the region in order to participate in cleaning up their colonial mess. The advancement of economic growth is dependent upon it; social justice is dependent upon it; and a 21st century humanity is dependent upon it.

As we confront the future, let us be guided by Sir Arthur Lewis, who stated in 1939 that the 200 years of unpaid labour extracted by the British from the enslaved people of the Caribbean is a debt that must be repaid to their descendants. This is important, he asserted, if we are to have a fair shot at sustainable development. Pushing ahead with a self-emancipatory agenda is critical, but we must do so fully conscious of this broader context of our development efforts.

Blessings to all on Emancipation Day.

Professor Sir Hilary Beckles
Chair, Caricom Reparations Commission

NOW Grenada is not responsible for the opinions, statements or media content presented by contributors. In case of abuse, click here to report.
Tags: caricomemancipationhilary becklesreparations
Next Post
This Day in History

This Day in History

Comment on post Cancel reply

Please enter your valid email address.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Home Sidebar NP 300x250

© NOW Grenada. All Rights Reserved. Published by Aqua Design Inc. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

No Result
View All Result
  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us

Copyright NOW Grenada

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings. Visit our Privacy Policy | Terms of Use.

Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Visit our Privacy Policy | Terms of Use.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.