Barbados celebrates Emancipation Day

As Barbados observes Emancipation Day 2023, Minister with Responsibility for Culture Dr Shantal Munro-Knight has called on citizens to keep at the front of their minds that the fight for freedom continues.

The Minister was delivering the feature address at the Emancipation Day celebrations held at the Emancipation Statue, Haggatt Hall, St Michael, on Tuesday morning.

Minister with Responsibility for Culture Dr Shantal Munro-Knight

“We recognise that there is still a fight and a battle to be won. That battle is also to be fought in the global arena because we still face an unfriendly world; let’s not fool ourselves. With change, the face looks a little bit different, but there is still a battle. There are still those that see us as still small, as still a people to be colonised in a different language, and that is a battle. 

“It is for this reason that our Prime Minister [Mia Amor Mottley] and others have formed solidarity in order to fight for the reform of the global financial architecture because that is still a fight that has to be had. There is a fight in the context of the denial of reparations, that is a fight that is still to be had,” Munro-Knight said.

Crowd at Emancipation Day Celebrations

Munro-Knight added that this is why citizens must come together in the spirit of solidarity.

” . . . . And a spirit of solidarity doesn’t mean that we always have to agree every single time, but what it means is that we will not let the small things divide us as a nation. That we will remember that each and every one of us together and every little thing that we do, when we put our hands to work when we show up every day, and we carve and continue to carve another piece of the island for ourselves and our children, that is the solidarity that we need today. 

“It is the solidarity that we need to make sure that we pass on to our children because if we don’t pass on that spirit if we don’t pass on those lessons, we run the risk of our children becoming again not masters of their own destiny. It is a risk and a battle that we cannot afford to lose. We have come too far as a people,” she added.

Barbadians gathered at the Emancipation Statue from as early as 6 a.m. for a cultural explosion which included singing, poetry, dancing, and drumming presentations from school children and community groups. Anglican Bishop Reverend Michael Maxwell and other religious leaders prayed for the nation while dignitaries and specially invited guests laid wreaths at the historic site. 

Emancipation Day Celebrations

The Minister told the gathering that Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley was unable to attend the proceedings due to personal reasons. (AH)