National hero, The Right Excellent Dr. Charles Duncan O’Neal will be the focus of activities for the 2009 Season of Emancipation which will officially get under way next Tuesday, April 14. The Season, which will be held under the theme “Emancipating the Body: Unshackling the Mind”, will have its official launch next Tuesday, at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination (EBCCI), University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus at 6:30 p.m.
Minister of Community Development and Culture, Steve Blackett, will speak at the launch, which will involve several cultural and Pan Afrikan stakeholders including officials from the Ministry of Community Development and Culture, the EBCCI, the Commission for Pan African Affairs and National Cultural Foundation.
The next activity will be a National Heroes Lecture, on Thursday, April 23, by Principal of Queen’s College, Dr. David Browne.
He will speak on the topic “A Tribute to the Right Excellent Dr. Charles Duncan O’Neal” and it will be held in the West Wing of Parliament, starting at 8:00 p.m.
A Service of Thanksgiving will also be held on Sunday, April 26, at the St. Lucy Parish Church at 8:30 a.m., while a tree planting ceremony at Nestfield, St. Lucy, the birthplace of Dr. O’Neal, will take place following the service.
Notable dates during the season include: the Bussa Rebellion on April 14; National Heroes Day on April 28; the Crop-Over Celebration from May 2 to August 15; the Day of National Significance on July 26; Emancipation Day on August 1; Marcus Garvey Day on August 17; and UNESCO International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition on August 23.