The Emancipation Statue is a public
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
symbolising the "breaking of the chains" of slavery at Emancipation. It is located in
Barbados
Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...
, east of
Bridgetown
Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the Parishes of Barbados, parish of Saint Michael, Barbados, Saint Mic ...
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
A slavocracy (from ''slave'' + '' -ocracy'') is a society primarily ruled by a class of slaveholders, such as those in the southern United States and their confederacy during the American Civil War. The term was initially coined in the 1830s ...
society in Barbados in 1816, though the statue is not actually sculpted to be Bussa.
The statue, made of bronze, was created in 1985 by
Barbadian-
Guyanese sculptor
Karl Broodhagen 20 years after the island's independence.
In 1998 the
Cuban President,
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
delivered an impassioned speech at the statue during his visit to Barbados.
The statue sparked a debate on Twitter in 2017 as it reminded many that such representations of freed slaves did not exist in the USA.
Inscription
This was the chant of thousands of Barbadians when slavery was abolished in 1838, signifying their freedom, joy and happiness, five years after the passage of the
Slavery Abolition Act 1833
The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 ( 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which abolished slavery in the British Empire by way of compensated emancipation. The act was legislated by Whig Prime Minister Charl ...
.
See also
*
List of slaves
Slavery is a social-economic system under which people are enslaved: deprived of personal freedom and forced to perform labor or services without compensation. These people are referred to as slaves, or as enslaved people.
The following is a ...
*
Coffy (person)
*
Emancipation Park (Kingston, Jamaica)
*
Emancipation Memorial
The Emancipation Memorial, also known as the Freedman's Memorial or the Emancipation Group is a monument in Lincoln Park (Washington, D.C.), Lincoln Park in the Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It wa ...
(Washington D.C.)
*
Emancipation Memorial (Boston)
*
Emancipation and Freedom Monument
References
External links
Official government websiteDescription
on ''Slaverymonuments.org''
1985 sculptures
Sculptures of Black people
Bronze sculptures in Barbados
Buildings and structures in Barbados
Monuments and memorials in Barbados
Outdoor sculptures
Sculptures of slaves
Slavery memorials
Sculptures of men in Barbados
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