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Welcome to Strictly Facts, a guide to Caribbean history and culture, hosted by me, alexandria Miller. Strictly Facts teaches the history, politics and activism of the Caribbean and connects these themes to contemporary music and popular culture. Hello everyone, and welcome back to Strictly Facts, a guide to Caribbean history and culture. Hello everyone and welcome back to Striggly Facts, a guide to Caribbean history and culture. I'm your host, alexandria, and I am so glad you're tuning in to another episode where we uplift the voices, victories and histories of Caribbean people. First things first. I want to wish a very special, happy, belated Emancipation Day to our listeners in the Dutch Caribbean, the US Virgin Islands and their diasporas, whether you're from St Martin, curacao, aruba, bonaire, sabah, st Eustatius, suriname or the USVI. This episode isa tribute to you.

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Today we're diving into the often overlooked colonial legacies of the Netherlands and Denmark in the Caribbean and the hard-won freedom of enslaved Africans who endured and resisted their rule. When we talk about Caribbean colonization, we often start with the British, spanish, the French and even the US, and that's fair. These powers claimed vast portions of the region and left major economic, political and even linguistic imprints. But they weren't alone. The Netherlands and Denmark were also deeply involved in this brutal system of transatlantic slavery and in fact the Dutch West India Company was one of the earliest institutions organizing around the Atlantic slave trade. By the 1600s, the Dutch had already begun occupying several Caribbean islands, and they quickly became major players in trafficking and the forced enslavement of Black people. Denmark, though smaller in comparison, held colonies in what is now the US Virgin Islands from the 17th century until 1917, when the United States purchased them. Like the other colonies in the region, both the Dutch and Danish Caribbean were established as plantation societies producing crops like sugar through forced labor. In the early 1800s, denmark had outlawed the slave trade, but not slavery itself. Slavery remained the brutal engine of the colony's economy, and resistance among the enslaved grew steadily over the decades.

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The turning point came on the night of July 2nd 1848, when thousands of enslaved people in St Croix, led by laborer and freedom fighter General Bordeaux, otherwise known as Moses Gottlieb, gathered and threatened to burn the city of Frederiksted down if emancipation was not declared On July 3rd. The following day, faced with this massive uprising, governor Peter von Schlotten made this declaration, and I quote All unfree in the Danish West Indies are from today emancipated. It was not really a moral decision, but a political one, and it was strategic in many ways. Denmark's government hadn't yet sanctioned emancipation, but this uprising forced their hand. To this day, july 3rd is commemorated as Emancipation Day in the US Virgin Islands and remains a powerful symbol of rebellion, resistance and freedom. Commemorations often include a full week of events for what is known as Freedom Week, when concerts and speeches honoring the ancestors and freedom fighters who made emancipation possible are held.

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Meanwhile, in the Dutch colonies, enslaved Africans endured similar horrors. Emancipation in the Dutch Caribbean didn't come until July 1st 1863, 15 years after the Danish West Indies and almost 30 years after the British. And even then emancipation came with a cruel condition. The enslaved were required to work for an additional 10 years on the very plantations that they were enslaved on, as the Dutch thought this was a loss to the plantation owners. It was slavery by another name and to an extent followed the post-emancipation transitionary loopholes that many other colonies did, like apprenticeship in the British Caribbean and even sharecropping and other similar practices in the US. Full freedom wasn't fully recognized until 1873. July 1st is now recognized as Emancipation Day throughout the Dutch Caribbean. In Suriname, for example, it's celebrated as Ketakoti, meaning the chain is broken. The day is marked similarly, with a festival of commemorations and cultural performances that honor both the pain of enslavement and the joy of freedom.

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And before we wrap up as always as we do here at Strictly Facts, we want to highlight the power of music as memory on our songs, whether they are centuries old or newly released, that help us preserve and celebrate our stories. From the USVI, a powerful folk song known as a carrizo, known as Clear the Road, commemorates the events of 1848. The lyrics call for the clearing of the road so they can meet General Bardot, because he's going to give them their freedom. In 1957, the song was giving new life by Marie Richards, a beloved local singer originally from St Martin, who was also a folklorist. She recorded an entire album of local Carrizo and other folk songs. Her rendition of Clear the Road reasserted the significance of oral history in shaping how we understand emancipation, not just as a moment of the past, but as a community memory passed on in rhythm and verse.

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Furthermore, in 2019, surinamese singer-songwriter Jengu McCroy released the song Gold. It's a modern anthem that pays tribute to the Ketakoti holiday and is a declaration of pride in the sacrifices of our ancestors. Together, clear the Road and Gold show us how music bridges generations, how our ancestors' cries for freedom continue to echo in lyrics. They remind us that emancipation is not just a date but a living, breathing tradition, and I encourage you all to listen closely, as they are also archives of our struggle and anthems of our joy.

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These commemorations seen in Emancipation Day remind us that there is one crucial truth Colonialism, whether that be just by the British, by Spanish or the French, but also from the Dutch, the Danish and even, at a briefer period, the Portuguese in the Caribbean, as well as the Swedish. They all laid claims to pieces of our region and their legacies are still with us in our legal systems, our languages, our demographics and our collective memory. For instance, sweden once colonized Saint Bartholomew for nearly a century, until 1878, when they traded the island to France. These histories are too often ignored in mainstream Caribbean discussions and things that we still need to continue to impart today. So, as we reflect on Emancipation Day in the Dutch Caribbean and in the US Virgin Islands, we must center the full story. Freedom was fought for and won by our ancestors, often in the face of neglect or outright resistance by colonial authorities, and we honor them today by telling the story of all of our Emancipation Days. Emancipation Day, may we remember that the chains were broken, the ancestors who resisted, and the legacy of struggle that has made our present possible continues. And to everyone else across the Caribbean and diaspora, may we also celebrate and continue to learn about all of our collective struggles, because there is strength in unity.

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Thank you again, as always, for tuning in to Strictly Facts. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow, share and check out our show notes and Strictly Facts syllabus online for links to further readings on emancipation in the Dutch and Danish Caribbean. Until next time, remember our histories are our strength. Likkle more. Until next time. Remember our histories are our strength. Little more. Thanks for tuning in to Strictly Facts. Visit strictlyfactspodcastcom for more information from each episode. Follow us at Strictly Facts Pod on Instagram and Facebook and at Strictly Facts PD on Twitter.