Press Releases

Happy Emancipation Day 2021

The Association of Caribbean States commemorates Emancipation Day with all the countries, territories and people around the Greater Caribbean who mark the end of enslavement on August 1 every year. 

On August 1, 1838 enslaved Africans in British colonies around the world were freed of chattel slavery after centuries of enslavement. Emancipation day is an opportunity for people of the region to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of people of African descent to the world. It is also an opportunity to acknowledge and reflect on the atrocities committed against enslaved Africans during enslavement. 

Historians estimate that some 5 million Africans were brought to the Caribbean and enslaved. Emancipation in other Greater Caribbean countries, formerly colonised by other European powers, is marked on other dates. 

The ACS has always celebrated Emancipation Day, and through its 2019 Declaration of Managua "supports the 10-point Action Plan of the Reparations Commission of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and applauds this Commission’s efforts to correct injustices resulting from the genocide of the native people of the Caribbean and the Transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans and slavery, which are counted amongst the most atrocious crimes against humanity, and reaffirming, in turn, the urgent need to request efficient measures for reparation, compensation, indemnification or other in kind measures at a national, regional and international level."

The ACS has always celebrated Emancipation Day, and through its 2019 Declaration of Managua "supports the 10-point Action Plan of the Reparations Commission of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and applauds this Commission’s efforts to correct injustices resulting from the genocide of the native people of the Caribbean and the Transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans and slavery, which are counted amongst the most atrocious crimes against humanity, and reaffirming, in turn, the urgent need to request efficient measures for reparation, compensation, indemnification or other in kind measures at a national, regional and international level." 

The Association of Caribbean States commemorates Emancipation Day with all the countries, territories and people around the Greater Caribbean who mark the end of enslavement on August 1 every year. 

On August 1, 1838 enslaved Africans in British colonies around the world were freed of chattel slavery after centuries of enslavement. Emancipation day is an opportunity for people of the region to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of people of African descent to the world. It is also an opportunity to acknowledge and reflect on the atrocities committed against enslaved Africans during enslavement. 

Historians estimate that some 5 million Africans were brought to the Caribbean and enslaved. Emancipation in other Greater Caribbean countries, formerly colonised by other European powers, is marked on other dates. 

The ACS has always celebrated Emancipation Day, and through its 2019 Declaration of Managua "supports the 10-point Action Plan of the Reparations Commission of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and applauds this Commission’s efforts to correct injustices resulting from the genocide of the native people of the Caribbean and the Transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans and slavery, which are counted amongst the most atrocious crimes against humanity, and reaffirming, in turn, the urgent need to request efficient measures for reparation, compensation, indemnification or other in kind measures at a national, regional and international level."