The Editor, Sir:

In Jamaica, August 1 and 6 are celebrated each year as Emancipation and Independence days, respectively. All reasonable individuals of Jamaican roots would naturally have no qualms with our recognising these days.

These two dates, August 1, 1838 and August 6, 1962, MUST be two of the most salient dates in our nation's history. The first brings, technically, to culmination,a period of horrific exploitation of subjugated and vilified masses hitherto unconstrained, depriving thousands of human beings of their cultures, their religions, their freedoms, their hopes, dreams and even their names, among other things. The second date serves to establish sovereignty, not merely from our so-called motherland, Britain, but importantly, sovereignty of thought, of will and the ability to think and act independently, even as we seek some semblance of alliance as we are being weaned, as in the case with our current arrangements with British police in the fight against crime in Jamaica.

Our festivities, over the upcoming 'emancipendence' period, should be done with vigour and gusto, despite elections fever of August 27 blooming in the air, but only in the context, and with the understanding, that these achievements are 'works-in-progress'. We, as a people, are still struggling for true and genuine emancipation and total independence for our country and people of colour, as a whole.

Human Rights

In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed that "no-one shall be held in slavery and servitude ..." But even with the drafting and implementation of this universal document and even though slavery was said to be abolished in Jamaica on August 1, 1838 and our independent nation came on stream later on August 6, 1962, we would be naive to be blindly coaxed in the belief that subjugation of the masses is non-existent in contemporary Jamaica and abroad, even as we celebrate and recognise our proud accomplishments and prepare to exercise our franchise on August 27.

We have been schooled to perceive slavery only in the context of images of the Middle Passage, black skin folks with physical shackles around their ankles being handed a machete and a hut to 'work' for free. To most Jamaicans and many individuals of African descent and extraction, slavery is simply explained as an anachronism from a long and atrocious past. However, this line of thinking is very detrimentalto the true eradication and non-exploitation of a great many folks of colour.

Slavery has evolved and has now taken on a contemporary trend. There are the poor, industrial workers who spend most of their time at work and away from home and family, but still unable to meet their basic needs of providing adequate food and shelter as well as basic, affordable education for themselves and children.

Common belief

It is the common belief that some young people, including Jamaicans, get caught up in what are known internationally, as 'Debt Bondages'. A person enters a debt bondage when their labour is demanded as a means of repayment of a loan or money given in advance. Usually these individuals are brainwashed, as in the human trafficking scams, into working in various kinds of jobs, mostly illegally, abroad. The person is either given or promised a portion of money or valuables. These individuals are usually put in a situation that is impossible for them to pay back these loans and are usually drugged unknowingly. They are, in essence, enslaved!

As we celebrate the 'emancipendence' season upon its arrival, let's not go overboard with it, but use this period as a reminder that we have come a long way. Let's employ this achievement as fertilizers to induce and elicit a more equitable relationship among the 'haves' and the 'have-nots'. Let our motives in celebration be for true 'emancipendence' and complete eradication of slavery here and abroad. Let us, once and for all, be in the position to scream, from the bottom of our hearts, "Happy 'Emancipendence'" but this time with a clear conscience, knowing this to be factual and not some usurped notion!

(I am a Jamaican educator, author and poet. I teach in Canada currently where I am also a Canadian citizen.)

I am, etc.,

JOSHUA SPENCER

Toronto, Canada

joshuaspencer@rogers.com