The historic Group Baptist Church of Englewood, New Jersey radiated with black, inexperienced, and gold on August 10, as Mayor Michael Wildes formally proclaimed the day ‘Jamaica’s 63rd Anniversary of Independence Thanksgiving Day.’
The proclamation, delivered within the presence of Jamaica’s Ambassador to the US, His Excellency Main Basic (Ret’d) Antony Anderson, famous the “great contributions, service, and friendship of the Jamaican group,” which has turn out to be an integral a part of New Jersey’s cultural cloth.
Additionally in attendance have been Jamaica’s UN Ambassador, His Excellency Brian Wallace; Consul Basic to New York, Alsion Wilson; members of the Diplomatic Corps; and authorities officers.
Ambassador Anderson in a robust message, highlighted Jamaica’s resilience, achievement, and world affect, mixing tales of Olympic triumph, political maturity, and the enduring imaginative and prescient of Marcus Garvey.
“Jamaicans have this distinctive high quality, they don’t know their place, they usually consider their place is wherever they determine it needs to be,” he stated, sparking laughter and applause. “That’s why we break glass ceilings, tear down partitions, and construct bridges,” he famous.
Recalling Jamaica’s extraordinary efficiency on the 2008 Olympics, Anderson spoke of the ladies’s dash crew’s unprecedented end, securing one gold and two silvers in the identical race, leaving the bronze for “the remainder of the 7 billion folks on this planet to compete for.”
He additionally mirrored on Jamaica’s outstanding political journey, reaching independence simply 18 years after its first election, and urged the diaspora to embrace “twin belonging.”
“We may be right here and there,” he stated. “As you agree and construct your communities right here, additionally look homeward for alternatives. The long run’s technological and financial revolutions will occur, and we wish our folks to be a part of that funding,” he famous.
Consul Basic Wilson, who was just lately appointed to the Order of Distinction within the rank of Commander, for her work with the diaspora, echoed the Ambassador sentiments.
“At occasions, our boldness is misunderstood however certainly, we’re a proud nation. Our meals, our athletes, and the heat of our folks have touched each nook of the globe,” she famous.
She challenged the diaspora to hold ahead the legacy of their ancestors: “Proceed on the trail they cast and maintain the Jamaican flag flying excessive. Once we are united by function and pushed by a shared imaginative and prescient, Jamaicans can obtain nice issues,” she stated.
