The Emancipation Kambule is BACK!!
The Emancipation Support Committee of Trinidad and Tobago (ESCTT) has proclaimed that the Kambule Street Procession, as part of the 2022 Pan African Festival TT, will take place this year After a 2-year hiatus from a physical parade, the Committee is excited to facilitate this grand celebration of Emancipation for the people of Trinidad and Tobago who have been eagerly awaiting this event.
Marking its 30th anniversary this year, with the theme Commemorating 30 Years of Transformation and Resilience, this year’s festival is supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, the Sport and Cultural Fund of the Office of the Prime Minister, Tourism Trinidad Limited and the National Carnival Commission. Special thanks to corporate partners who believe in the resilience of the African spirit; the National Lotteries Control Board, Digicel, Unit Trust Corporation, the National Gas Company and our media partner TTT.
Educate, Educate, Educate
A lecture series named for the late revolutionary Kwame Ture, the renowned son of the soil, is designed to educate and raise consciousness. In May, the ESCTT launched this year’s Pan African Festival TT Commemorating Emancipation and in June, the Kwame Ture Memorial Lecture Series. This month, the on-line series continues on July 17 with a panel discussion entitled – Reimagining Haiti: Restitution, Reparations and Solidarity and a dynamic session with AI expert Renee Cummings on July 24 – Decolonising Data and Democratising Artificial Intelligence.
Come Home for Emancipation
Trinidad Tourism Limited has partnered with the ESCTT in its “Come Back Home for Emancipation” campaign. The international campaign, inviting brothers and sisters, friends and family in the Diaspora to Come Home for Emancipation 2022 has as its centrepiece an infomercial featuring voice by Rembunction Productions and the amazing music and song of Sheldon Blackman. Visitors are invited to participate in the Village activities as well as experience specially curated African Heritage Tours. Tours can be booked at https://www.emancipationtt.com/heritage-tours/.
We are talking Business too !
On Saturday July 30 the 20th Annual Trans-Atlantic Business and Development Round Table will be held at the VIP room at the Lidj Yasu Omowale Emancipation Village, Queens Park Savannah, in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Investment. The Roundtable will provide a networking opportunity for entrepreneurs in Trinidad and Tobago to discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by today’s global economic environment, with their counterparts from Africa, the USA and the Caribbean. Space is at a premium so call 868 777-2210 or email the Business Development Unit of the ESCTT at transatnet.esc@gmail.com to secure a space.
The Emancipation Village Opens on Friday July 29.
The Lidj Yasu Omowale Emancipation Village at Queen’s Park Savannah, has earned the reputation as having the largest collection of African-inspired art, craft, jewellery, clothing, and food. This year will be no exception, patrons are welcomed to visit when the Emancipation Village is officially opened on July 29 at 10am. In the evening, the Committee presents Shikamoo David Rudder, a Calypso Concert at which tribute will be paid to the calypsonian extraordinaire.
On July 30, the Emancipation Village will place the spotlight on some of T&T’s talented performers. The Rhythm and Voices of Africa will take place at 3p and a few hours later, members of the Rapso community will come together to remember and pay tribute to Brother Resistance at 5.30p. Culminating the evening of music, will be a Unity Reggae Concert at 8p.
On July 31, Family Day, there will be another session of Rhythm and Voices of Africa between noon and 6pm and the Youth Steel Explosion at 3p . Lovers of jazz will have a special session at 6p with Jazz at Sunset and pan lovers can enjoy Pan by Moonlight at 7pm.
Everyday at the Village there will be Capoeira demonstrations from 3pm – 5pm and other interesting activities for young persons..
On Emancipation Day – August 1, the celebrations shift into full gear starting at 4a.m., at the All Stars Pan Yard from where a procession will head to the Yoruba Village Monument and then to the Arise Monument in front of the Treasury Building. At 8 a.m., Yedaase: A Tribute to Our Ancestors will take place in front of the Treasury Building on Independence Square, Port of Spain. Expect moving moments of reflection as people gather from all parts of the Country, the region and the Diaspora.
Kambule, the much-anticipated procession through the streets of Port of Spain, is scheduled to begin at 9am from the Treasury Building, in front of the national monument to the African spirit of resistance, Arise.
At the Emancipation Village, expect non stop cultural performances as groups parade across the Village stage. At 3pm the final session of Rhythm and Voices of Africa will be presented. To close this year’s celebrations, you will be invited to join the Flambeau Procession at 7p which will end at Massy All Stars Pan yard at East Dry River.
Paying Tribute to the Ancestors
After 30 years, the ESCTT remains committed to ensure the continuation of the festival in a manner that is appropriate to what it represents. It is celebratory and positively inspiring. It is also sacred.
The festival is a tribute to African ancestors who built mankind’s earliest major civilizations in the valley of the Nile, leaving behind the Great Pyramid among other structures that still invoke wonder. It is a tribute to those who produced the first written scripts which included concepts of deity. It is a tribute to ancestors who spread their knowledge and unique building techniques to South and Central America in times before recorded history. It is a tribute to ancestors whose civilizations eventually fell to conquerors from societies that were far less developed but ruthless in their pursuits of wealth and power.
The Emancipation Village will be open every day from Friday July 29 to August 1st from 10am. After 3pm each day, there is an entrance fee of TT$30, Children under 12 are FREE.
Civil society, youth, community groups and NGOs are invited to register for the Kambule at 628-5008 or 471-7345. Visit – https://www.emancipationtt.com for festival information, tours and more about the ESCTT.