Defence Force rescues Emancipation Support Committee

HAD it not been for some last minute help provided by members of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force  the Emancipation Support Committee (ESC) would have been unable to open the Lidj Yasu Omowale Village located in the Paddock area of the Grand Stand, Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, last Monday night. Addressing the large crowd gathered for the occasion, chairman of the ESC Khafra Kambon said the committee would have faced “total embarrassment” had the Defence Force not responded to its plea for assistance, on Monday afternoon, in getting the venue prepared. “A concert titled ‘Colours’ held here last Saturday prevented us from getting access to this area as early as we had planned,” he said. “We got the grounds last Monday, and despite members of the committee and supporters working round-the-clock for the past seven days, we still found it difficult to complete the job ourselves, so had to call on the Defence Force for assistance this afternoon in order to have the venue ready for you tonight.” Evidence of the rush for completion was apparent, as at the programme’s advertised starting time of 7.30 pm, and with the majority of the audience already seated, workmen were still scurrying about the stage making last-minute adjustments to the lighting and decor.

Proceedings eventually started shortly before 8 pm with the arrival of President Maxwell Richards and his wife Jean. In attendance, as well, were Ministers in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Pennelope Beckles and Eddie Hart, together with Minister of State in the Ministry of Culture and Gender Affairs, Eulalie James. The theme of this year’s Emancipation celebrations is “Protecting the Legacy,” and according to Kambon: “We are talking about a legacy to build on and to disentangle from confusion a legacy that started but did not end in Africa. Within our psyches we embrace a complex legacy, a legacy of glory, of pain, of pride, of repression and rebellion, of suppression and assertion. It is Africa, it is the Caribbean and the Diaspora.” In addition, celebrations this year pay special reverence to Haiti, he said, adding: “Two hundred years ago our brothers and sisters in Haiti liberated their society from the enslavers. They struck a blow for freedom. In so doing they gave us the right to proclaim who we are, to invoke the legacy of Africa and our African heritage in the Caribbean, to re-assert our humanity. On January 1 2004, Haitians, Africans all over the world, and all peoples who cherish the meaning of the Haitian revolution, will observe that landmark in our history, in world history, the bicentennial of Haiti’s declaration of  Independence. In that context we observe our own emancipation by reclaiming our legacy. We observe emancipation by ensuring that our youth know and protect that legacy, We say thanks to Haiti.”

A contingent from Senegal is here to experience this year’s celebration. As a token of its appreciation, the ESC made a presentation of the Henry Sylvester Williams Award to the President of Senegal, which was accepted on his behalf by that country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cheiqh Tidiane Gadio. Henry Sylvester Williams was a Trinidadian who in 1900 organised the first Pan African Conference in the world. The award is presented to persons who have made outstanding contributions to Pan African unity. Before declaring the Village open, Minister of Culture and Tourism Pennelope Beckles, in an address, said despite the stark, criminal realities of slavery, it should not be allowed to be a legacy of emancipation. “Emancipation has left us a much richer, nobler and more profoundly positive legacy,” she said. “Emancipation invites us all to connect to and celebrate that rich African heritage.” She contended that “protecting our African legacy can only be accomplished if we teach and educate our children, if we involve them in the many cultural expressions of our African legacy; if we live it every day in loving, caring relationships with one another.” Entertainment on the programme was provided by Sekou Suso, a Kora player and griot from the Gambia who is on the cast of “Carnival Messiah” now playing at Queen’s Hall in St Ann’s; Regeneration Now; Mike Boothman and Kaiso Fusion; Cocorite Ujamma Dancers; and Renegades Youth Steel Orchestra. Show hosts were Dara Healy and Shabaca Kambon.