In response to the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica’s (PSOJ) proposal to combine Jamaica’s Independence and Emancipation celebrations into a single extended holiday weekend, Chief Justice Bryan Sykes has voiced his opinion that commemorating freedom from slavery should not be seen as a business opportunity.
Speaking at the recent Trelawny Circuit Court’s Michaelmas term kickoff ceremony, held at the William Knibb Baptist Church in Falmouth, Trelawny, to commemorate the passing of the Emancipation Act on August 1, 1834, which freed enslaved Africans, Sykes said that the Emancipation Act’s passage should not be marginalized on commercial grounds.
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“August 1, 1834, at least for me, is not just about increased domestic travel of 8.9 percent… It is not solely about an organized weekend-long celebration that could attract tourists to participate in cultural events, concerts, and festivals, thereby boosting revenue across various sectors. I would have thought that the emancipation of enslaved persons of African descent, which was, in our case, the antecedent to independence, would warrant more analysis than to be described as a mere five days,” indicated Sykes, alluding to the celebrations of Independence Day on August 6 and Emancipation Day on August 1.
Sykes stated, “For us here in Jamaica, the Emancipation Act was perhaps the first significant legislation that removed black Africans from property to person. Even then it was in a truncated manner, because there was a period of Apprenticeship, and provision was made for the compensation of the slave masters in Section 24, defective though it was, but it was nonetheless a major step forward.”
He added, “I want to think that there are some things in our nation’s history that really cannot carry a price tag, and freedom and celebration of freedom is one of them.”
To illustrate how the Emancipation Act has given Black people the opportunity to hold positions in contemporary society that they would not have been able to while they were still in slavery, Sykes cited his family history.
Sykes noted, “August 1, 1834, without the cultural events, concerts, or festivals, thereby boosting revenues across various sectors, is still of great value to me and my family, past and present. It was the free village of Bethel Town, Westmoreland where my great-grandfather acquired land so he could provide for his son, Thomas Atkins, my grandfather. The journey to being here did not commence on August 6, 1962; it was merely accelerated.”
He continued, “Without August 1, 1834, none of what we are doing here would quite likely be possible. Without freedom, it is difficult, if not impossible, to own property and begin the process of elevating oneself and one’s family from being an ex-slave to a free person,”
The PSOJ proposed a longer weekend break that would include the festivals of August 1 and August 6 and last from Friday to Monday to the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment, and Sport earlier this month. The organization outlined the difficulties that companies in Jamaica’s emerging economy confront in the proposal, pointing out that there is sometimes a prolonged period of lower production when two significant holidays fall close together.
The idea has drawn harsh criticism, though, from people who know better than to criticize it. Former prime minister P. J. Patterson called the proposal a “retrograde step” on Friday, noting that Emancipation Day is an important part of Jamaican culture and that changing it would cause chaos in the community and impede Jamaica.
On October 3, amidst the initial opposition, the PSOJ released a statement attempting to elucidate that it was not advocating for combining the two celebrations into a single day and that its recommendation did not aim to diminish the significance of either Independence Day or Emancipation Day.
