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Address to the Nation
By
Hon. Menissa Rambally
Minister for Social Transformation and Culture
On Emancipation Day
August 1, 2004
My fellow Saint Lucians, this Emancipation Day is being celebrated in our
country under the theme – A Rediscovery of our Saint Lucianness. This choice of
theme was deliberate, as it is meant to demonstrate that while like so many
others, we in Saint Lucia have walked a long and proud distance since that
historic day when our fore-parents were freed from physical bondage, the journey
for us has been a unique one, shaped by circumstances and conditions different
to those of other countries. What have emerged, in the process, are an identity,
heritage and culture that are distinctly Saint Lucian, and which have allowed us
not just to survive, but to succeed.
Therefore, as we celebrate this historic day in the lives of our people, let us
pause to reflect on the values and attributes that caused our ancestors to fight
and struggle so relentlessly for their freedom against an unjust and inhumane
system, and which ideals and characteristics must continue to shape our
responses to the challenges confronting us as a young, developing nation.
The Values of our Ancestors
Our forefathers refused to accept the philosophy that the colour of their skin
pre-determined that they were destined to live out their lives as hapless beasts
of burden. They rejected the tenet that their place in life was to serve as
units of production in a system whose sole purpose was to accumulate wealth to
be used for the further subjugation of people of colour. And they repudiated the
doctrine that fate and the Gods had somehow conspired to deny them any rights to
determine how they lived, where they lived, why they lived, and even for how
long they lived, given that their lives could be easily terminated at any moment
by an ill-tempered or disgruntled slave owner.
Our ancestors, in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds and obstacles,
fought for and earned the right to be considered as human beings. And when the
British Parliament ordered the abolition of slavery in the British colonies by
August 1, 1834, the first part of our journey as free people started. This was
the beginning of a journey that would eventually allow a new nation to emerge
and develop – a free Saint Lucia.
The Start of a Journey
Emancipation, however, though the start of a new passage, was not the end of the
voyage. While it signalled the closure of one of the most undignified and
dehumanizing chapters in the history of mankind, it heralded a new dawn that
would permit us to take the first tentative steps in the journey from chattel to
citizen. Emancipation opened the door that would allow the children of those who
had toiled thanklessly and often violently from sunrise to sunset to become the
masters of their own destinies, and the sovereign lords of their own independent
state. It facilitated the evolution of the sons and daughters of our proud and
noble fore-parents, who for decades had been stripped of their dignity and
denied their humanity, into world citizens - thinkers capable of capturing the
highest recognition for their ideas, logic and creativity.
That metamorphosis has seen our country and our people go through stages that
took us from slave territory to colony to Associated State to finally,
twenty-five years ago, independent nation. During that time, various Saint
Lucians have helped to shape our culture and our identity.
Our Achievements on the World Stage
In the space of one hundred and seventy years, we have evolved into a country
that has produced two Nobel laureates, deemed by international experts as being
not just among the best in their respective fields in the world, but as having
made a significant contribution to the development of world civilization. We
have witnessed the elevation of one of our sons to the position of President of
the General Assembly of the United Nations, the body that was established in
1945 to promote world peace, protect fundamental human rights, and encourage
social progress and better standards of life. One of our landmarks has been
designated a World Heritage Site, and just recently, our country was selected as
a venue for the third largest sporting event in the world, to serve as the host
for the country that for years laid title to us - England.
So you see, brothers and sisters, there is much for which we must be thankful
and celebrate. Our walk has been a productive and proud one, and our country and
people have truly taken their rightful place among the nations and citizens of
the world.
Worrying Trends
However, we must also be concerned at the erosion of many of the values for
which our ancestors stood, and which underpinned much of the progress that we
have made thus far. We are beginning to see a deterioration of civic
responsibility and a growing selfishness that are gnawing away at the social
fabric of our nation. No longer are we taking collective responsibility for our
development, but tending instead to cater to narrow self-interests and
aggrandizement.
We see some among us falling for the trap of get-rich-at-all-costs activities
and eschewing the characteristics of hard work, discipline, dedication, respect
and loyalty that our forefathers espoused in building our nation.
Instead of resolving our conflicts in the peaceful and deliberate manner to
which we were accustomed, some of us, and alarmingly, many among our youth, are
resorting to violence to settle differences of opinion.
The common courtesies that we were taught as children and previously extended
automatically to each other are now being replaced by rudeness, disrespect and
ridicule, even towards the older, the less fortunate and the less abled among
us.
Rediscovering our Saint Lucian Soul
This is why, my fellow Saint Lucians, my message this year is a simple, but I
believe, important one. We need to rediscover our Saint Lucianness - those
traits and the features that made us a courteous, respectful, disciplined,
law-abiding, industrious, and patriotic people. All of the gains that we have
made since our physical emancipation will be destroyed if we do not truly free
ourselves of the negative values that some of us now practice.
There is so much for which we can be proud, and in less than three years time
the eyes of the world will be focused on our country, as we seek to redefine
ourselves once again and start to make the transition from developing to
developed country status. But this transition is as much about emotional, social
and attitudinal growth as it is about economic and financial development. Let us
use this Emancipation Day celebration to recommit ourselves to the strong
positive and righteous values that made us what we are, while using today’s
technologies and opportunities to help us develop into what we know we can be –
a proud, industrious, respected, viable and admired nation.
My fellow Saint Lucians, I wish you a joyous, dignified and peaceful
Emancipation Day.
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