Mr. Val Henry, MyVueNews.com

Basseterre, St. Kitts, Wednesday, 1st August, 2018, (MyVueNews.com) –Across most of the Caribbean, and certainly here in St. Kitts & Nevis, people of African heritage are celebrating what is perhaps the most significant milestone in the history of the region.
Today, Wednesday, 1st August, is Emancipation Day.
It is the anniversary date on which thousands of black enslaved Africans who were forcibly brought to the Caribbean, were legally set free, on 1st August, 1834, after years of rebellion and political agitation, ending of the greatest injustice to man, slavery.
Sadly though, while some countries in the Caribbean have declared today a public holiday, that is not the case in St. Kitts and Nevis.
Instead, for many, today will pass, with not many being aware of today’s significance.
And partly that is due to the continued lack of education and sensitization of Kittitians and Nevisians, especially the youth, about Emancipation Day, and the importance of its observance.
Throughout the years, the people in these lands have settled for the misleading tradition that the first Monday in August is to be celebrated as “August Monday”, instead of Governments and their people, doing the right thing to recognize the actual anniversary date of 1st August, no matter which day of the week it happens to fall.
Thankfully though in those countries that declared holidays, today is a time of learning and sharing of the greatness of Africans and the struggles so many had to go through during the enslavement and even in the post slavery period , known as colonialism.
It is time St. Kitts and Nevis steps into a new reality and shun “August Monday” and have it replaced by a public holiday on 1st August, annually.