Press Statement from HOPE Nevis Commemorating Emancipation


~~Adz:Left~~Charlestown, Nevis- As we as citizens of St. Christopher and Nevis gear up to celebrate our Culturama Festival, HOPE Nevis would like to remind us of the reason we celebrate at this time of year. FREEDOM, EMANCIPATION.

As a Negro people on August 1st 1834 (174 years ago), we were granted freedom from slavery in this part of the world. Let us not forget what EMANCIPATION meant. It meant the right to chart our own destinies, the right to form our own thoughts, the right to live as equals with all men.

Today, let us continue to truly live as EMANCIPATED people. Let us free ourselves from ‘mental slavery’, those chains that keep us bound in poverty, ignorance and subservience. Let us work to help each other to lift ourselves out of the pits of despair and denigration. Let us realize that where we are today is as a result of the blood, sweat and tears of our forefathers and it is on their shoulders we stand today.  Let us not betray the investment they made so that today we can be truly EMANCIPATED. Let us work together to build our Nation into a state truly worthy of being called FREE.

During our celebrations, let us not forget from whence we came, and those who sacrificed their lives so that we could live as we do today. GOD BLESS and HAPPY EMANCIPATION DAY from the executive and members of HOPE Nevis.

Verse 3 of THE NEGRO NATIONAL ANTHEM
God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who has by Thy might
Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, Our God, where we met Thee;
Lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;
Shadowed beneath Thy hand,
May we forever stand.
True to our GOD,
True to our native land.