Emancipation Park is a public park in Kingston, Jamaica.
The park is in New Kingston, opened on 31 July 2002, the day before Emancipation Day. Prime Minister P.J. Patterson's address to open the park he acknowledged that the park is a commemoration of the end of Slavery in the British and French Caribbean slavery. [1]
The six-acre park includes fountains and public art. The park is known for the large sculpture Redemption Song at the park's main entrance. Redemption Song, which takes its name from Bob Marley's song of the same name , is an 11 ft. (approximately 3m) high bronze sculpture by Jamaican artist Laura Facey. The sculpture features a male and female figure gazing to the skies – symbolic of their triumphant rise from the horrors of slavery. The statue was unveiled in July 2003, in time for the park's first anniversary.
The Adinkra symbols can be seen at many places in the park as a tribute to honour the ancestors of Jamaicans who were brought as slaves from West Africa. The architect Kamau Kambui has used these symbols in the perimeter fence, the walls at the entrance, the benches and garbage receptacles. [2]
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island. Kingston is the largest English-speaking city south of the United States in the Western Hemisphere.
Jamaican culture consists of the religion, norms, values, and lifestyle that define the people of Jamaica. The culture is mixed, with an ethnically diverse society, stemming from a history of inhabitants beginning with the original inhabitants of Jamaica. The Spaniards originally brought slavery to Jamaica. Then they were overthrown by the English. Jamaica later gained emancipation on 1 August 1838, and independence from the British on 6 August 1962. Black slaves became the dominant cultural force as they suffered and resisted the harsh conditions of forced labour. After the abolition of slavery, Chinese and Indian migrants were transported to the island as indentured workers, bringing with them ideas from their country.
Emancipation Day is observed in many former European colonies in the Caribbean and areas of the United States on various dates to commemorate the emancipation of slaves of African descent.
Wilberforce House is a British historic house museum, part of the Museums Quarter of Kingston-upon-Hull. It is the birthplace of social reformer William Wilberforce (1759–1833), who used his time as a member of Parliament to work for the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire. Like the nearby Blaydes House and Maister House, also on the High Street, the Grade I listed building was formerly a merchant's house with access to quayside on the River Hull.
Independence Park is a sports and cultural complex in Kingston, Jamaica built for the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. It houses a variety of sports facilities. A statue of Bob Marley marks the entrance to the site. The main sports venue at the complex is the National Stadium.
St. James is a suburban parish, located on the north-west end of the island of Jamaica in the county of Cornwall. Its capital is Montego Bay. Montego Bay was officially named the second city of Jamaica, behind Kingston, in 1981, although Montego Bay became a city in 1980 through an act of the Jamaican Parliament. The parish is the birthplace of the Right Excellent Samuel Sharpe, one of Jamaica's seven National Heroes.
Saint Andrew is a parish, situated in the southeast of Jamaica in the county of Surrey. It lies north, west and east of Kingston, and stretches into the Blue Mountains. As of the 2011 census, it had a population of 573,369, the highest of any of the parishes in Jamaica.
The Buxton Memorial Fountain is a memorial and drinking fountain in London, the United Kingdom, that commemorates the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, and in particular, the role of British parliamentarians in the abolition campaign.
Liguanea is an area of the island of Jamaica. Its name came from the language of the Arawak people who currently inhabit some of the island's rural areas in Cornwall County. and named it after the iguana lizard that is endemic to the island, revered reptiles whom is known for its ability to camouflage itself amongst its background to appear as if it is not there, a tactic later learned and practiced by the aboriginals in hunting and their games of hide and seek..
The Emancipation Statue is a public sculpture symbolising the "breaking of the chains" of slavery at Emancipation. It is located in Barbados, east of Bridgetown at centre of the J.T.C. Ramsay roundabout formed at the junction of the ABC Highway and Highway 5. Many Barbadians refer to the statue as Bussa, the name of a slave who helped inspire a revolt against the plantocracy society in Barbados in 1816, though the statue is not actually sculpted to be Bussa.
William Knibb, OM was an English Baptist minister and missionary to Jamaica. He is chiefly known today for his work to free enslaved Africans.
Montpelier is located near the western boundary of Saint James Parish, Jamaica, approximately 10 kilometres from the parish's capital Montego Bay. The Great River which marks the boundary between Saint James Parish and Hanover Parish separated the Old Montpelier and New Montpelier plantations from Shettlewood Pen. All three estates were owned by Lord Seaford. The modern day village takes its name from the Montpelier Plantation.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Kingston, Jamaica.
Hope Botanical Gardens, also known as the Royal Botanical Gardens, is a 200-acre (81 ha) park and gardens located in St Andrew, Jamaica.
The Independence Day of Jamaica is a national holiday celebrated in Jamaica. This holiday commemorates such an event, it is one of the most senior public holidays celebrated in Jamaica.
Kingston College is a all-male secondary school located in Kingston, Jamaica. It occupies two campuses: The Melbourne Park campus on Upper Elletson Road and the larger North Street campus. Some 1900 students are enrolled. The school is noted for its strong academic and sports tradition. It also boasts a world class boys’ choir, the Kingston College Chapel Choir, that has given concerts across the island and around the world.
Laura Facey CD is a Jamaican contemporary artist. She is best known for the monumental sculpture Redemption Song (2003), which serves as Jamaica's national monument to the Emancipation from Slavery.
Edward Jordon (1800–1869), or Edward Jordan, was a leading campaigner for equal rights for free people of color in Jamaica during the nineteenth century.
Albion was a sugar plantation in Saint David Parish, Jamaica. Created during or before the 18th century, it had at least 451 slaves when slavery was abolished in most of the British Empire in 1833. By the end of the 19th-century it was the most productive plantation in Jamaica due to the advanced refining technology it used. By the early 20th century, however, its cane sugar could not compete with cheaper European beet sugar, and it produced its last sugar crop in 1928. It subsequently became a banana farm for the United Fruit Company.
Royal tours of Jamaica by Jamaica's royal family have been taking place since the 20th century. Elizabeth II, Queen of Jamaica, visited the island six times; in 1953, 1966, 1975, 1983, 1994, and 2002.