Activities leading up to Emancipation Day, August 1, start on Thursday, July 28

Published by BBNTEAM at July 27, 2022

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Posted: Wednesday, July 27, 2022. 6:48 pm CST.

Photo Credit: MoECST

By Rubén Morales Iglesias: Emancipation Day, the day slavery was abolished is being observed in Belize as a national public and bank holiday for a second year on Monday, August 1.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, Technology (MoECST), the National Institute of Culture and History (NICH), the Belize National Celebrations Commission (NCC), and the National Archives and Records Service have put up a series of events leading up to and on the 1st of August.

The first activity to be held on Thursday, July 28, is NICH’s Virtual Exhibit Re-Launch of ‘The Documentary Heritage of Slavery & Emancipation in Belize’. NICH said the documentary “aims to promote the use of archival documents as a source of history and understand African enslavement in Belize”.

This event will be livestreamed on Facebook at 1:00 pm and will be followed by a Live Transcription of Records via a ZOOM Meeting during which the National Archives and Records Service “will transcribe archival documents into modern text and engage in a healthy discussion at 1:30 pm”.

On Friday, the National Library Service and Information System will present ‘Libations at the Library,’ simultaneously at the Turton Library Centre in Belize City and at the National Heritage Library in Belmopan starting at 11:00 am. This event will also be livestreamed on Facebook.

On Saturday, July 31, the Queen Street Baptist Church will celebrate the ‘Eve of Emancipation Church Service’ in honour of the service originally officiated on July 31, 1838. The Church service starts at 10:45 pm. The service may be followed on Facebook as well.

On Emancipation Day, Monday, August 1, the Council of Churches will be tolling church bells countrywide at 6:00 am. After that, several events will follow.

The Institute of Archaeology – NICH will present ‘Archaeology of Emancipation: Evidence of Resistance’ all day on Facebook.

The Museum of Belize – NICH will show live on Facebook the Emancipation Day Educational Video Series and the Word of African Continuity Premiere.

NICH and the National Kriol Council will host the Official Emancipation Day Ceremony at 9:00 am at the Yabra Green in Belize City. The ceremony will be followed by a fair, which will run from 10:00 am until 7:00 pm, featuring ‘traditional Kriol Food’, community activities, an Ebo Town Festival, and a football tournament.

The National Kriol Council will present an Emancipation virtual lecture by Professor Emeritus Pedro Welch, former Vice Principal of the University of the West Indies at the Cave Hill Campus in Barbados.

“His lecture is expected to track the legacy of enslavement and emancipation in the Caribbean, in the context of the devastating impact of COVID-19, which has caused widespread ill health, and unprecedented levels of hospitalisations and deaths in the region and globally,” said the Jamaica Gleaner.

The lecture will be livestreamed starting at 1:00 pm.

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