CURB On Mary Prince Day & Planned Statue
CURB congratulated Minister of Community Affairs, Labour & Sport Lovitta Foggo for “introducing changes to the Public Holidays Amendment Act changing Somers Day to Mary Prince Day, whilst also thanking Thomas Christopher Famous for his advocacy in educating the public about this issue.”
A spokesperson said, “As stated by Minister Foggo, Mary Prince is recognized worldwide for the critical role she played in the abolition of slavery. We would urge all to obtain a copy of Mary Prince’s book The History of Mary Prince, A West Indian Slave, as narrated by herself for a powerful understanding of enslavement in Bermuda.
“On 7th January 2019 CURB issued a press release calling for Government ‘to fully recognise the emancipation origins of Cup Match and the intent by those enslaved to both commemorate and celebrate their freedom.’
“This call was reiterated on 25th February 2019 when CURB released its 2019 Racial Justice Platform, which included a call for the second day of Cup to be renamed to Mary Prince Day, and that a statue of Mary Prince be erected in her honour memorializing her courage and determination and the extraordinary legacy she left behind as a leading abolitionist. Noting that the story of her life left a lasting impression and hastened the abolition of slavery in all the British colonies.
“We wish to thank the Minister for moving ahead with both these initiatives and we are excited to learn that the Committee, formed in March 2019 and tasked with building a statue to Mary Prince has decided upon a location, and that artists will be tasked to create a figure that would be ‘emblematic of Mary Prince.’
“We encourage the Minister to engage the community in this process and provide an opportunity for Bermudians to submit ideas for the statue, as well as allow them the opportunity to design and/or create the statue.
“We hope the location will be centrally located and easily accessible for schools, our seniors and the physically challenged, whilst also providing an area where the story of Mary Prince can be told for those visiting the memorial. We believe this memorial, like others around the world, will become an important part of the African Diaspora narrative, whilst drawing people to our shores to visit Bermuda’s important Sites of Memory.
“We look forward to the unveiling of the statue and hope it can be achieved by our first Mary Prince Day in 2021.”
Christopher Famous needs education
But we’re still going to play cricket, a colonialist’s sport.
And we still have colonial last names and ya point is?
REPARATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good luck with that.
Gibbets Island
Every major City have a statue or symbal that represents Victory, Conquering or Freedom.
We have a statue of someone waving, no disrespect to the brother but serious?
How are we not having a seperate Mary Prince Day? why do we need to get rid of the day celebrating the captain who landed here? why not just move Somers Day if it’s inappropriate to have it on Cup Match? why are we simply wiping out some historical figures?
Wiping out historical figures? Thats been de norm for Africans and their Descendants!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dont feel good does it?
I have an idea…why not put the Mary Prince Statue at cabinet house