Emancipation for all

Today, Emancipation Day is celebrated far and wide in countries such as Canada, South Africa and the United States of America. Some countries have even outdone us. Instead of one public holiday, Jamaica has two: August 1 and August 6; Barbados has an entire “season of emancipation” running from April 14 to August 23. About a dozen countries celebrate the holiday, though at different times of the year.

Therefore, it is somewhat worrying to see that the chairman of the Emancipation Support Committee, Khafra Kambon, has expressed concern over falling levels of respect for the holiday.

According to Kambon, business owners are not paying enough homage: they should close stores on the holiday, he insists, to allow events such as the annual parade to proceed unhindered.

These businesses close for other holidays, he says, and not for Emancipation Day.

These arguments would be convincing were it not for two important considerations. Firstly, as a small nation we have a disproportionately large number of holidays which pose a genuine threat to productivity levels.

Secondly, many businesses in fact do open on other holidays.

Though closed on Christmas Day, that holiday is unique as it is always followed immediately by another holiday: Boxing Day, a day on which some businesses open.

Businesses should be free to do what they must to earn the income needed to pay staff, to contribute to the economy and to provide much needed goods and services from a population that travels a great deal and purchases many products online instead of locally.

That said, we can always do better. If it is true that employees are hindered from participating from events, then their unions should take these matters up.

There should also be collaboration and cooperation between businesses and local corporation bodies to ensure the smooth flow of traffic so that events commemorating the holiday and business activity can co-exist in harmony.

After all, this is one of the messages behind the holiday: the harmony between all groups in society. Today, many take for granted freedoms that were fought for not only by black people but also white abolitionists.

The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 came into came into force the following year, on August 1, 1834. Only slaves below the age of six were freed. Former slaves over the age of six were re-designated as apprentices and were required to work 40 hours per week, without pay, as part of “compensation” to their former owners. Full emancipation was only achieved on midnight, July 31, 1838.

While Emancipation Day is locally used to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people of African descent, it is also used to observe the abolition of serfdom or other forms of servitude abroad. This is not a holiday that is of importance to only one sector of society. Freedom is something we are all deserving of.

Not only is Emancipation Day a reminder of our history, it is a paean to our diversity and a symbol of the importance of doing what is right. Today, we reflect on the past and look forward to a future, mindful of the need to be vigilant as we protect the ideals that underline a free dem