PM pays tribute to Shouter Baptists

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar assured the Spiritual Baptist community that Government would continue to ensure its full inclusion into the national community.

In her message to the nation on the occasion of Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day 2014, Persad-Bissessar said the repeal of the Shouters Prohibition Ordinance in 1951 gave new life and hope to Spiritual Baptists, and reminds the nation that freedom was both a right and a gift.

“As human beings, we are all capable of the best and the worst moral judgements. Undoubtedly, overcoming that period of Trinidad and Tobago’s history which witnessed the unjust suppression of the Spiritual Baptist/Shouter community to practice their faith, is a potent reminder of how we can work to ensure that the best in us always triumphs,” she said.

“Today my Government and I join with the national community to celebrate Spiritual Baptist/ Shouter Liberation Day, recognising the struggle, determined spirit and courage of our Spiritual Baptist community.”

Persad-Bissessar acknowledged the impact of the Spiritual Shouter Baptist Faith on the nation as a whole, including music and literature, and urged citizens to remain inspired by the “passion and devotion to the faith” of Spiritual Baptists.

The Prime Minister will today open the St Barbara’s Spiritual Shouter Baptist Early Childhood Care and Education Centre at Road Reserve, off the Churchill Roosevelt Highway, Maloney.

She opened the St Barbara’s Spiritual Baptist Shouter Primary School at the same location two years ago.

NEWSDAY

Full Statement:

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s

Message to the Nation

On the occasion of

Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day 2014

As human beings, we are all capable of the best and the worst moral judgments. Undoubtedly, overcoming that period of Trinidad and Tobago’s history which witnessed the unjust suppression of the Spiritual Baptist/Shouter community to practice their faith, is a potent reminder of how we can work to ensure that the best in us always triumphs.

The repeal of the Shouters Prohibition Ordinance in 1951 gave new life and hope to our Spiritual Baptist brothers and sisters and should forever remind us to hold freedom not only as a right; but  rather a precious gift which allows us to create and shape a destiny we may all share.

Today my Government and I join with the national community to celebrate Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day, recognizing the struggle, determined spirit and courage of our Spiritual Baptist community.

As a Nation we proudly acknowledge the impact of the Spiritual Shouter Baptist Faith in our music, in our literature and indeed in the national face we mirror to the world.

Many may recall that two years ago my Government opened the St Barbara’s Spiritual Baptist Shouter Primary School – the first such school in Trinidad and Tobago and the Region.

That was a promise of my Government to the community which we delivered.

My Government remains committed to working with the Spiritual Baptist community, to ensure their full inclusion into the national community whether through education, culture or representation.

As we commemorate Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day 2014, I ask you, fellow citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, to remember all those who have gone before us, upon whose shoulders we have been able to build and enjoy liberty today.

Let us remain inspired by the passion and devotion to the faith of our Spiritual Baptist sisters and brothers.

Together, let us continue to work together and to draw on each other’s experiences to create a Trinidad and Tobago of which we can all be proud to call home.

On behalf of the Government and citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, I extend to all practitioners of the Spiritual Shouter Baptist faith a blessed Liberation Day.

The Honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar SC, MP
Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago