JAMAICA | Honouring Our Ancestors, Authors of Our Emancipation

KINGSTON, Jamaica, August 2, 2025 - By Profs. Verene Shepherd and Ahmed Reid  -Another Emancipation Day has come and gone; but in all the events held to mark the day and the statements issued in recognition, not much was said about the men and women who fought and died for freedom in 1831/32. 

cat-o-nine-tails used to flogging enslaved persons.

In this piece, Profs. Verene Shepherd and Ahmed Reid remind us of some of those from the parish of St. James, the heart of the war, who stood with rebel leader Sam Sharpe in this final Emancipation war that forced the hand of Britain in passing the Emancipation Act a year after this war. 

The names were taken from Colonial Office Records housed in good condition in the UK National Archives.

Some of these men and women, or their ancestors, were part of the approximately 1.5 million Africans trafficked to the island from Various parts of west Africa. 

At Emancipation, just 311.692 remained (according to the compensation records), causing Profs. Hilary Beckles and Orlando Patterson to refer to this system as genocide against African people. 

Let’s recall them, lest we forget.