A day of happiness and sadness

ACTING President Christine Kangaloo wishes TT a happy and reflective Emancipation Day 2019.

In a press release yesterday, Kangaloo said the auspicious day evokes both happiness and sadness for citizens. “On one hand, there are the feelings of unbridled joy and rapturous celebration that freedom brings.

“Yet on the other, there are the feelings of deep hurt and of unspeakable pain, caused by reflecting on the appalling conditions from which freedom was had. Both responses are appropriate: the human spirit is enlivened by freedom; it is destroyed by its absence.”

She added that the challenge of Emancipation Day is to be celebratory and contemplative at the same time.

“Emancipation Day commemorates the close of that which we must never forget – a most heinous chapter in the history of mankind. As a movement, Emancipation Day memorialises that which must never be closed: the call to rise to our fullest potential, and to free ourselves from all that inhibits us from doing so.”

In light of the 185th anniversary of the abolition of African enslavement, Kangaloo called for TT citizens to advocate for the end to all slavery in the world and to remember the struggles of those who fought for their freedom, while being committed to protect the liberty and dignity of all.