 This message today from me as Prime Minister is a signal that from now This government will make the 1st of August a major event in our national calendar Our self-esteem our dignity our respect for the lives and struggles of our forefathers demand this of us And I can say to you now That as of today We have kept our promise Prime Minister Honourable Philip J. Pierre has not only Allocated government resources his vision for Emancipation Day activities has renewed public interest and also broadened and diversified stakeholder participation Minister for Culture Honourable Dr. Eunicelle was tasked with materializing the Prime Minister's vision during the campaign In preparing our manifesto the Prime Minister said we must never ever continue to celebrate Emancipation Day the way we have done it in St. Lucia and when he became Prime Minister and he appointed me as Minister he said one of the first things he wanted done was for me to get Emancipation Day celebrations, right? I listened to him I believed him, but he also delivered when we started to prepare the budget He made sure there were monies in the allocations for us to be able to celebrate today That was his commitment to making today a different day in our history And I said to him Prime Minister we will get it done under the direction of Honourable Pierre St. Lucia's observance of Emancipation Day in the last 12 months has Evolved from what used to be an unremarkable holiday To more than a month of celebrations that features national events and activities to commemorate the historical occasion and Raise the national consciousness and promote greater awareness of St. Lucia's ancestral past The Prime Minister delivered his second Emancipation Address during the inaugural Dance and Drum Jouvet Spectacle Which took place on the Castry's waterfront on August 1st We must not be ashamed Because the continued resistance to and rebellion against slavery Contributed greatly to the formal freedom on 1st August 1848 Our for fathers will not merely passive recipients of Emancipation The story of their struggle must be told Celebrating Emancipation Day, therefore, is to celebrate the victory of our ancestors over the system that enslaved them Celebrating Emancipation Day is to say that we are strong enough to overcome the slavery of our times Poverty, high unemployment, violent crime and Unemployment Celebrating Emancipation Day is to say that we as a people are determined to become a prosperous nation conscious of our strengths and abilities Inherited from our slave forbearance proud of whom we are and from whence we come The program of activities that has been organized this year is just the beginning These celebrations will grow and become grander with time In fact, the planning committee has mapped out an action program for the next three years as of this year Emancipation Day will no longer be just another holiday A national freedom concert held at Old Trafford in Souffre followed the dance and drum juve spectacle This year's reimagined Emancipation Day activities Officially commenced in June under the theme in kindling our consciousness The official calendar of events includes numerous activities for all ages such as lectures recitals and visual art displays on July 31st Honorable Pierre joined a government delegation that included the culture and health ministers Along with the members of parliament for denry north and denry south for the official unveiling of the emancipation hero Petronele Dweeney from the office of the prime minister Rihani Isidou