Commemorate so as not to forget our history

Friday May 27, 2016, the Community of Saint-Martin commemorated the 168th anniversary of the abolition of slavery, at the foot of the emblematic Lady Liberty statue, on the Agrément roundabout.

The Saint Martin's anthem opened the commemoration, sung by the choir from Aline Hanson Primary School in Sandy Ground. Commemorate so as not to forget, commemorate so as to know our common history. It is with these words that President Aline Hanson invited the population to remember, during her speech, essentially recalling that the duty to history was just as important as the duty to memory. The history of slavery and its abolition in Saint-Martin is not quite the same as in the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. As proof, existing historical works and the very date of the abolition of slavery, which occurred one day later in Saint-Martin, i.e. May 28, 1848.
To retrace history as it really happened took place in Saint-Martin, the President chose to cite extracts from works by local writer Daniella Jeffry and geographer Guy Lasserre. These very detailed writings took the audience back into the real facts, into the lives of slaves at that time. A moving and realistic immersion in the past.
The President also specified that by a vote of the territorial council, the community of Saint-Martin asked the government to modify the date of the abolition of slavery in Saint-Martin. Historical research carried out by Ms. Jeffry and confirmed by the Territorial Archives has, in fact, demonstrated that it was indeed on May 28 and not May 27, 1848 that the abolition of slavery was proclaimed in Saint-Martin. The community is still waiting for the ministerial decree which will mark the official date of May 28, 1848.
After the speeches of Senator Guillaume Arnell and the representative of the Prefect Emmanuel Effantin, it is through a cultural show that the commemoration continued. Deyon Bovel's troupe performed "Liberation dance", followed by the song "Feeling good" by Nina Simone sung by Frantz Capré. The territorial youth council presented a speech on the duty to remember, to the rhythm of the percussion of Hélier Coquillas. It was the famous Grain d'Or troupe which concluded the festivities with the choreography “Freedom through dance”.