Set The Captive Free: Emancipation Day 2006

Join me on Monday, 7 August 2006 from 10-4 as I celebrate Emancipation Day at the Uncle Tom Cabin's Museum in Dresden Ontario (Dresden is 40 minutes west of London on the 401). I will be giving a lecture on Canadian Black woman freedom fighter Marie Joseph Angelique. I will be reading excerpts from my book The Hanging of Angelique: Canada, Slavery, and the Burning of Old Montreal (HarperCollins 2006). Check out the Uncle Tom's Cabin Museum website.

Yes, 1 August is Emancipation Day. It has been celebrated in Canada since 1834 when Britain freed closed to one million enslaved Africans in its overseas colonies, including Canada. It's been called 'West Indian' Emancipation Day because the majority of the enslaved were in the Caribbean colonies. On a day like this, or rather, in Canada, this 4-7 August period will be marked by Emancipation Day Celebration all over Toronto and Canada. In Toronto, events go on at Metro Hall on 4 Aug. City Hall on 5 Aug., and at several Afrocentric venues such as the Ashanti Room. Events are also taking place in Owen Sound, Windsor, Dresden, Ontario.

During this period we remember the dreadful time of the slave trade and enslavement and all that we lost. But we also remember our resilience, strength, courage and the love we bore for each other, and freedom. We remember the people who sacrificed their lives so we could live. Heroes such as Tacky, Paul Bogle, Nanny, Cudjoe, Accompong, Henry Bibb, Queen Abena/Cuba, Queen Anacaona, Celia, Marie-Joseph Angelique, my ancestress Alison Parkinson, and the countless unnamed women and men.

Today we also remember the numerous brothers and sisters who are still in chains. SET THE CAPTIVE FREE!!!