Searchlight Logo
special_image

    • News
      • Front Page
      • News
      • Breaking News
      • Press Release
      • Features
      • Special Features
      • From the Courts
      • Sports
      • Regional / World
    • Opinions
      • Editorial
      • Our Readers’ Opinions
      • Bassy – Love Vine
      • Dr. Fraser- Point of View
      • R. Rose – Eye of the Needle
      • On Target
      • Dr Jozelle Miller
      • The World Around Us
      • Random Thoughts
    • Advice
      • Kitchen Corner
      • What’s on Fleek this week
      • Health Wise
      • Physician’s Weekly
      • Business Buzz
      • Hey Rosie!
      • Prime the pump
    • ePaper
    • Obituaries
      • In Memoriam / Acknowledgement
      • Tribute
    • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Letters To The Editor
      • General Contact Information
      • Contact our Webmaster
    • About Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Interactive Media Ltd
      • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
    • Subscribe
    • News
      • Front Page
      • News
      • Breaking News
      • Press Release
      • Features
      • Special Features
      • From the Courts
      • Sports
      • Regional / World
    • Opinions
      • Editorial
      • Our Readers’ Opinions
      • Bassy – Love Vine
      • Dr. Fraser- Point of View
      • R. Rose – Eye of the Needle
      • On Target
      • Dr Jozelle Miller
      • The World Around Us
      • Random Thoughts
    • Advice
      • Kitchen Corner
      • What’s on Fleek this week
      • Health Wise
      • Physician’s Weekly
      • Business Buzz
      • Hey Rosie!
      • Prime the pump
    • ePaper
    • Obituaries
      • In Memoriam / Acknowledgement
      • Tribute
    • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Letters To The Editor
      • General Contact Information
      • Contact our Webmaster
    • About Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Interactive Media Ltd
      • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
    • Subscribe
Round Table with Oscar
August 4, 2015

Emancipation and Exodus

A Scriptural Model

From the freedom movement led by Moses, to the uprising campaigns under the Maccabees, the Hebrew-Christian Scriptures are full of violent ‘emancipation’ events.

We note, though, that the violent defeat of the Pharaoh at the reedy seaside (Exodus 12) and the massacre of the firstborn in Egypt (Exodus 14) were not the work of the enslaved Habiru underclass, but were attributed to Yahweh/the LORD GOD. In fact, the entire emancipation was seen as the handwork of Yahweh.{{more}} Should we discern in the emancipation from British colonial slavery also, the handwork of God?

In the hot lamentation under American slavery, the message that came through from Exodus to Black American chattel was:

‘LET MY PEOPLE GO’.

Those four words claim an emancipation that puts a distance between the freed people and the empire that had held them in bondage. The People are to leave the empire, done with Pharaoh, King, or Governor. There is a big political difference between “Set the People Free” and “Let My People Go.”

Enslaved people in the Caribbean were set free from the ‘owners,’ who had them as property, but they were still under the dominion of the British Empire. They were still without productive land and political power. ‘Emancipated inside the Empire,’ is plenty different from ‘Emancipated and outside the Empire’, the Exodus Model.

The people who had been under political and slave bondage and were now on their own, outside the empire, had to renew or reshape their own mentality and ideas and community disciplines. In the Exodus paradigm, the people had high quality leadership. (Moses is seen as educated and caring, committed to the Yahweh project and the people’s unity and spirituality. He took advice, but was not without emotional moments.)

The new community of freed people had to frame and adopt their constitution that would discipline their personal and social lifestyle, and their spiritual identity. At the start of their liberation, they brought their different family stories under the liberation and federation banner and recognized themselves as special to God and pledged to be unhurtful to each other. A bond with Yahweh became the foundation of their social and spiritual revolution. Commandments, and later rituals, were not always too different from other peoples,’ but they became a strengthening force among them. This freed people took to the road of immediate, separate identity.

Emancipation, Independence, Integration

After our emancipation, we strolled somewhat to independence 130 years later, still within British doctrine. In the way we look at an integrated Caribbean, Europe still calls the shots, as we surrender to its EPA – Economic Partnership Agreement – a pact that tends to push our regional integration movement towards the sidelines. Over the years too, we have had leaders of some quality, from the working class movement, subdued by colonial regulation, and from the more educated sectors, often schooled in British type academies. It is clear that our Emancipation model is open to question and a different movement of freed people must rise again.

One mental and social principle that we need to anchor deep in our soul as a freed people, is the Frantz Fanon realization. In general and moral terms, Europe has reached a dead end as far as human leadership and liberation is concerned. In our world, the message to Europe is: LET MY PEOPLE GO. Without Europe blocking the horizon, is the USA, or is CHINA … the one to follow, or do we have to clear our heads and recognize ourselves as called to humble duty. A duty to learn unity, build identity, discern our spiritual anchor, and fashion a discipline of personal and social vocation in today’s cosmos. Emancipation is not a resting place, it is a starting point. Starting with Caribbean Emancipation, avoiding the Exodus errors, committing ourselves to the Yahweh project, a new creation is waiting.

  • FacebookComments
  • ALSO IN THE NEWS
    Domestic worker killed at Long Wall
    Front Page
    Domestic worker killed at Long Wall
    Webmaster 
    September 12, 2025
    FAMILY MEMBERS of a woman who was killed at Long Wall say they suspect their relative was hacked by a person they all know very well. On Tuesday, Sept...
    Front Page
    NDP never built a single house in SVG – Finance Minister
    Webmaster 
    September 12, 2025
    THE IDEA THAT HOUSING is a right, that every Vincentian has a right to safe and secure housing, and that the government has a role to play in ensuring...
    No bail for Police officer charged with attempted murder
    Front Page
    No bail for Police officer charged with attempted murder
    Webmaster 
    September 12, 2025
    A POLICE OFFICER, who allegedly stabbed his ex-girlfriend 26 times about her body was remanded even as his lawyer argued that the Royal St Vincent and...
    Front Page
    New ULP Administration will roll out AI policy
    Webmaster 
    September 12, 2025
    A NEW UNITY LABOUR PARTY ADMINISTRATION will be rolling out an Artificial Intelligence (AI) policy to embrace its positives and guard against the nega...
    Sandy Bay Secondary School marks 20th Anniversery
    Front Page
    Sandy Bay Secondary School marks 20th Anniversery
    Webmaster 
    September 12, 2025
    TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER, 9,2025 was a memorable day for the staff and students of the Sandy Bay Secondary School, which was marking its 20th anniversary wi...
    Foundation implements community driven project in SVG
    News
    Foundation implements community driven project in SVG
    Webmaster 
    September 12, 2025
    THE ASHLEY LASHLEY Foundation, with support from the United States Government, is implementing a local-level project entitled “Community-Driven Strate...
    News
    Foundation implements community driven project in SVG
    News
    Foundation implements community driven project in SVG
    Webmaster 
    September 12, 2025
    THE ASHLEY LASHLEY Foundation, with support from the United States Government, is implementing a local-level project entitled “Community-Driven Strate...
    Skills not available locally, non-nationals have to be hired says Finance Minister
    News
    Skills not available locally, non-nationals have to be hired says Finance Minister
    Webmaster 
    September 12, 2025
    NON- NATIONALS ARE being hired to fill several jobs in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) simply because locals did not have the required skill sets....
    Montgomery Daniel squashes rumours that he’s sick
    News
    Montgomery Daniel squashes rumours that he’s sick
    Webmaster 
    September 12, 2025
    DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER Montgomery Daniel has sought to clear around rumours that have been circulating relating to his health. Speaking on NBC radio on...
    News
    $1.3 billion in Tourism investment to yield 2,000 jobs – Camillo
    Webmaster 
    September 12, 2025
    The GOVERNMENT of St Vincent and the Grenadines is set to sign agreements for tourism investment of $1.3 billion on mainland St.Vincent. On Monday, Se...
    Bagga’ man pleads guilty to illegal gun, ammo possession
    From the Courts, News
    Bagga’ man pleads guilty to illegal gun, ammo possession
    Webmaster 
    September 12, 2025
    A BARROUALLIE MAN will be sentenced next week after pleading guilty to being in illegal possession of a firearm and eight rounds of ammunition. Demron...

    E-EDITION
    ePaper
    google_play
    app_store
    Subscribe Now
    • Interactive Media Ltd. • P.O. Box 152 • Kingstown • St. Vincent and the Grenadines • Phone: 784-456-1558 © Copyright Interactive Media Ltd.. All rights reserved.
    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok