Determination is our inheritance!

For the second time Grenada has celebrated Emancipation Day on August 01, the actual day it happened in 1834. Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell was so impressive in his address that this week we have chosen to feature him for the greater part of our editorial for the benefit of people who may have missed it at the event in Grenville. Very early he established the significance of the day by saying that we are doing more than simply remembering a date in our history; we are honoring a turning point in the story of our people and our ancestors. It marked a moment when those who had been denied freedom, began the long and unfinished journey of reclaiming their humanity, their dignity, and importantly, their future.

So, we remember the countless African people who are some of our ancestors, and whose names are rarely written into the historical record, but whose hard work, sacrifices, and bondage transformed Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique. They carved their livelihoods from unforgiving conditions, from subhuman conditions, enduring unimaginable hardships. But, they still managed to pass on a legacy of strength, creativity, resilience, and resistance that continue to shape our islands.

Emancipation is not a footnote in our history. It is in fact the defining moment upon which the nationhood of the Caribbean is built. And it should be honored, respected, and recognized as such. It was a formal legal declaration that no man should own another man or woman. And that liberty and freedom is the entitlement and the birthright of every human being. The annual observance of Emancipation Day on August 01, must continue to play a central role in this nation’s calendar; not because we want to be prisoners of history, but because a nation that forgets its history will eventually lose its identity. Our ancestors were not taken from Africa because they were weak. They were taken because they were strong. They understood and were capable of doing hard work to transform the forests into plantations; they built roads and buildings, constructed ports and they generated enormous wealth that fueled the industrial revolution and accelerated the development of Europe and England. The magnificent cities, the industries and institutions that still stand in Europe today were built in no small measure through the uncompensated work of African people who were enslaved in the Caribbean. And as painful as this truth is, it must never be forgotten. If our ancestors possessed the capacity to build other civilizations under chains, under bondage, the question we must ask ourselves is -what can we, the descendants, as free men and women, accomplish with our freedom?

If our ancestors could have achieved greatness while oppressed, what excuse do we have? If they created prosperity for others despite unimaginable hardships, then surely, we can create prosperity for ourselves. And that is why hard work is embedded in our DNA. It flows through our bloodline inherited from our ancestors. And so, the determination of our ancestors did not disappear on Emancipation Day, it became our inheritance. It is that same spirit that lives in every hardworking fisherman farmer, teacher, entrepreneur, nurse, police officer, and artistes preserving our culture, the spirit of our ancestors -lives in us! The question for us is – how will we honor that inheritance? We must honor that inheritance by working as free people to build, grow, and sustain our nation. Grenada and the Caribbean’s history, reminds us that emancipation is not a single act; it is not a single event; it is an ongoing journey. Our political freedom must be matched by economic opportunities, by social justice, by cultural confidence, and by active citizenship. That is why, as we continue to build our nation, we must recognize that true emancipation is more than freedom from oppression. It truly is the empowerment of our people to have a meaningful voice in shaping the future of their country.

So when we have town hall meetings, village forums, and community engagement that bring our citizens and government together, these platforms are creating the space for us Grenadians in every community to share our ideas, to express our aspirations, and to contribute to national dialogue to help shape the direction of our country. When our citizens are heard, when our communities are engaged, and when every voice has the opportunity to matter, we are moving closer to the society that our ancestors dreamed of, to the society that our ancestors fought for, and to the society that they expect us to continue to build. In doing so, we are continuing the work that emancipation began. Not only by expanding opportunity, but by empowering our people to become active participants and architects of their own future. This government remains committed to preserving our cultural heritage, to deepening our historical awareness, to investing in our creative industries, and to ensuring that future generations understand not only the struggles of our ancestors and those who came before us, but their remarkable achievements despite the odds.

But our identity cannot be protected by the government alone. It lives in the choices we as citizens make, the stories we choose to pass on, the values we choose to uphold and place into the next generations of Grenadians, and the future we choose to create together. So, let us build a Grenada worthy of the sacrifices of our ancestors. We should build a Grenada not just renowned for its spectacular breathtaking beauty, but for the talent, the discipline, the creativity, and the ambition of our people.

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