People tend to fear what they do not know. They also tend to fear what they cannot control. On November 16, 1917, the colonial government, suffering from fear of what they did not know and could not control, enacted the Shouters Prohibition Ordinance. The Ordinance banned the practise in Trinidad and Tobago of the Spiritual/Shouter Baptist faith.
Strong people also tend to rise above the injustices and the barriers that are put in their way. Strong people cannot be silenced. Luckily for Trinidad and Tobago, the people of the Spiritual/Shouter Baptist faith rose above the injustice and the barriers of the Shouters Prohibition Ordinance. In doing so, they showed their strength and their commitment to their God. They would not be silenced.
On March 30, 1951, the colonial government yielded to the insistent cries of the people of the Spiritual/Shouter Baptist faith, and of those who joined in advocating for their cause. The Shouters Prohibition Ordinance was repealed. In 1996, Government granted the Spiritual/Shouter Baptist faith their own public holiday. History had come full circle. Fittingly, the holiday is celebrated on the anniversary of the repeal of the Ordinance.
The story of our Spiritual Baptist Liberation Shouter Day holiday is a story of the spectrum of our human experiences. It is a story of rejection, struggle, victory, acceptance and earned respect. It is a story to which all of us can relate. All of us have been through these experiences, in some form or another. Happily for us, we have the example of the Spiritual/Shouter Baptist faith, and of how to rise from the depths of rejection and arrive at the pinnacles of acceptance and earned respect.
As our nation joins with the Spiritual/Shouter Baptist faith in observance of Spiritual Baptist Liberation Shouter Day 2023, and in celebration of the anniversary of the repeal of the Shouters Prohibition Ordinance, let us think about the model that their faith-journey provides for all of us.
Let us think about the fear that we feel towards the things in our lives that we do not know, and that we cannot control. Often, such fear brings anger and can sometimes cause us to act in ways that inflict harm on those arounds us. Let us therefore try to let go of that fear. Let us try to be a strong people. Where injustices and the barriers are put in our way, let us try to rise above them. Let us support each other, and advocate for one another, in the face of every injustice and of every barrier. Let us never be silenced in our struggle against injustice. Most of all, let us never waver in our commitment to our God and to our country. Let us model, in our daily lives, the faith-journey of the Spiritual/Shouter Baptist faith.
I extend to the Spiritual/Shouter Baptist community, and to all of Trinidad and Tobago, best wishes for a safe and joyous celebration of Spiritual Baptist Liberation Shouter Day 2023.
