Commentary: The Marginalization of Emancipation Day: Making a Correction

The Marginalization of Emancipation Day: Making a Correction

The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 in England abolished slavery throughout the British Empire on August 1, 1834. It was, naturally, a momentous and solemn event. Evidence of this deeply moving and reflective occasion is provided by, though an example from the colonizers, the proclamation issued by the Governor of Antigua and the Leeward Islands, Sir John Murray MacGregor, at Government House on June 13, 1834, which reads as follows:

Whereas it hath pleased Almighty God in His Infinite Wisdom to bring to a happy termination the System of Slavery hitherto existing in these Islands and to bring all its inhabitants the privilege of Freedom, and it being incumbent on us to certify our grateful thanks of the Divine Favour on so interesting an occasion, and to implore the permanent protection of the Supreme Being, I do hereby and with the advice of His Majesty’s Privy Council, direct and appoint that Friday the first day of August next be observed in all Churches as a Day of General Thanksgiving for these Mercies and likewise of Humble Intercession to the Wise Disposer of all things for the continued Blessing on this most important change.

It is expected that this Day will be observed by Persons of all Classes with the same marks of Respect and Reverence as the Sabbath.

God Save the King

In the early years after emancipation, August 1st was celebrated in Antigua in various ways, mainly through church services giving thanks to the Almighty (in line with the earlier proclamation), but also through more jubilant and festive events. As B.W. Higman explains in his 1998 article – Remembering slavery: The rise, decline, and revival of Emancipation Day in the English-speaking Caribbean – over the following hundred years leading up to the centenary of abolition, attitudes toward celebrating Emancipation Day in the West Indies varied between not celebrating due to the horrible memories of slavery and feelings of shame and inferiority and celebrating because of their triumph over slavery and pride in their race. Indeed, Higman mentions Marcus Garvey’s first effort in 1928 to turn August 1st into “a sacred and holy day…a day of blessed memory” with large processions through Kingston’s streets. Garvey criticized a “disposition of late to forget slavery and emancipation” because of the shame associated with slavery and believed that “history is a thing no civilized or intelligent person can well ignore,” and saw the past as a guide for the future. Over the next 85 years up to today, West Indian territories vacillated between making August 1st (or the first Monday in August) an official holiday, replacing it with Independence or Discovery Day, or having no official celebration at all. Trinidad and Tobago reinstated Emancipation Day in 1984, and Jamaica in 1997.

Higman further notes that in the years just prior to the ill-fated Federation of the West Indies (1958-1962), Emancipation Day was recognized as a public holiday in the English-speaking Caribbean, though “generally with an emphasis on recreation.” On September 10, 1954, Parliament in Antigua formally enacted the Public Holidays Act, which listed the first Monday in August as an official holiday. The annual Carnival festivities began in 1957, with the first Monday in August designated as J’Ouvert (from the French words “jour ouvert,” meaning daybreak or morning). According to N. Sheriff in “J’ouvert speaks to the present,” J’Ouvert is a morning street dance or “jump-up” that celebrates resistance to cultural domination and triumph over enslavement. On September 13, 2005, Parliament amended the Public Holidays Act to provide for the Carnival Holiday, designated as the first Monday in August, and the Tuesday following that Monday. Interestingly, neither the original nor the amended Act used the word “Emancipation.” Based on anecdotal records, it seems that staging the Antigua Carnival around the first Monday in August served three main purposes: celebrating the sugar cane harvest for that year, commemorating emancipation, and providing a summer tourism attraction to boost the economy. Regardless of the primary reason, it is clear that, 68 years later, the euphoric revelry of the annual Carnival has overshadowed and eclipsed the solemnity and significance of August 1st.

The Carnival celebrations now span from the last two weeks of July to the first week of August. During this three-week period, various shows and competitions take place, some more popular than others. The Carnival Queen Show, T-shirt mas (from masquerade), the Teenage Pageant, and calypso and soca contests are among the most favored events. The festivities peak with the costume parade and Last Lap jump-up on the Tuesday after the first Monday in August. Aside from a few conscious artists, African and ancestor themes are rarely part of the competitions and choreography. During this time, the word Emancipation is scarcely mentioned by officials, and those participating in Carnival seem more interested in merrymaking, carousing, and even debauchery. If the Festivals Commission or government mentions Emancipation, it is usually in relation to the Watch Night event organized by the Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Commission (ABRSC), which advocates for reparations for slavery. The Watch Night ceremony always takes place on the evening leading up to midnight on July 31st to mark the beginning of Emancipation Day and to give thanks to God. However, attendance at this event is minimal compared to the popular Carnival shows, one of which is always held on the same evening. Society at large rarely considers the true significance of August 1st or the first Monday in August, and the remarkable struggles and ultimate victory of our enslaved ancestors, and the lasting inequalities resulting from those struggles, which now affect their descendants, are often forgotten or overlooked.

How do we address the marginalization of Emancipation Day? Two options are put forward for consideration. The first option, and the one preferred by this writer, is to designate Emancipation Day (August 1st) as an official holiday. In line with other holidays, if August 1st falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the following Monday should be observed as a public holiday. On these days (Saturday or Sunday), Emancipation Day events would be held on the public holiday (Monday). When observed, Emancipation Day is meant for reflection, church services, cultural events, government activities, speeches, public lectures, storytelling, media discussions, and other activities that honor our ancestors and their liberation. Except when J’Ouvert morning falls on August 1st, no official Carnival shows or festivities should take place on Emancipation Day. Put another way, if August 1st falls on a Monday, J’Ouvert morning would be the only Carnival event on that day, as that day is directly linked to our ancestors’ fight for liberation. This option may seem impractical to some, but as a friend of mine often says, men have gone to the moon. Making a course correction regarding Emancipation Day is not ‘rocket science.’ The Festivals Commission can make the necessary adjustments to event dates each year, and I believe, still keep the public holidays in August to two days only, thereby avoiding complaints from the business community.

The second option is to integrate the Emancipation Day events into the Carnival festivities, ensuring they are given a prominent place and proper scheduling. This can be achieved in various ways, such as prayers for our ancestors at the start of Carnival shows, moments of silence, increased use of African motifs and themes by groups and troupes performing mas, public readings, lectures, folk concerts, and more. Full Emancipation events can be appropriately included during the two or three-week Carnival season. Angelica O’Donoghue of the Antigua and Barbuda Reparations Support Commission has already called for no official Carnival events to be scheduled on Watch Night (July 31st), as the Commission marks the beginning of Emancipation Day in memory of that first day (August 1st, 1834). Perhaps we should consider adopting a similar approach to that of Barbados, which features an annual Season of Emancipation from April to August, encompassing activities such as an Emancipation Village, Heritage Month, the Crop Over Festival (their Carnival), Emancipation Day, Marcus Garvey Day, and others. During these months, many memorial, educational, and cultural events take place. Although Antigua and Barbuda has similar holidays and occasions, it may not be necessary to designate such an extended period as a season of emancipation; instead, it might suffice to reserve the month leading up to the first Tuesday in August for this purpose. Whatever option is chosen, the key is that we should never forget our history; we should strive to blend a joyful Carnival celebration with reverence and remembrance of our ancestors.

As difficult as it may be, we should recall a description of the suffering and degradation our ancestors endured. This can help shock us back into awareness and sensitivity regarding this very serious issue. There are, of course, many descriptions, but a short excerpt from C.L.R. James’ The Black Jacobins, describing plantation conditions in Saint Domingue (Haiti), is particularly relevant.

The slaves received the whip with more certainty and regularity than they received their food. It was the incentive to work and the guardian of discipline. But there was no ingenuity that fear, or a depraved imagination could devise which was not employed to break their spirit and satisfy the lusts and resentment of their owners and guardians – irons on the feet, blocks of wood that the slaves had to drag behind them wherever they went, the tin-plate mask designed to prevent the slaves eating sugar-cane, the iron collar. Whipping was interrupted in order to pass a piece of hot wood on the buttocks of the victim; salt, pepper, citron, cinders, aloes and hot ashes were poured on the bleeding wounds. Mutilations were common, limbs, ears, and sometimes the private parts, to deprive them of the pleasures which they could indulge in without expense. Their masters poured burning wax on their arms and hands and shoulders, emptied the boiling sugar canoe over their heads, burned them alive, roasted them on slow fires, filled them with gunpowder and blew them up with a match; buried them up to the neck and smeared their heads with sugar that the flies might devour them; fastened them near to nests or ants or wasps; made them eat their excrement, drink their urine, and lick the saliva of other slaves. One colonist was known in moments of anger to throw himself on his slaves and stick his teeth into their flesh.

It is therefore not without reason that the citizens and residents of this our beautiful Antigua and Barbuda are asked to show proper respect and honor to those who came before us hundreds of years ago, and who sacrificed their blood, sweat, and tears for our current freedom. Many things can be forgotten or overlooked, but not this—not slavery. Here is a positive account of what our ancestors achieved – Charles Buxton, an English Member of Parliament, writing in 1860 on Slavery and Freedom in the British West Indies, although from a colonialist’s skewed perspective, still had this to say:

Never was a more radical revolution made in the fortunes of a whole people, than when the 800,000 British negroes stepped from slavery into freedom. When the clock began to strike twelve on the night of July 31, 1834, they were, in the eye of the law, things, chattels, beasts of burden, the mere property of others. When it had ceased to sound, they were for the first time, not only free- men but men; standing on the same level as those who had formerly owned them

This is truly what our enslaved ancestors achieved. Again, we must never forget it, but always remember and celebrate it, especially during the biggest celebration spawned by it, Carnival.

We must think on these things.

Dr. Lenworth W. Johnson

Dr. Lenworth Johnson is a chartered accountant and an attorney-at-law, as well as a former member of the Senate, the Upper House of Parliament in Antigua and Barbuda. In 2024, he graduated from the University of the West Indies with the degree of Doctor of Education.

Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Antigua!
We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages.
Contact us at [email protected]