FREEDOM FOR ALL EMANCIPATION DAY LECTURE

The St. George's Episcopal (Anglican) Church presented the 1st Dr. Norwell Harrigan Memorial Lecture Series on emancipation day August 1st, 2003. The lecture was delivered by Dr. John Wright, Coordinator of External Programmes and former Dean of Academic Affairs at the HLS Community College and was entitled "Freedom For All". It was part of a series of activities organized by the church in observance of emancipation day. The Anglican Church has been in the forefront of emancipation celebrations in Tortola, including playing its part in preparing the slaves from 1833 for emancipation. When the proclamation was read, church services were held throughout the Caribbean to mark the first step to the abolition of slavery. "It is with this historical perspective that the church today must revive its interest and resume its critical role in educating our people on the cost of freedom and what it means for us, other than being a privilege," declared Father Ronald Branche. He pointed out that wherever there is privilege, there is responsibility and wherever there is responsibility, there is accountability. The St. George's Episcopal Anglican Church had a full day of activities to include a Holy Eucharist Service at the ruins of St. Philip's church in Kingston, a display of literature and craft at the Cay, an emancipation march from the Governor's office to the Sunday morning well and then to the Cay and the memorial lecture. The lecture is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Norwell Harrigan (1918-1990), a distinguished son of the soil who planted seeds which grew and flourished in diverse fields. He was a specialist teacher in agriculture and also served in the British Colonial Civil Service in education and government, from which he retired in 1966 as Secretary to the government and senior member to the Executive Council. In 1968, he joined the College of the Virgin Islands on a special project and became Associate Director and subsequently Director, as well as a lecturer in education and political science at the Caribbean Research Institute, from which he retired in 1984. Dr. Harrigan also served as Commissioner of the Boy Scouts and was actively involved in the Anglican Church. He patronized the arts, loved poetry and music and promoted the culture of the Virgin Islands. But perhaps the seed which has borne lasting fruit was Dr. Harrigan's commitment to recording the history of the BVI with Dr. Pearl Varlack. He co-authored several articles on this subject. Their book "The Virgin Islands Story" published in 1975 is the first comprehensive history of the Virgin Islands. At the lecture and cultural presentation, Chief Minister Dr. the Honourable D. Orlando Smith said there are many aspects of freedom which we cannot as a people allow to be encroached on. "I speak of freedom of speech where one must be able to have free discourse without the fear of recrimination and freedom of association where one must be able to associate with anyone whom they wish.without fear of being disenfranchised," he stated. He said perhaps the greatest freedom of all is that of freedom to be involved in the socio economic development and the political development of this country. "While everything cannot be legislated, we have promised and we will put in place a Bill of Rights that will address some of these areas," the Chief Minister promised. Dr. Wright said the purpose of his presentation was not to prove or disprove the rightness or wrongness of those who believe we are an embarrassment to our forefathers. He said instead, he would attempt to examine some of the relevant historical experiences of the slave system within the English speaking Caribbean that might have led to the annual August 1st celebrations and secondly to challenge everyone, in reflection of those historical experiences, to search our hearts and minds to determine whether our behaviours, daily words and actions are true practical testimonies of our deep and sincere appreciation of the price that was paid on our behalf by our forefathers for this day