I had the honour of attending the Seville Emancipation Jubilee Celebration 2025 in St Ann, an unforgettable experience that reminded me how vital Emancipation is to every Jamaican. One of the most powerful moments of the event was honouring the ancestors,  exhumation of four formerly enslaved individuals, including a woman named Coral whose remains were returned to Africa. That is a profound and sacred historical act that all Jamaican children should know about, learn from, and honour.

Seville is not just a location; it is a living monument. Field trips should happen there regularly, throughout the year. Too many of us still don’t grasp the full brutality our ancestors faced, nor do we fully understand the strength and sacrifice it took for them to resist, survive, and liberate themselves. And that’s precisely why I’m writing this appeal.

During the celebration, I witnessed a performance by children—innocent, vibrant voices singing that “Queen Victoria freed us.” I will not name the group, but I must call out the lie. That was a bold and harmful rewriting of history. Queen Victoria did not free us—our ancestors fought for, bled for, and demanded their freedom.

The Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) and other cultural leaders have a responsibility to ensure that public performances, especially those involving children, do not repeat colonial myths. Songs like those teach our children to credit their liberation to their oppressors instead of honoring the bravery of their own people. It is insulting. It is dangerous.

Similarly, the Emancipation Proclamation that was read at the event failed to contextualize the true role our people played in securing their own freedom. That too must change. We must rewrite the proclamation—not to erase the past, but to correct the narrative and elevate the truth. Let our children read versions that reflect our people’s courage and self-determination.

And please! Why in 2025 are children still singing “London Bridge” as part of festival entries? Do we understand that this is a colonial-era nursery rhyme about plague and death in a country that once enslaved us? Why must our children sing about London when they could be singing about Stony Gut, Accompong, or Nanny Falls?

We are 63 years independent. It is past time we stop passing down lies and begin passing on pride. Let us write, sing, and teach Jamaican-centric truths. Our children deserve their own heroes, their own songs, their own stories—rooted in truth and wrapped in dignity