TULLOCH CASTLE, St James — Member of Parliament for South St James Derrick Kellier says there needs to be more appreciation for the Sam Sharpe Rebellion observed on December 27 each year.

Speaking during the Flames of Freedom civic ceremony at Tulloch Castle in the parish on Friday, Kellier described the rebellion celebration as “one of the most important events on the calendar of Jamaica’s history”.

“But over many years we have not taken the opportunity to fully celebrate or to commemorate it the way we should,” he argued.

“I still believe that the history of Sam Sharpe’s life is still a secret; the depth of his involvement is still a secret, and we have to work hard to spread his work right across the island. Because this event is going to grow with the support of the Baptist Union, some of the other churches and the cultural societies all over Jamaica and the heritage societies. We have to make this event the biggest event on Jamaica’s calendar to rival Independence,” Kellier said.

Meanwhile, University of the West Indies Professor Verene Shepherd, who gave the keynote address at Friday’s function, called for the memory of Sharpe’s execution — a national hero — to be with the annual Labour Day activities on May 23.

“Sharpe was tried on April 19, 1832. He was the last to be executed on May 23, 1832. We should mark that day each year; make it an annual day of remembrance and link it more effectively with Labour Day, because all he wanted was freedom for labourers; respectable wages for decent work and the end of the brutalisation of African people,” Professor Shepherd argued.

She was, however, quick to note that even as Sharpe was the leader of the 1831 event, the other rebels should not be forgotten.

“Sam Sharpe was not alone in this 1831/1832 Emancipation War; so we should not refer to it as the Sam Sharpe Rebellion. To do so would be to disrespect the hundreds of activists who were part of the army,” she said.

The Flames of Freedom is an annual celebration to mark the December 27, 1831 Christmas Rebellion, spearheaded by Sharpe. The rebellion, which involved some 50,000 slaves throughout Jamaica, was brutally suppressed by the British military.

Approximately 500 slaves were executed, including Sharpe — a well-known Baptist deacon in his day. But the rebellion helped influence the push for full emancipation of the slaves, which came August 1, 1838.

Friday, Kellier — who is also minister of labour and social security and agriculture and fisheries — said the work of Sharpe and the other enslaved blacks must be venerated.

“If it were not for this event, who knows where we would be tonight (Saturday)? Many of us could still be slaves, some of us wouldn’t live past [age] 30… We must respect what Sam Sharpe and his people did,” Kellier argued.