Emancipation Day Freedom is a Must
Posted By: Ras Forever
Date: 30, July 2002
Greetings in the name of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Sellassie I the First. This message marks the observance of Emancipation Day August 1st 2002 - the 164th Anniversary of the legal end to the inhumane and brutal institution of chattel plantation slavery, that for so long stained the conscience of the world.
EMANCIPATION IS A PROCESS - NOT AN ANNUAL EVENT
This Freedom Day of August 1st 1838, came after several hundred years of chattel Slavery, one of the most abominable examples of man's inhumanity to man, in this case the African man, who was violently uprooted from Africa, packed and shipped like animals to destinations all over the world. This act being perpetrated by a combination of European governments and their servants, private investors and their chosen African agents.
In the years since Freedom was said to have been achieved, the assessment of events, progress, and gains that have taken place, remains a source of contention and should be best made by individuals and groups, both in Africa and the places of their dispersal, where an accurate picture can be presented place by place, by the relevant communities or nations themselves.
The years between the Declaration of Emancipation and the present, saw several countries, groups and individuals, marking the occasion by a public holiday and other observances. Recently Ghana has joined the growing list of nations to make the date a public holiday. This after a period, where the significance and importance of Emancipation was nearly obliterated from the consciousness of the African and the world.
The Emancipation of the Africans and others in the British West Indies was followed by that of those in the French, Spanish, Dutch and American territories. It must be stated here that Freedom to the African was not exactly a gift, but came about because of a series of measures by the African themselves, to make the system of Slavery unworkable and unprofitable.This was done at a great cost to millions of Africans, whose blood, sweat, tears and lives, are responsible for whatever gains that has been achieved since those dark days that begun when the slave ships first appeared off the African coasts.
In closing this tribute, I an I pay homage and honour, to those who prayed, who bled, who suffered, who pained, who fought, who screamed, who cried and died on the altar of human greed and indifference. Many thanks to all those who stood by then an those who are still standing today in support with Rastafari and African people in the fight for peace, justice, equality and respect of all human rights, for all people, at all times.
I an I Rastafari give thanks and praises, knowing that I an I rose from the depths of oppression, despair, subjugation, exploitation, and rejection. From the humblest of the humble, from the lowliest of the low, joining in the creation of a bond with all conscious and righteous humanity to lift the level of mankind's existence to hither unattainable heights and create a bright new future under the banner of RASTAFARI, the coming together of all righteous people, a gathering of the godly, a source of spirit, inspiration, salvation, repatriation, reparation and redemption.
Rastafari shall lead the way forward, a true symbol of emancipation, a beacon of hope, a source of love.
Let Jah Rastafari be praised everytime.
A Message from a Dear departed Brother.
In this life, in this life
In this oh sweet life
We're coming in from the cold
We're coming in, coming in, coming in
We're coming in from the cold
It's life, it's life, it's life
Coming in from the cold
We're coming in, coming in, coming in
Coming in from the cold
It's you, it's you, it's you I'm talking to
Well you, it's you, it's you
It's you I'm talking to now
Bob Marley 1980
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