‘Freedom cannot carry a price tag’

WESTERN BUREAU:

Chief Justice Bryan Sykes has thrown his voice into the debate around the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica’s (PSOJ) recent suggestion of merging Jamaica’s Emancipation and Independence celebrations into one extended holiday weekend, saying that celebrating emancipation from slavery should not be treated as a financial opportunity.

Addressing the Judiciary of Jamaica’s annual assize church service at the William Knibb Baptist Church in Falmouth, Trelawny yesterday, which was held to mark the start of the Trelawny Circuit Court’s Michaelmas term, Sykes said the passage of the Emancipation Act on August 1, 1834 to free enslaved Africans must not be marginalised on a commercial level.

A major step forward

August 1, 1834, at least for me, is not just about increased domestic travel of 8.9 per cent … It is not solely about an organised 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,” said Sykes, referencing Emancipation Day’s celebration on August 1 and Independence Day on August 6.

“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,” Sykes 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.”

Sykes pointed to his own family history as an example of how the Emancipation Act has allowed black people to occupy stations in modern society that they could never have achieved while still in slavery.

“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,” said Sykes.

“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,” Sykes added.

Earlier this month, the PSOJ submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment, and Sport for a single, extended weekend holiday period spanning from Friday to Monday, combining the celebrations of August 1 and August 6. In the proposal, the organisation highlighted challenges faced by businesses in Jamaica’s developing economy, noting that having two major holidays in proximity often results in extended periods of reduced productivity.

However, the proposal has been roundly criticised, including by former Prime Minister P. J. Patterson, who on Friday described the suggestion as a ‘retrograde step’, while pointing out that Emancipation Day is a crucial part of Jamaicans’ cultural inheritance and that any change could result in cultural chaos and hindering of Jamaica’s creative potential.

Earlier in the week, on October 3, and amid the initial push back, the PSOJ issued a statement seeking to clarify that it was not proposing to merge the two holidays together into one day, and that its suggestion does not seek to lessen the importance of Emancipation Day or Independence Day.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com