No amount of rain or wind could stop the celebration of Emancipation Day at Fredriksted’s Buddhoe Park on St. Croix on Sunday.
As testimony to their resilience, the small crowd huddled together under umbrellas and scantly spread rooftops as if defying the downpour to mark the day when slaves revolted peacefully for freedom 163 years ago.
The day began with a “freedom march” led by Sen. Terrence “Positive” Nelson that that started at 5 a.m. at Fort Christansvaern and ended around 10 a.m. at Fort Frederik. Then, a food sale was held at St. Patrick Catholic’s Catholic Church from noon until 6 p.m.
“In spite of the rain, we’ve had a good turnout. We were scheduled to have the sale outside, but we had to move into the church because it just kept raining,” said Anastasia Doward, president of the St. Patrick’s Alumni Association.
Then, as always, a commemorative program was held at the park. Due to rain and other events scheduled on St. Croix, the turnout was extremely small compared to previous years; however, the few speakers still let their powerful messages be heard.
Central High School student Tricia Andrew, who went with her anthropology class to Ghana, explained how the experience affected her.
“We entered the dungeon where they held slaves before they boarded ships,” she said. “We are constantly hearing about our ancestors struggling and we learned invaluable lessons while we were there.”
Attorney Emile Henderson III gave a presentation on the importance of having a Constitution for the Virgin Islands, and explained that without one, the territory is subject to the Federal Constitution and forces the government to lose some of its autonomy.
“Join me and pledge to be a part of this. Understand that it will be a document that we won’t all agree on, but the most important part is that we have a Constitution,” he said.
Then, as the rain continued to pelt down, Mario C. Moorhead spoke loudly through the microphone, giving a fervently powerful speech about the historical events leading up to the day – July 3, 1848 – when Moses Gottlieb – known to history as “General Buddhoe” – led the peaceful uprising that won freedom for the enslaved Africans in the territory.
“You are here, drenched in this weather because you have looked in the mirror and because you realize you have the potential to be any man. Look how you deal with this weather. Look how you deal with this antagonism!” Moorhead said.
After praising the crowd, he described the 14 year timeframe leading up to the revolt. It was during this period when European countries found cheaper ways to produce sugar, Moorehead explained, and the enslaved African people of the territories were directly affected as a result.
“Those 14 years were like living in a house of broken mirrors and sleeping on a bed of nails for territory.” He continued “The price of sugar dropped, 50 estates went bankrupt. When you look at the old lithographs don’t just notice how they (slaves) are all barefoot, but how poorly they dressed. They were half naked!” he exclaimed.
Slavery was no was no longer economical, Moorehead explained. He explained that the summer before the revolt, Gov. Gen. Peter von Scholten read the proclamation that “newborn black children would be free, but all adults would be free in 12 years,” sparking the final fuse toward revolt.
The next summer, Buddhoe and his comrade, Martin King, organized a plan to rally the slaves for revolt, and in the early morning of July 3rd, thousands marched into Frederiksted demanding freedom.
“This is the only place on the planet where a people said ‘you know what? We are not taking slavery anymore,’” Moorehead said.
Then he pointed to a shanty where a group of people were standing and said “You would be outlawed before – if 10 or more of you were together – but on that day, this whole place was full,” he said.
After Moorhead, a 21-member troupe of WDY quadrille dancers led by Hazel Soto danced to music in the rain.
Scheduled to follow the program, a poetry and reenactment ceremony was to be held in front of the United Caribbean Association restaurant at 7 p.m.
