The following is an Emancipation Day statement from MP Hon. Peter David, Leader of D’ Movement, on behalf of the Interim Executive, and the members and supporters of the political organisation.
Today is Emancipation Day — 1 August 2025. For the first time in our history, we’re observing this day on its proper date; not the first Monday in August like we used to do. Not some convenient long weekend.
Today — 1 August — the actual day our enslaved African ancestors gained their freedom in 1838. And, here’s what I want to say about that: It’s about time! But this change didn’t happen overnight.
It took advocacy, consultation, and people like Arley Gill and Dr John Angus Martin pushing for years to get this right. The [Grenada] Cultural Foundation, the National Reparations Committee — they kept making the case that our most important historical moment deserved proper recognition. Because, let’s be honest — 1 August 1838, is the most significant date in our history as a people.
Without that day, without our ancestors’ struggle for freedom, we wouldn’t be here having this conversation. But, getting the date right reminds us of something important about how freedom was actually won. Our ancestors didn’t gain their freedom as individuals; they gained it together. Through resistance, through solidarity, through refusing to accept that their situation was permanent.
Our ancestors understood that real change required unity of purpose. And, here’s what strikes me: that same spirit of coming together for something bigger than ourselves — that’s what we need today. Not just to remember what happened in 1838, but to build on what our ancestors started.
Our ancestors didn’t just wait for freedom; they fought for it, resisted for it, sacrificed for it. That spirit of determination, that refusal to accept less than they deserved — that’s what we need to carry forward today.
Emancipation Day should be a celebration, yes; but, it should also be a reminder that freedom comes with responsibility. The responsibility to build the Grenada our ancestors dreamt of when they finally walked free.
So today, let’s not just mark a date on the calendar. Let’s honour the struggle, celebrate the progress, and commit to finishing the work our ancestors started.
First, we got the date right. Now, let’s get the celebration right. Finally, let’s get the future right.
D Movement
It is only by AFRICANS (BLACK People) themselves contributing to the discourse on the plight of our RACE that we would be able to establish our own “informal” think tanks to counteract the wiles of those who are determined to perpetuate our subjugation. It is in this light that this commenter makes haste to suggest that the last of the three questions posed by “Grenada First” must be answered in the negative. Psychologists have used the term “Dependent Personality Disorder” to describe a condition in which certain persons develop an excessive need to be taken care of, leading to certain kinds of submissive and clinging behaviour. As the American sociologist Dr. Joy DeGruy explains in her seminal work, POST TRAUMATIC SLAVE SYNDROME, no one can objectively deny that Black people collectively suffer from such a disorder. As a result of hundreds of years of enslavement, colonialism, miseducation, and religious indoctrination, the minds of Black people have been so thoroughly disfigured that many black people believe that our race was better off while burdened by the yoke of British and other colonialists. The task of redeeming the minds of BLACK People is indeed onerous. Still, BLACK People are no less endowed than other races. The only thing that is missing is a mechanism designed to reinforce our knowledge of ourselves as A PEOPLE. The Chinese and Indians were also colonized to different extents by Europeans. And yet they have resisted being duped by the false assurance of the dependency syndrome. The voice of Marcus Garvey continues to echo in every corner of the earth: “UP YOU MIGHTY RACE!” And so, whether we like it or not, the emergence of the fledgling Philosophy of RASTAFARI must be recognized as a breath of fresh air in the effort at reinvigorating the SPIRIT of the AFRICAN People.
They should have gotten the death penalty for what they did.
Imagine if a hurricane comes and these criminals go loose on the streets of Grenada like what happened during Ivan.
Britain granted Grenada independence in 1974 as part of a broader decolonization movement, allowing former colonies to self-govern. The decision was influenced by growing nationalist sentiments and the desire for self-determination among Grenadians. My question is has this been successful for the average Grenadians, have they benefitted in any way. Or would it have been better to remain under the financial and physical protection of Gresat Britain
The celebration of AFRICAN pride is indeed something that every BLACK person should feel privileged to participate in. However, doing so in the guise of EMANCIPATION DAY must leave anyone with a penchant for the use of words with an uneasy feeling. The term “emancipation” refers to the act of granting freedom to someone by another. Meanwhile, anything that is “granted” (“given”) can be taken back. Our forefathers had indeed fought to regain their freedom. However, as Dr. Eric Williams writes, the former enslavers were forced to end the enslavement of BLACK People more by economic factors than from the goodness of their hearts. The enactment of the Declaration of Emancipation at the Emancipation Day celebration in Grenville illustrates that this much is true. Celebrate, we must. But the notion of having one’s inalienable right to be free taken away by someone, and then turning around and celebrating the offender’s change of heart is indeed mind-boggling. As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts, “All members of the Human Family are born with the inherent and inalienable RIGHT to be FREE.” BLACK People should, therefore, assert their GOD-given RIGHT to be FREE rather than simple-mindedly revelling in the false notion that they have been freed at the behest of King William IV or President Abraham Lincoln. The celebration should always be about FREEDOM DAY, and although the nuances about the proper date might cause some concern, such considerations could be deferred to another time.
Nice speech, yes, but after it had all been achieved. And, yes, after years and years of advocacy. And, the years of advocacy would have been prolonged had they not met a government that was willing to make it happen. Like our forefathers, the present administration was decisive and deliberate in putting the advocacy into action. Like recognizing of October 19th, and the changing of the pledge of allegiance, they are action oriented. Then, when they have led and done it, others take the stage and do what they do best, in the name of D’Movement.