Fellow citizens,

Permit me, on the occasion of Spiritual Shouter Baptist Liberation Day 2026, to join the nation in paying tribute to a community whose faith, courage and endurance helped to deepen the meaning of freedom in Trinidad and Tobago.

There are few stories in our nation’s history as powerful as that of the struggle and the victory endured and secured by our Sisters and Brothers in the Spiritual Shouter Baptist faith. Theirs is the story of standing firm in the face of discrimination, hardship and legal prohibition. Theirs is the story of being denied the right to worship as their conscience commanded, yet of never yielding. Theirs is the story of holding fast to their faith, their dignity and their identity. And theirs is the story of, in so doing, having won, not only for themselves, but for all of us, a greater measure of liberty and justice.

I believe that their story is a powerful reminder that freedom must never be taken for granted.

The freedom to worship. The freedom to speak. The freedom to think. The freedom to live with dignity. These are precious rights, to be sure. But, in today’s world they are rights that are under threat in so many ways. Some threats are brutal and visible, like the wars that destroy lives, uproot families and crush basic human liberties. Other threats are quieter but no less dangerous. Social media, for example, can spread falsehood, division, hatred and manipulation. It can erode privacy, weaken independent thought and distort truth.

Those freedoms which today we might take for granted are also threatened by fear, violence, intolerance, misinformation, corruption and indifference. Indeed, they are threatened whenever people are bullied into silence, whenever truth is buried, and whenever we grow careless about the rights we enjoy.

That is why the example of the Spiritual Shouter Baptists remains so important. They teach us that freedom requires courage. They teach us that dignity must be defended. They teach us that rights have meaning only when people are prepared to stand for them.

Today, as we honour the Spiritual Shouter Baptists, let us also learn from them. Let us never take our freedoms for granted. Let us protect our freedoms, cherish them and, when necessary, fight for them with the same courage, resilience and conviction that this noble community showed in its own struggle.

To the Spiritual Shouter Baptist community, the nation offers its deepest respect and gratitude. Your witness has strengthened this country. Your example continues to inspire us. Your legacy belongs to all of Trinidad and Tobago.

May this Liberation Day renew in all of us a firm commitment to freedom, faith, dignity and justice.

And may God continue to bless the Spiritual Shouter Baptist community and our beloved nation, Trinidad and Tobago.