The following is a lightly edited version of Leader of the Opposition Mark Golding’s Emancipation Day address.

My fellow Jamaicans, today we join together in solemn reflection and powerful celebration as we observe Emancipation Day, 2025 — a sacred day in our nation’s history when we honour the courage, resistance, and unyielding spirit of those who came before us and fought for the freedoms that we now enjoy.

Our freedom was not handed down by decree. Emancipation was the culmination of generations of struggle and sacrifice by our leaders and those who supported their great work. From Nanny to Takyi to Sam Sharpe, they each realised, in the words of former South African President Nelson Mandela, that “after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb”. The road was long and hard, but they never gave up.

And then on August 1, 1834, the shackles of slavery were historically broken. As we honour and celebrate our ancestors who never gave up the struggle for freedom, we recognise this day as representing the triumph of good over evil.

Having claimed our freedom, it is the solemn duty of successive generations of Jamaicans to protect it and carry it forward through the ages. From the post-Emancipation fires of the Morant Bay Rebellion to the rise of the Garvey movement to the great labour upheavals of 1938 through to our political independence in 1962, the Jamaican spirit has always demanded more than just survival — it has demanded dignity, equality, justice, and opportunity for all.

Today we stand on the shoulders of our heroes, named and unnamed, who endured unspeakable suffering, whose dreams of liberty helped to shape the very foundation of our democracy and our identity as a people.

Emancipation is not only a historic event, it is a living mandate that calls each of us to examine whether we have truly broken the chains of mental slavery, systemic injustice, and economic exclusion. It challenges us to confront inequality, promote inclusion, and support economic and social justice for all Jamaicans. We must continue to work towards an economy that empowers our people, education that opens doors for all, and a society rooted in fairness and respect.

Are our people truly free if a mother must choose between buying food and sending her child to school?

Are we truly emancipated when the system deprives so many of our youth of the chance to achieve their potential?

Can we say we are free when the gap between the powerful and the powerless continues to widen?

To answer these questions with positive change, we must place social justice, equity, and empowerment at the centre of our mission.

Our commitment to freedom requires us to invest in opportunity:

• Opportunity for all to access quality education

• Opportunity for all to benefit from affordable health care

• Opportunity to own a piece of the land we call home

• Opportunity to move up from poverty and build intergenerational wealth

• Opportunity to live with safety, dignity, and pride, no matter what your background is or where you were born.

Let us be bold and demand that Jamaica fulfils the promise of emancipation for all, not just a few. Let us draw strength from our heritage and find the will to dismantle the structures that still hold too many of our people back.

Let us step forward and craft a new chapter, one in which freedom means full inclusion and independence means real power in the hands of the people.

To every Jamaican, wherever you may be today, I say this: Our journey continues, as our work is not done. Together, with purpose and in unity, we can build a nation that befits the great sacrifice of our ancestors that we celebrate on Emancipation Day.

Happy Emancipation Day Jamaica.

One Love and may God bless you all.

Mark Golding.