FORMER Prime Minister PJ Patterson is urging Jamaicans to not only honour the memory of the nation’s forefathers on Emancipation Day but commit to a future in which everyone has a fair chance to thrive while strengthening ties with Africa.

“On this Emancipation Day, let us swear to shatter the chains of slavery, and end the bondage of colonial exploitation. Let us build instead the structural unity of global Africa and mobilise fully our vast intellectual, mineral, and natural resources for the progress and prosperity of global Africa and our people as a whole,” Patterson said in an Emancipation Day message.

Patterson, who served as Jamaica’s chief executive from 1992 to 2006, reinstated Emancipation Day as a national holiday in 1977. The day, marked on August 1 each year to commemorate the abolition of slavery in 1834 in Jamaica, was initially declared a public holiday in 1893, but was discontinued in 1962 when the island gained Independence.

In recent times the former prime minister’s PJ Patterson Institute for Africa Caribbean Advocacy, where he is statesman in residence, has been advocating stronger economic, cultural, and social ties between African and Caribbean nations.

Here is the full text of his Emancipation Day message:

“Emancipation Day marks a turning point in our collective history. August morning in 1838 ended a chapter of black chattel and enslavement, but it did not terminate the pernicious and oppressive divide of imperial rule. This unique anniversary is a celebration of the strength, courage, and resilience of those who came before us — people who, in the face of unimaginable suffering and injustice, found ways to survive, to resist, to endure and to maintain their dignity.

Emancipation did not come easily. It certainly was not a favour or a gift.

It was achieved through revolts, rebellions, defiance, marronage, and the daily struggle it took just to live with hope. Our proud ancestors gave their lives so that all future generations could live in freedom.

We owe them more than gratitude. We owe them the resolute will to build a world where equity, justice and liberty prevail.

As we pause to recognise and commemorate Emancipation Day let us also pledge that prevailing turbulence and tensions now oblige global Africa to exert its sovereign power to chart and control our own destiny at last.

When chattel enslavement ended, its effects did not disappear overnight. The impact is still with us — in poverty, inequality, blatant racism, and the persistent efforts to deny persons of African origin or descent their rightful place in human civilisation. Emancipation Day is not just another history lesson — it’s a reminder that the work for true freedom, fairness, and dignity is unending.

But, even as we remember the physical shackles that were broken, we must also confront the ones that still exist in the mind and dislodge them from our psyche. As Marcus Garvey taught us and Bob Marley sang, we must emancipate ourselves from mental slavery — freeing ourselves from the self-doubt, division, and perverse doctrines that continue to limit our vision.

This is a day to celebrate who we are and the rich legacy we share in common. Our culture, our music, our language, our food are all elements of how we have preserved and promoted what was meant to be derived by our ancestral bequest. The fact that we are here, standing proud in our identity, is a testament to the enduring legacy and strength of the African persona.

Let us also use this day to teach the next generation. Let us tell the stories that are not always in the textbooks — the stories of strength, of leadership, of community. Let us convince them that being free means having the chance to grow, learn, speak up, and live with purpose and pride.

So today, we remember, we honour, we celebrate, and we commit — not just to remembering the past, but to shaping a future where everyone has a fair chance to thrive in an ever-changing world.

On this Emancipation Day, let us swear to shatter the chains of slavery, and end the bondage of colonial exploitation. Let us build instead the structural unity of global Africa and mobilise fully our vast intellectual, mineral, and natural resources for the progress and prosperity of global Africa and our people as a whole.

The world today demands that we unite as custodians of a legacy that now requires more than solemn remembrance. It demands mobilisation; the building of a bridge that spans the Middle Passage; the forging of new paradigms that affirm our dignity and our rightful place on the planet. As we honour the emancipation of our ancestors, let us be resolute that we will never abandon the fight until justice is triumphant.”