[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 106 (Friday, July 29, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1704-E1705]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       CARIBBEAN EMANCIPATION DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 28, 2005

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join in the Caribbean 
celebration of the 167th anniversary of their emancipation from 
slavery, which was achieved on August 1, 1838. This day of celebration 
and love for freedom is commemorated by the former British colonies in 
the Caribbean in appreciation of their collective independence. No 
longer were the inhabitants of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, or the 
rest of the West Indies held in bondage as slaves in their homeland. No 
longer were they unjustly enchained at the hands of the European 
colonists.
  Emancipation Day in the Caribbean is akin to Juneteenth Day for 
African-Americans. It is a time to recognize and celebrate our 
independence and freedom. Emancipation Day provided the Caribbean 
people with opportunities to direct and control their daily lives and 
to live and strive for greater independence.
  I have long believed that the struggles for freedom of African-
Americans and Afro-Carib-beans were connected. Slavery and injustice 
have been our common experience. Slavery drew lines between slaves and 
masters that would be difficult to break. We--African-Americans and 
Afro-Caribbeans--still struggle with breaking those barriers, 
stereotypes, and misperceptions that are the vestiges of the 
transatlantic slave trade. The major difference is the history and 
mechanisms at our disposal for the erosion of these ill effects.
  For Afro-Caribbeans, Emancipation Day has emerged as an important 
reminder of their struggle and a significant enforcer of their dreams 
to be a better people. It is a reminder of their strength, 
determination, and willpower in fighting against their oppressor.
  There is a famous story in the Caribbean that I like to tell around 
this time. It is about a young lady who was brought to the shores of 
Jamaica to work as a slave by the British in the early 1700s. Like the 
Caribbean countries themselves, her roots were African. Her name was 
likely Ashanti as she hailed from that great African kingdom, but upon 
arriving she was stripped of her given name and was known among her 
fellow slaves simply as ``Nanny.'' The lost of name, heritage, and 
history is a practice that has long afflicted Africans in the Americas 
as a result of the brutal and tragic transatlantic slave trade.
  While slavery existed outright in the Caribbean until 1834, and then 
under the name of ``apprenticeship'' until 1838, Nanny resisted it at 
every opportunity. Soon, after her arrival in Jamaica, she displayed 
that Caribbean proclivity for cutting her own path and escaped from her 
master's plantation with her five brothers. Granny Nanny of the 
Maroons, as she is popularly referred to today, traveled around the 
countryside organizing free Africans in the towns of Portland, St. 
James, and St. Elizabeth. She eventually established Nanny Town and 
based the community's governance on the Ashanti society. She held fast 
to her culture and incorporated into her new world.
  Nanny was small and wiry, like many of the Caribbean nations. She was 
also singularly focused in her pursuit of self-determination. The vast 
British military presence on the island launched numerous attacks on 
Nanny and her comrades, hoping to force them back into slavery. For 
nearly 20 years, Nanny evaded the British and withstood their 
aggressions. She placed guards at lookout points, sent spies to live 
among the slave populations, and ordered her fighters to dress like 
trees and bushes to avoid detection. Slave resistance and rebellions 
were not just an American phenomenon.
  In 1737, the British offered Nanny a truce. The maroons would be 
given land and rights as free men, but only if they promised to help 
capture and return runaway slaves, assist the government in putting 
down revolts, and cease their battles with the British. Their 
alternative would be to continue in their campaign against the massive 
British military, pitting 800 former slaves against the strongest army 
in the world at the time.
  To proud, determined, and resourceful Nanny, this was an easy 
decision. She flatly turned down the British offer. Her freedom and the 
freedom of her people could not be bought. It would not be traded. It 
would not be negotiated away. She fought to her dying breath for that 
freedom and remains a powerful legend and force in the Caribbean today.
  In that same vein, the nations of the Caribbean will not and have not 
wavered from their commitment to freedom. Go to Barbados, Nevis, the 
Bahamas, Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, 
St. Vincent, Grenada and St. Lucia. There you will find the tales of 
Granny Nanny and her fight for freedom.

[[Page E1705]]

  For centuries, the people of these countries refused to accept 
colonialism and fought stubbornly for their freedom in hideaways in 
cities, mountains, and forests. In 1838, the British gave up and 
emancipated the peoples of the Caribbean. The love of the Caribbean 
people for their freedom and the strength of majesties, like Granny 
Nanny, was too much to overcome.
  When I think of the importance of Caribbean Emancipation Day, I think 
of the struggle and actions of individuals like Granny Nanny of the 
Maroons, the hero who typifies the spirit of these great nations. They 
remind me of American warriors such as Sojourner Truth and Harriet 
Tubman. Caribbean Emancipation Day belongs to the people of the 
Caribbean, but the celebration is truly an African celebration.

                          ____________________