The Emancipation Day celebrations kicked off a day early as the Virgin Islands Caribbean Cultural Center and the National Park Service hosted a “commemorative bamboula colloquium” at the Steeple Building on St. Croix Tuesday.
The event was primarily attended by St. Croix Educational Complex students enrolled in University Bound, a summer college preparatory program run by University of the Virgin Islands.
Dr. Chenzira Davis Kahina, the director of VICCC and the emcee of the event, said she taught a “Virgin Islands experience” course as part of the program, and the event was, in part, an extension of that class.
Kahina said she decided to hold the event on July 2 to recognize the bamboula gatherings held on plantations across St. Croix at which the July 3 march on Frederiksted was planned and prepared for.
“People gathered, they played drums, they meditated together,” she said. “They made a pact with each other of secrecy on the second of July.”
Kahina said the event was both a chance to teach the younger generation about the actions of their ancestors during the emancipation struggle and to challenge them to consider what freedom meant to them and how they can use that freedom to make healthy decisions in their lives.
“We have a real, serious blessing here in the Virgin Islands. We have an opportunity to cap 165 years of celebrating emancipation,” she said.
“There was a time when people couldn’t just walk in and out of this building, like we do,” Kahina said. “They didn’t have the opportunity to get education like all of us in this room.”
During the event, Kahina passed the microphone to her students and had them read short poems they had composed on emancipation and its importance today. Some were reluctant, but Kahina rallied the crowd to coax them into sharing until each of the students had had a turn.
The rest of the event was comprised of traditional drumming performances, storytelling and speeches by dignitaries, including Delegate Donna M. Christensen.
Joel Tutein, superintendent of the park, said the National Park Service remained committed to telling “the whole story” of slavery and emancipation. “And that is not an easy story to tell in a place where people really want to forget it,” he said.
Tutein also commented on the importance of holding the celebration at the park due to the buildings’ connections to the slave trade.
“This is our Ellis Island. This is our Plymouth Rock,” Tutein said. “This is where we came ashore first in the Caribbean from West Africa. This is very important for us as a people. This is very important for the nation as a whole,” he said.
Emancipation Day activities continue Wednesday. The Fort to Fort Walk begins at 5 a.m. in Christiansted and should arrive in Frederiksted around 10 a.m.
Starting at 11 a.m. there will be live music provided by Dimitri Copemann and Friends in Buddhoe Park and the St. Patrick’s alumni food sale.
From 4-8 p.m. the Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Emancipation Committee will host a series of historical lectures in Buddhoe Park.
The Emancipation Horse Races will take place Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.
