CHRISTIANSTED — Governor Albert Bryan has issued a proclamation designating the third week of May as Virgin Islands African Heritage Week and May 22 as African Liberation Day.
“Virgin Islands African Heritage Week annually commemorates, observes, memorializes and celebrates that African Liberation Day is rooted in the First Conference of Independent African States convened by eight African nations in 1958 during African Freedom Day (April 15) and led by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of the independent Republic of Ghana – an African nation with which many Virgin Islands Caribbean people have ancestral family lineage,” the proclamation states.
“May 22 annually marks a time set aside for public education, reflection, contemplation, introspection, community action, showcasing African cultural diversity and commemorative celebration for, by and with Virgin Islanders of African descent in respectful remembrance of our proud African civilizations, culture, heritage, arts, technologies and more that are ancestrally linked to our Virgin Islands, Caribbean, Americas and the world,” it states.