Dr Melvin A. Turnbull has urged Virgin Islanders to tell their story of majesty, wisdom and achievement and to tell it often. 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

Scenes from the 2025 Emancipation Celebration Service on Sunday, August 3, 2025, at the Sunday Morning Well in Road Town. Photo: VINO

Dr Turnbull was the featured speaker for the first time ever at the Virgin Islands Emancipation March and Celebration Service on Sunday, August 3, 2025, at the Sunday Morning Well in Road Town. 

The annual event is hosted by the Virgin Islands Heritage Committee in partnership with the Government of the Virgin Islands.

Our story is much alive 

“Today, we have come together in the sacred space, not just as witnesses, but as participants in a grand unfolding story.”

This story, he said, is written across continents and centuries, carried on the backs of the ancestors, and very much alive in the possibility of every waking day. 

“I want to caution us, I want to challenge us. We must tell our story and tell it often, because if we don’t tell it, others have told it and will continue to tell it. Only when they tell it, they present it as a distorted, truncated and even destructive version,” Dr Turnbull stated. 

The story of our people is rooted in majesty

Dr Turnbull reminded, “Before the ships, before the shackles, my people, our people, walked as Kings and Queens upon the sacred grounds of Africa…The story of our people is rooted in majesty, wisdom, and achievement.”

He defended his point, asking those in attendance to recall the grandeur of Egypt, the glory of Nubia, the scholarship of Timbuktu, the riches of Mali, the splendour of Benin, and the architecture of Zimbabwe. 

“These are not just mere footnotes in history. These were civilisations that birthed art, mathematics, literature, and governance.”

Dr Turnbull encouraged the people to stand tall in this heritage, urging them not to fear or be ashamed. 

“Let us teach our children, not just of survival but of sovereignty. We were in rulership. Our story begins with and ends in brillance and worth. It’s the kind of worth that no chain can diminish. It’s the kind of worth that no scheme can smother.”