The Fight for the Emancipation Day Holiday in Jamaica (Transcript)
Content Warning: This episode contains mention of slavery
On August 1st, 1838, Jamaica, alongside the rest of the countries in British West Indies, achieved emancipation and thus all enslaves Black people on the island, gained their freedom. Since then, it has been ongoing debate on the necessity of commemorating the end of one of the most brutal acts of mankind.The End and The Beginning
In Jamaica, when the clock stroke midnight August 1, 1838, Rev. William Knibb declared, “The negro is free”. In a letter to a confidant, Knibb recalls, “Never did I hear such a sound. The winds of freedom appeared to have been let loose. The very building shook at the strange yet sacred joy”. In Jamaica, like other British colonies, Black persons would gather at town squares and other public areas to celebrate the end of one of the most brutal acts of mankind. This celebration of the end of chattel slavery continued throughout the years.
According to Falmouth Post, from as early as 1860, August 1st saw many Jamaicans marched throughout the streets, playing music and waving flags with biblical scriptures written on them. Led by clergy men who called themselves “Apostles of Liberty”, children were given cakes and lemonades in decorated classrooms. In the afternoon, persons would gather at public meetings where sums of money were collected and use for charitable causes. However, there were numerous opposition to commemorating Emancipation. Up to this point, it was distastefully termed a “negro holiday” by the island’s elite. This opposition would further intensify after the 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion. After that uprising, there came rumors that another Black uprising would take place on Emancipation Day in 1866. With these fears, many missionaries did not organise around the event anniversary and a few years after, it seemed public observance was dwindling. However, come the 1870s, persons started to commemorate the day, once more. This effort was led by Black persons of lighter complextion. According to the historians Brian L. Moore and Michele A. Johnson, in the book, “They Do As They Please: The Jamaica Struggle for Cultural Freedom After Morant Bay”, “It is interesting that it was "persons of lighter complexion" who were credited with reviving the public celebrations is of interest. They tended to be from the middling ranks of Jamaican society, which would normally seek to maintain their social distance from those of darker complexion and indeed to denounce the latter's cultural expressions…While some within their ranks wanted to forget the "shame of their ancestral enslavement", others may have hoped that by supporting the celebration of freedom, they would call attention to how much progress had been made by them as a class. Not only had they moved out of "mere" agricultural labour and into the trades, but some among them had been elevated (both in terms of complexion and status) to become the advocates of those not as well placed as themselves”.
Thus, throughout the 1870’s, these persons marched through the streets - beginning in Parade and eventually founf themselves in Spanish Town for a picnic. This effort kickstarted other remembrance activities in other parts of the island. In rural Jamaica, the commendation took the form of church services and picnics. By 1880’s, August 1st was unofficially recognised as a public holiday. Popular stores in Kingston would close on that day, while church services, lectures and larger picnics were happening throughout the island. With this effort, by 1893, the holiday was added to the list of mandatory public holidays when C.S. Farquharson introduced the Public General Holidays bill. The bill increased the number of public holidays from nine to ten and to include the new addition, Emancipation Day. From then onwards, other events such as athletic competitions, cricket matches, concerts etc, were added to Emancipation Day celebratory activities. Throughout the years to come, the holiday would have special events held on that day. In 1894, the People’s Convention, organized by the Black journalist and politician, Dr. Robert Love, was held on August 1st. A July 27, 1901 article published in his newspaper, Jamaica Advocate stated: “It is the intention of the People’s Convention to celebrate the day in a manner befitting the event and the obligation of the children of the emancipated... It is a day on which to recall the history of our Fathers, and to contemplate the destinies of our children”.
Other organisations such as the The Jamaica Patriotic League would come to hold their annual meetings on the day. Still, despite now been an official holiday, opposition still continued. Some were of the view that employers would lose ten working days each year while others argued that the remembrance of Emancipation will revive old animosity and hate between white and Black people in Jamaica. And others, were of the view that the celebration of Emancipation was irrelevant to Black Jamaicans. By the mid 1910’s, one of the strongest opposition to the public holiday was the leading Jamaica journalist outlet at this time - The Jamaica Gleaner. In an August 14, 1918 editorial piece, titled, “Observe Or Not” they stated that that the holiday was not celebrated in any other country where slavery existed so why should it be a holiday in Jamaica. To this, we should say this was untrue as by this time, Emancipation Day was celebrated in other British colonies throughout the region. Nevertheless, the editorial piece continued: “But some of these slaves survived the horrible ordeal and won to freedom once more: we do not imagine that they or their descendants would have thought that they ought to hold thanksgiving anniversaries on that account. We rather think that all who had any historic connection with the institution of slavery would be devoutly thankful if it were never mentioned in these days. Decidedly the people of England have no wish to be reminded of it… But as we have said, August 1st has no sort of religious significance to-day, and after eight years can have none. There is therefore no reason in the world why anyone should endeavour to observe it as of special and of particular significance”.
Now on Gleaner’s opposition on Jamaican’s observing Emancipation Day, we want to make note that Gleaner’s editor at this time was H.G. de Lissier. De Lisser, through the Gleaner;s editorials advocated for Jamaica’s business class while opposing black working class political and economic power and plight. Alongside his role as journalist, he also used his novels to further propel his views on Jamaican society. One of his most famous novels that portrayed this was his 1929 book, “The White Witch of Rosehall”. On the racist nature of this book and de Lisser’s work, we discuss this on another of our podcast episodes, “The Not So Epic Story of Lady Musgrave Road”. Yet, despite opposition from the Jamaica Gleaner and the nation mostly white elites, there was no amendment to the Public General Holidays Act and Jamaicans continue to observe Emancipation Day as an official holiday. Organizations would also have their own celebrations. In 1934, the Universal Negro Improvement Association, UNIA, organised one of the largest events to acknowledge Emancipation Day, up to this point. 100 Years After
By the latter end of 1937, proposals were been made to commemorate the upcoming 100th anniversary of Emancipation, in a special manner. One of these persons was Reverend J.W. Maxwell, a member of the legislative council, who proposed that a special kind of university scholarship for Jamaicans who were specifically descendants of enslaves Black persons. Now at this time the two main scholarships on the island for tertiary students to study abroad were the Rhodes Scholarship and the Jamaica Scholarship. However, since the scholarships were on offer on the island, there were noticeable similarities among the winners. As the academic historian, Dr. Henrice Altink states in her book, “Public Secrets: Race and Colour in Colonial and Independent Jamaica: “The winners of the Jamaica Scholarship between 1918 and 1944 were invariably white or very light-skinned and the sons and daughters of senior officials, school headmasters, etc. The Rhodes, on the other hand, was only by the sons of the white elite, who could easily pay for their child’s university education”
Now when allegations of race preferences was thrown at the Jamaica Scholarship and Rhodes Committee, they stated that their decisions were surely based on merit. However, Dr. Altink states otherwise: “That the son of an expat member of the JSC won a Jamaica Scholarship and the girls scholarship was not awarded in 1923 because, it was alleged, an insufficiently high standard had been achieved, while it was generally known that a black girl had come first in the HSC, suggests that the Jamaica Scholarships were awarded not just on the basis of merit. In its submission to the WIRC, the Jamaica Independent Schools Commission, which represented private secondary schools, accused the government of discriminating in the allocation of the Jamaica Scholarships. It mentioned that in 1938, the white Joyce Tate had won the girls scholarship but a very intelligent ‘black’ girl had also taken the qualifying exam. The teacher who had tutored this ‘black’ girl had tried to find out how she had done compared to the winner but was not given a list of results in order of merit. Jamaica was a small island and many people thus knew who had taken part in the qualifying exams and their abilities, which did much to fuel accusations that colour played a role in the Jamaica Scholarship competition”
And when Black Jamaicans specifically called out the Rhodes Committee for the race and colour discrimination, it was H.G. de Lissier, in his capacity as Gleaner editor, who came to the defence of the white establishment, saying that Black Jamaicans were not Rhodes scholars not because of race but because they were just not strong candidates. As Dr. Atlink states, the sentiment of de Lissier and other elites “reinforced the stereotype of Black people as less intelligent”. As such, Reverend J.W. Maxwell’s proposal of this special affirmative action scholarship aimed at Black Jamaicans was welcome by the masses. Still, even though the government was willing to put money towards a special emancipation scholarship, they had a stipulation that it was open to everyone and not just Black-Jamaicans. To this, Dr. Atlink states: “Some contemporaries read this as evidence of the government’s commitment to colour-blindness but in fact it demonstrates the opposite. The government wanted to appease critical African Jamaican politicians without endangering the existing race and colour hierarchy. This embrace of blackness was purely symbolic”.
Still, even though the scholarship was to be one of the biggest event of 1938, another event overshadowed it - The Labour Riots of 1938. The Riots, propelled by the Black working class, took place over a number of days in May and rocked the island nationwide. In the future, we will be releasing an episode on the labour riots not only in Jamaica but across the British West Indies in the 1930’s. Still, the riots was three months before the 100th commemoration of Emancipation and as such, the white establishment on the island and the government was fearful that violence would break out on August 1st. Then rumours start to appear that land promise to Black people by Queen Victoria in 1838, would finally be given to them in 1938. To this, the government threatened to prosecute anyone who took part in an activity to take other person land. Still, despite the rumours taking over the island, Emancipation Day of 1938 went without any incident and the centenary anniversary of Emancipation in Jamaica went without any relatively uprising. And so, the 100th celebration consisted of the usual church services, picnics and other festivities. Still, two camps of public figures emerged in their difference of musing on the 100th celebration. In one camp, persons praised the British for the ending of slavery and expressed their devotion to the Crown for this great deed. For example: A. B. Lowe, a member of St. James Legislative Council, praised the progress the island had made in the last 100 years. Alexander Bustamante expressed his gratitude to Queen Victoria for ending slavery, and the Anglican pastor Canon J. C. Swaby stated that he was thankful for Jamaicans to be British citizen. In the other camp, persons were reflective of the past and its impact on the nation’s future. For example, Dr. Sylvia Lowe reminded Jamaicans to reflect but to also leave “footprints that those who come after you will deem worthy to follow”. The feminist, Amy Bailey, in her July 10, 1938 article published in the Public Opinion, emphasised the importance of meditating on the nation’s past to shape its future; and the educator, Edwin Allen, in a June 27, 1938 Gleaner article, reminded persons that complete emancipation has not yet been achieved and the Black struggle for freedom continues. Still, the Labour Riots occurring in the same year of the 100th anniversary of Emancipation offered a contradiction of the mentality of different Jamaicans, at this time. In his book, “Freedom's Children: The 1938 Labor Rebellion and the Birth of Modern Jamaica” the academic historian Dr. Colin A. Palmer speaks on this contradiction: “The centenary of emancipation provided Jamaicans with a marvelous moment for societal introspection and an opportunity to imagine the island’s future… The moment for deep introspection was lost, however, overshadowed by the fears of the recurrence of the social disturbances of the previous months. The people of property and standing were concerned less about introspection and more about protecting a status quo that had benefited them”.
And it was this that the acting Governor C.C. Wooley, still meditating on the rumours of violence, told the nation that it was a time for celebration but emphasised the need for “law and order” moving forward. Nevertheless, Emancipation Day continued to be a public holiday in Jamaica throughout the rest of the decade and continue doing so without any serious opposition in the 40’s and 50’s. But then came 1955. Emancipation vs Independence
So in 1955, Jamaican embarked on a national celebration dubbed the “300th Celebration”. In summary, this celebration was conceptualise by Donald Sangster and according to him, the “celebrations would mark 300 years of 'progress and development as a junior partner with Britain in her vast Colonial enterprise”. We discuss this celebration on another of our podcast episodes, “Jamaica’s Ten Type Beauty Contest”. During the year, many Jamaicans supported the celebration of 300 years of English colonization while calling for an end to the Emancipation holiday. In her scholastic paper, “Commemorations in Jamaica: A Brief History of Conflicts”, Dr. Veronica M. Gregg states, “Emancipation Day, it was asserted, was racial and included only Black people, the celebration of the English conquest of Jamaica was multiracial or nonracial and inclusive and therefore more national and more representative of Jamaica”.
One example of these calls to end Emancipation came from W. Adolphe Roberts. In an article entitled, “National Holidays” published in the Pepperpot Magazine, he states: “It is full time that we stopped celebrating the abolition of slavery. Most peoples have been enslaved at some period of their history, and when they shook of the condition they no doubt held fiestas for a few years. But it is a sign of arrested development to go on treating bodily emancipation as a miracle”
Still, despite these calls and numerous others, Emancipation Day continued as a public holiday. However it was noticeable that a large portion of the masses ignored the traditional celebrations. Yet, one of the most organised event of the late decade came in 1959, when the African Reformed Church organised their Emancipation Jubilee. Around this time, members of Rastafari were also used the public holiday to call for reparations. However, by early 1962, with Jamaican Independence on the horizon and an announcement that it will be celebrated on August 6, the government had concerns over the two holidays been so close to each other. For one, the Jamaican Labour Party, JLP, wanted to get rid of Emancipation Day, all together. According to the party’s founder and president at this time, Sir Alexander Bustamante, “what significance the granting of emancipation had for our independence now?”. On the other hand, the People’s National Party, PNP, emphasised the importance of the recognising the past, as according to them, emancipation from slavery is important to political emancipation. As such, they proposed Independence Day be celebrated on August 1. In the end, a compromise was reached. As such, in 1962, the commemoration of Emancipation Day was suspended and Independence Day was to be celebrated on the first Monday of August.And so Jamaica did not celebrate Emancipation that year and it stayed that way. Still, just because it was no longer an official holiday did not mean that it was not been acknowledge. In her book, “Modern Blackness: Nationalism, Globalization, and the Politics of Culture in Jamaica”, Dr. Deborah Thomas stated that many communities, churches, and persons in the Rastafari community organised their own commemorative events of Emancipation. But then, came the mid 1990’s, when PJ Patterson, the nation’s now prime minister, took issue with the way Jamaicans viewed Blackness. In February 1996, PJ Patterson established a national committee to be chaired by Dr. Rex Nettleford. Dr. Nettleford, in numerous of his publications and speeches on the Black race in Jamaica, saw Emancipation not as a singular event but an ongoing struggle focus on Black people liberating themselves from the past and contemporary bondage of colonization. This National Symbols Committee was to looked at how the “country’s national symbol and observance could contribute to sustaining our cultural unity and foster national values to renew the soul and uplift the spirit of our people and arrest social alienation”. The report produced, stated that there was a vast confusion of the momentous events, among young persons in Jamaica and as such Jamaica, “deserve, in the case of Emancipation Day, a commemoration, and in the case of Independence Day, a celebration”.As Patterson stated in his autobiography, “My Political Journey: Jamaica's Sixth Prime Minister”“I was ecstatic when the committee recommended the reinstatement of Emancipation on 1 August. In consultation held in four parishes, in written and oral submissions and press contributions, our people revealed their deepest feelings on issues they regard as part of their psychic inheritance, which could avert cultural chaos and release their creative potential. In the minds of many of our young people there was confusion as to the actual date of our independence. With the passage of time, the observance of Independence Day had weakened considerably. I shared the view that designation 6 August, rather than the first Monday of the month, as the holiday, would help sharpen the focus and reawaken a consciousness of independence as an important national event. We accepted the recommendation that Independence Day ought to be given its proper date - 6 August- so as to remove any doubt in the minds of our people about the timing and significance of that historic date”.
As such, with PJ Patterson accepting the recommendation from the committee, a bill for a double holiday where Emancipation Day would be August 1 and Independence Day, August 6, was introduced in parliament. However, amendments to the Public Holiday Act, faced opposition. The now opposition minister, Edward Seaga, was of the view that the double holiday would lessen the importance of the country’s Independence and just like his party’s founder almost 30 years ago, questioned if the commemoration of Emancipation would achieve anything important in the country. Bruce Golding, then president of the National Democratic Movement, advised that the two days be merged into one.Despite the blowback, PJ Patterson stood his ground and defended the recommendation of the double holiday. With that, the Act was successfully amended, and Emancipation Day was reinstitute as a national holiday in 1997. This 1997 national Emancipation Day ceremony was held in Spanish Town - the same area where the Emancipation Declaration was first read in 1838. The special guest was the then president of Ghana, First Lt, Jerry Rawlings. Ever since that special ceremony in 1997, Jamaica has been celebrating both Emancipation Day and Independence Day as two separate public holidays.Another change at this time that Patterson would take aim at, is the national flag. From its designed since independence the “black” in Jamaica’s flag meant historical hardship. That symbolism came with criticism from public figures such as Phillip Sherlock who had issues with this meaning. As such, Patterson put forward a change to parliament to which they accepted. Since then, the black in the Jamaica’s flag no longer symbolises hardship but “resilience and strength”. Then, in August 2002, five years after the reinstitution of the holiday, the government would build Emancipation Park - a public park in the heart of New Kingston. According to Patterson in his autobiography: “… I opened Emancipation Park as a site dedicated to the independence of spirit, the enduring commitment to freedom and the strength and resilience of our people whose forebears against the indecency of dehumanisation and the denigration of the millions of involuntary labourers forced into bondage and treated as beasts of burden for over two centuries”.
Still, the park faced criticism and that had to do with not the park itself but the focal point of the park - the statue at its entrance. The 11-foot bronze sculpture, titled Redemption Song, was created by Laura Facey-Cooper and unveiled on July 31, 2003 to commentate the 165 anniversary of Emancipation. It features two nude figures, a man and woman, shown from the knees up, emerging from a basin of water, facing one another as they gaze towards the sky. Now some persons took aim at the size of the male statue's genitalia while some questioned whether Facey-Cooper, a white passing Jamaican, could identify with the struggle of enslaved Black people. But most criticism came from the nudity of the statue. Some critics, largely conservative circles like the church, stated the statue promotes nudity. However, some persons, mostly academics and the historical aware, took issue that a statue to commemorate the end of slavery features Black people been nude when nudity was used to punished Black people during slavery. In another episode, we will explore more about this statue and the role of fashion in slave society. Still, despite the backlash, the statue remained and largely criticism do away in the larger Jamaican society. The same cannot be said about Emancipation. Modern Blackness
In recent years, there have been called by those in the private sector that the double holiday lessens productivity in the workplace. In 2020, news came out that the government was considering merging both Emancipation and Independence Day. Also in that year, was the Don Anderson Poll where 62% of surveyors were in favor of the government merging both holidays. In 2024, the Private Sector of Jamaica (PSOJ) made national headlines over a particular proposal of Emancipation and Independence Day. In an October 3rd media release, the organisation stated: “In our recent submission to the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the PSOJ acknowledged the profound historical importance of both Emancipation Day on 1 August and Independence Day on 6 August. These dates, separated by a mere five days, encapsulate Jamaica’s journey from the abolition of slavery to the achievement of self-governance. We recognise that these public holidays play a crucial role in celebrating our national identity, preserving our cultural heritage, and providing well-deserved rest for our workforce. However, as an organisation committed to Jamaica’s socio-economic development, we must also consider the challenges faced by businesses in a developing economy like ours. The current arrangement of having two major holidays in such close proximity often results in extended periods of reduced productivity, as many workers and businesses tend to bridge the gap between these dates with additional time off. This phenomenon, sometimes referred to as a “holiday hangover”, can disrupt economic momentum, particularly in key sectors such as manufacturing, tourism, and agriculture. To address these concerns while still honouring the significance of both holidays, the PSOJ has proposed the creation of a single, extended weekend holiday period (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday). This approach aims to focus and potentially amplify the impact of our national celebrations. To gauge public sentiment on this idea, we conducted a survey in August 2024, which revealed that 67% of respondents support the concept of a consolidated holiday period”.
Backlash to PSOJ came from persons on traditional and social media. Public figures in government also weighed in. The island’s chief justice, Bryan Sykes stated: “I would 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… It is not about, or solely about an organised weekend-long celebration that could attract tourists to participate in cultural events, concerts and festivals, whereby 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, encapsulating — I put in that word — Jamaica’s journey from abolition of slavery to the achievement of self-governance,”
PJ Patterson, now retired, stated that the proposal was “retrograde step and a severe violation of our ancestry” as “comfort and convenience cannot be our response to the deaths and atrocities of the Middle Passage.”The former prime minister statement was a summary of his 2015 open letter to the UK’s prime minister, David Cameron, who on his visit to Jamaica told parliament that both the Caribbean and Britain should move on from the painful legacy of slavery. As Patterson wrote: “The attempt to trivialise and diminish the significance of 300 years of British enslavement of Africans and the trade in their bodies reflects the continued ethnic targeting of our ancestors and their progeny for discriminatory treatment both in the annals of history and in the present. The 180 years of slavery in Jamaica remain fresh in living memory. There are people alive in Jamaica today whose great grandparents were a part of the slavery system and the memory of slavery still lingers in these households and communities. Those 180 years were followed by another 100 years of imposed racial apartheid in which these families were racially oppressed by British armies and colonial machinery. The scars of this oppression are still alive in the minds and hearts of a million Jamaicans. To speak of slavery as something from the Middle Ages is insufficient. For our communities its legacies are still present in their memory and emotions. To reject this living experience is to repudiate the very meaning and existence of these people’s lives”
Still, the commemoration of certain events in the Anglophone Caribbean, especially those relating to slavery, have garnered public thought. Take for example back in 2020, when many Caribbean countries faced numerous calls from the public to remove statues celebrating Christopher Colombus’ legacy. In the middle of this, one Jamaican businessman and sometimes, self-styled political commentator, Kevin O’Brien Chang, had some thoughts on this. As he tweeted the following: “How many of us would be here if Columbus had not sailed?”
To which he followed up with: “Had Columbus not sailed, the cannibal Caribs would have eventually eaten up the Tainos like they did elsewhere….”
In the wake of numerous backlash across traditional and social media, Mr Chang offered an apology to the public on July 11: “A few days ago I posted a question on social media which was screen shot. It is clear that the question I asked caused a lot of persons concern and pain. It was never my intention to promote historical figures or events which caused death and destruction for millions. While my motives were sincere, the fact is it was an error of judgement. I unequivocally apologise for making that post”.
Then, in some countries, they have gone beyond a public holiday to reflect on the plight of their Black ancestors. In December 2021, Barbados, the birthplace of British Black slave society, announced that they will be building a slavery museum. The new site will lie next to a burial ground where the bodies of 570 enslave Black people were discovered. As Mia Mottley, the island’s prime minister, stated, the area “will be dedicated to unlocking the enduring trauma and histories of enslavement”. The news came just a few weeks after Barbados served colonial ties with Britain and became a parliamentary republic. Then in August 2024, Trinidad and Tobago announced that they will be redrawing their coat of arms of Christopher Columbus's three ships, replacing them with their national instrument - the steelpan. In the wake of backlash that this will be rewriting history, Dr Claudius Fergus, the esteemed historian who chairs the National Committee on Reparations, stated:“This is not an attack on the history of the Caribbean. It’s not an attempt to erase but rather to correct … Every generation has an obligation to reinterpret their history and to correct the falsehoods on which some of that history would have been written”.
Still, in Jamaica, there seems to be no move by the Jamaican government to suspend Emancipation Day celebrations or merged both holidays. For now, the Emancipation Day public holiday is safe. However, we can expect the public debate over the holiday to continue.