Charles: Celebrate Emancipation with changed mindset

Emancipation must be an individual reality involving a change in mindset, and attitudes to build better communities.
So advised Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles in an address at Emancipation Day celebrations at the Pigeon Point Heritage Park on Wednesday.

Charles said if the celebration of Emancipation does not “better equip us to prosper our communities, then we are no better than our enslaved ancestors.”
Noting that this year marks the 184th year of Emancipation in Trinidad and Tobago, he said the bigger question should now be ‘What does Emancipation mean for us today?’

“Are we still content with the basic premise of Emancipation, which meant that the labour of our ancestors was no longer free; they were no longer forced to work on the plantations of European planters; they no longer needed to hide to practice their cultural art-forms and religion and even this was later restricted through the Shouters Prohibition Ordinance 1917 until it was repealed in 1951.

“Brothers and sisters, while it is important for us to celebrate the reality that Africans in our country are no longer enslaved; receive remuneration for labour; free to practice religion and cultural art-forms; belong to the business sector as owners and employers and are leaders in government, it is by no means a reason for us to put our feet up and relax, as though we have reached the pinnacle of success.
“Today it is important that we go deeper, beyond the surface and make emancipation an individual reality.

“Each one of us must ask ourselves as individuals, ‘What is my emancipation?’ How do we as individuals express that freedom and liberation in a way that not only we and our immediate families benefit but our communities and society as a whole? How do we ensure that our children and grandchildren live lives that demonstrate and reflect an emancipated soul?
“Today our interpretation of emancipation must go beyond, ‘an end to free labour.’ Our emancipation must also mean an end to wrong mindsets, an end to bad attitudes, an end to selfishness, an end to divisivenes, an end to jealousy and hatred, an end to laziness and unproductivity.”

Charles called on Tobagonians to reflect on the strength, courage, determination and undefeatable spirit of the ancestors to survive the journey from Africa to this land, endure over 400 years of slavery,
preserve religion, culture and traditions, and to “commit ourselves to transform our way of thinking…”

He reminded that African history was not only about slavery, but that Africans were kings, queens, inventors, astute businessmen and traders, powerful leaders and had some of the most sophisticated technology and organised communities and societies.

“We must seek out the information and we must also pass it on to our young men and women, boys and girls. No one else will do it for you,” he said, as he cited a line from Bob Marley’s Redemption Song - “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.”

Charles also noted that the Emancipation Day celebrations marked the end of the 2018 Tobago Heritage Festival, now in its 31st year. He commended and the people of Tobago for their commitment to the Festival, and reminded it was deliberately designed and structured to conclude with Emancipation Day.

“After two weeks of remembering their way of life, traditions and culture, it is also fitting that we celebrate the day that they ceased to be enslaved, controlled and manipulated by colonial evils,” he said.