Junior Minister for Tourism and Culture, Hon Luce D. Hodge-Smith (R4), has said that celebrating emancipation is not marking a day in history but honouring a legacy. Photo: VINO

The annual Virgin Islands Emancipation March & Celebration Service was held on Sunday, August 3, 2025, at the Sunday Morning Well in Road Town. Photo: VINO

This legacy, she said, during the Virgin Islands Emancipation March and Celebration Service on Sunday, August 3, 2025, at the Sunday Morning Well in Road Town, was “built by our foreparents whose cries were heard by the God of justice and mercy”. 

Freedom wasn’t given but hard-won 

The Minister asked Virgin Islanders to remember that the freedom enjoyed today was not freely given. 

“It was hard-won through unimaginable suffering, steadfast resilience, and unshakable faith. As junior Minister for Tourism and Culture, I stand here deeply aware that we are the beneficiaries of those sacrifices.”

The roads we walk, she explained, were paved by the determination of men and women who refuse to be broken. 

“We enjoy freedoms that others only dreamed of: freedom of thought, freedom of movement, freedom to worship, freedom to vote, and freedom to build.”

Freedom must be preserved 

Hon Hodge-Smith added that with every freedom comes responsibility, and so the liberties enjoyed today should not be taken for granted. 

“Let us not forget that freedom once attained must be preserved, it must be nurtured in how we treat one another, in how we teach our children, in how we govern ourselves, and in how we speak truth to power.”

Therefore, Virgin Islanders are called to protect their culture while celebrating their heritage and uplifting their people. 

“These festivals, these celebrations are not mere tradition, they’re acts of remembrance and resistance, they are declarations that we’re still standing, still thriving, still free.”