In the merriment of the Crop Over festival, don’t forget the significance of the Season of Emancipation!

Minister of Community Development and Culture, Steven Blackett issued this challenge to Barbadians on August 1, during the Emancipation Day Rally which came to a climax at the Bay Street Esplanade, St Michael.

He told the large gathering that included Cabinet Ministers, Government officials and other specially invited guests, that there was a link between Emancipation and the Crop Over season.

In fact, Mr. Blackett said, Emancipation played an integral role in “crafting” the Barbados in which we lived.

He also warned that the celebration of the Season of Emancipation must not be limited to persons of African descent.

“Sometimes we forget that our two major ethnic groups – Africans and British, first arrived on the same ship.  It is our country, and all Barbadians need to celebrate that today. Thanks to the process of Emancipation, we are able to live in a country which is free, and which offers a quality of life that is the envy of many,” he declared.

The Culture Minister also spoke of the significance of the sugar industry and the role it played in Barbados’ development.

“The Sugar Revolution made Barbados the most valuable piece of real estate in the entire world and the island became known as the place where sugar was king.  While other territories rose and fell as the fortunes of war dictated, Barbados was never invaded and became a by-word for stability and British power in the region,” Mr. Blackett stressed.

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