Emancipation Day in Canada

 It's rare for a bill to be passed unanimously in the Canadian House of Commons but on Wednesday 335 Members of Parliament voted together to declare August 1st as Emancipation Day in this country.  The date marks the anniversary of when Britain's Parliament abolished slavery in the British Empire in 1834. 

In response to this decision Green Party Leader Annamie Paul, who is a Black woman said: "For almost 200 years Emancipation Day has gone generally uncommemorated, and untaught, though people of African descent have lived in Canada since the transatlantic slave trade and the Indigenous Peoples of these territories predate the colonialists."

August 1st is in a time of the year when Canadians are doing whatever they can to soak up the sun and may be less likely to pay attention to Emancipation Day or anything other than enjoying the nearby statutory holiday. I do hope that we can recognize the importance of the day across the country 

                                                   Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. -- Emancipation Day 1956

Emancipation Day has been celebrated in Windsor, Ontario, since the 1930's through to  1967, and the occasion has been revived in recent years. The day would draw large crowds and drew big musical acts such as the Supremes, Duke Ellington and Stevie Wonder.

Dr. Martin Luther King, the Baptist pastor and Civil Rights activist was a guest for Emancipation Day in 1956.

Last year the United Church of Canada affirmed Emancipation Day and encouraged congregations to do so within worship. Who knows, the day may come when this too is a statutory holiday as well.