Independence day: the birth of a nation. The birth of an identity, the protection of a culture, the stamp of sovereignty on the international stage.
In celebration of this autonomy, we spray the sky in an array of colours, crackling in explosive splendour. Our soldiers march with stomps of pride and precision. However, the meaning of our independence is far greater than any spectacle.
Independence Day is there to help us remember who we are. A nation free from colonial rule for sixty three years, a proud leader in the region of sand, sea, and sun. However, today we must question, have we forgotten who we are? Have we forgotten what it truly means to be independent?
Our First Peoples
Though often forgotten, our Island's history does not begin in bondage. It begins in freedom, innovation and a rich heritage from our Indigenous peoples.
From the Awaraks and Caribs to the Warao, Garifuna and Shabayo tribes, we engaged in trade with our neighbouring tribes. We learnt how to use bow and arrow to canoe. Casava Bread and Farine, Corn Pastelles, coffee and chadon beni became a part of our local cuisine. We inherited their pottery, weaving and wood carving styles.
Their language is sustained in our streets and towns of Arouca, Arima, Tacarigua to name a few.
When we celebrate Independence, it should be with a deeper understanding that we have taken back control of our resources, our culture, our right to shape our own national identity. We have taken back that freedom to build on what our indeginous ancestors started. A freedom to craft our nation, not as a colonial puppet, but for the benefit of our own people.
The Enslavement Of Our People
Though a grim part of our history, our nation experienced years of bondage and the enslavement of our African descent people.
Through the Atlantic Slave Trade, thousands of Africans were captured, plucked from their home land, their families, their culture, their lives and transported to a foreign land with a foreign language, to build the empire of their ensalvers.
Our period of the enslavement of our African population is one that should never be understated. Our people endured approximately three hundred years of the stifiling of their identity, their religion, their culture, their ability to be educated.
They were banned from marriage, leaving a legacy of broken families that to this day persists in our Afro Trinidadian community.
They were beaten, raped, murdered mercilessly. Even their humanity was stripped from them. The law classified them as property, subject to be used as their owners desired.
Therefore, when we celebrate our independence it is with greater appreciation that we were not always free to be educated, free to own property, free to thrive, free to self autonomy.
The Control of Our Resources