VI Emancipation celebrations have shifted away from church & family- Hon Vanterpool
Hon Vanterpool was at the time addressing a gathering at the Annual Emancipation Service at the Sunday Morning Well on Sunday August 2, 2015.
More revelry than reflection
According to the Minister, the annual Emancipation Service at the Sunday Morning Well is probably one of the most important aspects of the Emancipation celebrations and is in fact the reason for the annual festivities.
“I have to say that in recent years we may have seen a deviation from the original church and family related activities in observance of our Emancipation celebration. We have seen a slant towards more of the activities that would encourage revelling, perhaps sometimes without the mental pause for the real cause. We have even seen a tendency of many persons to misinterpret the name of what we do here in the Virgin Islands by calling it a carnival rather than a festival…”
Hon Vanterpool then said it is therefore becoming increasingly important for VI leaders to ensure that every resident in the territory, especially children, understand the significance of the August festival in the context of the history of the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean as a whole, “where we have come from, where we are today and where we are heading as a people.”
The theme for this year's festival is 'It’s an Emancipation Celebration of Reflection to be Seen; VI Cultural Festival 2015'.
Hon Vanterpool then asked how much have people been reflecting and examining the state of affairs of the Virgin Islands for the past 25 years or so and looking at developing a charter for the way forward.
Taking stock, focus on education
“It is time for us to take inventory of the state of affairs of the VI…to determine whether our progress is consistent with international best practices and to gauge whether our people here in the VI are realising an improvement in the standard of living from year to year.”
The Works Minister, who has used this occasion in the past to call for independence, said just like the corporate models businesses have for their sustainability, there are different stages where it would be necessary for the territory to re-adjust and create a new model for going forward based on certain crucial market conditions.
“One cannot continue to operate in the same mode while the environment around us is changing…although a small country we still have a relationship with the international communities that bears down on how we behave here in the Virgin Islands.”
He explained that the VI could not just decide to have its own education system and remain at the High School graduation certificate and expect to survive and operate in the global arena. This he said is one of the reasons the Minister for Education, Hon Myron V. Walwyn, has refocused his attention on the Caribbean Examinations.
This, he said, is where the reset comes in terms of revaluating and setting the pace and making sure that the VI remains on a solid footing for now and the future.
Remarks were also delivered by Premier Dr The Hon D. Orlando Smith, Hon Walwyn and Dr Melvin A. Turnbull, while the Guest Speaker was Dr Joe B. Maddox of the United States of America.
The Emancipation Proclamation was read by Ms Anne Leonard.
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22 Responses to “VI Emancipation celebrations have shifted away from church & family- Hon Vanterpool”
Today, drunken bumping and grinding seems to be the only way the younger generation appears to know how to celebrate OUR emancipation. I say "our" because the celebrations are as much for me and my age group as they are for all other age groups, yet it seems anyone younger than 16 and older than 25 is not considered important anymore. Teenagers and young adults have dominated our celebrations for the past 15 years or more.
I can't say for sure, but I imagine it would be a safe bet to say that our ancestors would be horrified at what Festival has become. If some prefer to call it "carnival", I think we should let them. It is certainly more circus like than was originally intended. The public debauchery we see today sure isn't what the dictionary describes as "Festival"!
I blame the past 4 governments for allowing the demise of Festival. Our government funds the Festival and Fairs Committee, so I suggest the minister DO something about it, if you don't like it. Lavity Stoutt certainly would not be pleased, and I can tell you that as a certainty!
This all lands squarely in the minister's lap! Only he can order the necessary changes if he wants Festival to become as wonderful as it once was. Perhaps the townies could learn something from the Carrot Bay Festival and get back to what's important? Why does the entire festival have to be one VERY long J'Ouvert?!
Festival, in my opinion, needs to be seriously revamped so that its true meaning will be evident and our culture can be preserved. Right now it is being viewed as a means of entertainment for some. This year's activities (or lack of them) and the lack of enthusiasm should have sent a strong message to the planners. Go back to the drawing boards, please!!!
I agree, I do feel that the message is either getting lost or half-told. I don't think people care about the message anymore. Some probably even go, 'blah blah blah' in their heads until they hear music to dance to.
I agree that we need to do better with the amount of nudity and grinding that goes on at parade in particular. Every year I watch it and I wonder why these people —who, when you go to the club, you see them standing on the wall, too ashamed to be seen as 'loose'— suddenly feel that it's okay to be half naked in public and carrying on themselves they way they do. What switch in their brain turns off that was on all year 'round?
My biggest complaint for this year's festivities was the noise level. I have lived in the town area for years and basically every year except this one village stops the noise at 2 or 3 in the morning. I've been okay with it since it's celebration time and it's only once a year but this year was ridiculous. Sometimes the noise didn't start until 1 or 2 in the morning and went on until 4 or 5, once, almost 6 in the morning. I understood that people wanted to celebrate but come-on! The Festival Committee needs to be more organise and make sure the entertainers adhere to their time slot. If the entertainer suppose to be on stage at 8 o'clock to give a performance for 40 minutes, make sure that they are there on time and don't go over their time limit. If the entertainer comes too late, don't put them on stage and make the entertainer compensate, with their own money, the people who came to watch them. You still have to be considerate of the people who live in the neighbourhood. We aren't all out partying to whatever hour and some of us have jobs and children and we need our sleep.
the people they hired. thats extremely bad for the whole thing. shouldn't be so. sure doesn't have anything
to do with emancipation or morality.