Today we celebrate our country’s 63rd year of independence.

We do so while under a state of emergency, the effects of which have included modifications to the ways in which we traditionally celebrate the occasion. These modifications speak to the challenging times in which we find ourselves. But these modifications have also pressed us into finding new and innovative ways to mark the occasion. They have called us to engage our innate capacity to create and to be resourceful. And, when it comes to creativity and resourcefulness, there is no nation on earth quite like Trinidad and Tobago.

We are the nation that created the steelpan out of discarded oil drums. We are the nation that created the greatest Carnival on earth, from out of street gatherings organized to jeer at our colonial masters. We are the nation that took two pieces of metal – the rod used to connect the yokes of bullocks on the sugar cane estates, and the metal horse shoe on the estate horses – to create the dhantal. We are the nation of religions that have evolved and adapted to survive and to thrive in the face of colonial laws that were passed to wipe out our beliefs.

That is the nation whose independence we celebrate today. We might be celebrating our independence this year in circumstances different from those to which we have grown accustomed. But the characteristic about our people that has not changed – the immutable quality that makes us one of the greatest nations on earth – is our ability to rise above anything and everything that challenges us, and to thrive in all circumstances.

Challenges are nothing new to us. Our response to them is what matters. As a nation, we have every reason to be optimistic that, just as we have responded to the challenges of the past, we will also respond to the challenges of today and of tomorrow. As David Rudder puts it in the masterpiece “Dedication” – “Out of pain, this culture was born; In life’s shadowed places, the magic was spawned”.

This Independence Day, let us celebrate the magic that is Trinidad and Tobago. Let us celebrate the magic that lives inside of each of us. Let us commit to overcoming the challenges of today and to meeting the future with confidence.

I wish every citizen of Trinidad and Tobago a happy and blessed Independence Day celebration.