MONTEGO BAY, St James –

The island’s civic and political leaders yesterday gathered at the Sam Sharpe square to unveil the first in a series of freedom monuments to bear the names of the thousands of slaves who were either killed or punished for their part in the fight for freedom.

The monument was unveiled just after 5:00 pm in the courtyard of the Montego Bay Civic centre – where national hero Sam Sharpe was hanged for his role in the 1831 rebellion – by the Governor General, Professor Kenneth Hall; Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller; Leader of the Opposition, Bruce Golding and Mayor of Montego Bay, Noel Donaldson.

It bears the names of over 600 slaves who lost their lives in the fight for freedom.

“We will use the physical monument as a permanent reminder. We are engraving their names as a link in the chain to the past,” the Prime Minister told the gathering which included a large contingent of supporters of both political parties clad in party regalia.

No longer, she noted, would the nation’s forefathers who had fought for and gained emancipation be condemned to the footnotes of history or forgotten all together.

For his part Golding said the monument’s erection was long overdue and insisted that it was now time for the nation to own its history and teach it in schools. “We are now repairing a breach that has existed for too long,” he chided. “How very little care we have taken (as it relates to our history).”

He further reflected how very little he learnt in school about the nation’s history and insisted that now was the time to right this wrong by ensuring that our children were appraised of our place in history. “We need to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery,” he said. “That job is still not done.”

Professor Rex Nettleford, who delivered the main address at yesterday’s historic ceremony, also lauded the monument as a symbol to the memory of the nation’s foreparents.

He said the abolition of slavery was a celebration of law as it existed to protect all human beings and ensure that we were seen as the centre of the universe.

He insisted, however, that Jamaicans were not enjoying the “full freedom” that many of our ancestors fought and died for.

“There are many of us today who think that people like us can’t run tings,” said the Professor in a speech that went on for 40 minutes. This, he said, manifested itself in comments such as ‘that’s why I don’t work for black people’. These things, he said, must cease if Jamaicans were to enjoy full freedom and truly honour our ancestors.

According to the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT), which partnered with the St James Parish Council to make the monument a reality, this is just the first of several freedom monuments to be erected across the island.

A special plaque, dedicated to the memory of Sam Sharpe – leader of the Christmas Rebellion of 1831-1832 which led the way in the fight for emancipation – has also been erected in the Civic Centre’s courtyard.

Several other dignitaries including the Minister of Tourism, Aloun Assamba; Nigerian High Commissioner, Olufolajimi Akintola; former Governor General, Sir Howard Cooke and many of the city’s civic and political leaders attended the lavish ceremony, which got underway at approximately 2:30 pm yesterday.