Beckles: The price of freedom is eternal vigilance

OPPOSITION Leader and PNM political leader Pennelope Beckles says Emancipation Day is an occasion which must remind the population that their freedom comes at a price.

In her Emancipation Day message to the nation, Beckles said, "Progressive liberty is the essence of the ennobling and enabling of our society, and even world civilization."

She added, "As we commemorate African Emancipation Day 2025, let us remind ourselves that price of human freedom is eternal vigilance. In so doing, today we recognise that reparations are firmly rooted in international law, not swayed by emotions or political expedience."

Beckles said, "The atrocities inflicted upon humanity underscore that when we commemorate emancipation, we do so not solely for people of African descent but for all of humankind, affirming that there shall never again be a return to enslavement."

A former TT ambassador to the UN, Beckles underscored that TT must not only commemorate Emancipation day from a historical perspective alone.

"Globally, we have now entered the 2nd United Nations Decade for People of African Descent. It is imperative that our nation wholeheartedly commits to the call for reparatory justice."

Beckles said, "This commitment aligns with the Caricom ten-point plan for reparatory justice, where Caricom, in solidarity with Africa, urges European governments whose ancestors profited from the chattel enslavement of Africans and committed atrocities against the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, to restore justice and promote reconciliation for the descendants of those who were victims of these crimes against humanity."

She recalled it was under a PNM government that Emancipation Day was first declared a public holiday in 1985.

"It was our country’s second prime minister, the late George Michael Chambers, who in 1985, listened to the clamour and clarion calls of our citizens, including the voices of some of whom still serve in what is now the Emancipation Support Committee, and declared August 1 a public holiday in recognition of Emancipation Day, now called African Emancipation Day."

Beckles said the name change marked the end of the first UN Decade for People of African Descent 2015 to 2024 and signalled the then PNM Government’s commitment to ensuring the memory of those African ancestors who fought for

liberation will be properly remembered.

"It is imperative that we never lose sight of the plight, struggles and unacceptably disadvantageous position our African forefathers were placed in, some of which still permeate to this day."