Jamaicans Urged to Value Achievements

President of the Northern Caribbean University, Dr. Herbert Thompson, has urged Jamaicans to value the country’s achievements since Emancipation and to “stop beating up on ourselves and making ourselves look as if we are no good, and we are not heading anywhere”.
Dr. Thompson, who was delivering the main address at the National Emancipation vigil in Mandeville, Manchester on July 31, said that “Emancipation is something that didn’t come easy or didn’t come at one time,” and Jamaicans must value the freedom they now enjoy.
He said, “one of the ways in which you define freedom is to understand how you deal with the freedom you have”, emphasizing that, “you cannot speak about Emancipation . freedom .and unity unless all of us are enjoying those things together.”
Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture Roger Clarke, who delivered the Prime Minister’s message at the function, said, “it is our solemn duty to secure the gains won by the invincibility of the human spirit against great odds .with passionate and loving care”.
He noted that, the celebration of August first remained an important observance and while today’s challenges might appear formidable, “the fact that our forebearers could overcome the greatest hardship of all, that of being enslaved, is cause for hope and for a strengthening of our resolve, to overcome every obstacle.”
“We must never give up the fight to become the self-directed, liberated human beings we were created to be,” he told the scores of residents and dignitaries gathered for the event.
The National Emancipation Vigil commenced the week of activities in celebration of Emancipation and Independence this year.