At the annual Emancipation Tea Meeting Thursday evening, the eve of Emancipation Day, the dark red walls of Fort Frederik bore witness to song, comedy, poetry, music and reflections on Crucian and Virgin Islands history.
And though the topic was serious, the mood was light and the night’s entertainment filled with banter and jokes, with the feel of a variety show.
Mary Moorhead of the History, Culture and Tradition Foundation, which organizes Emancipation celebrations on St. Croix each year, welcomed the audience and said teas were an old tradition, held in the evenings at the end of sugarcane harvesting. People would make speeches, sing hymns, choose a king and queen, and have tea, she said.
At Thursday’s tea, Valencio Jackson and Mirza Soldaño were given seats of honor as king and queen, while Gerard and Marjorie Emanuel were honorary president and first lady.
One after the other, well-known Crucians came to the microphone with a story, a comedy routine, a poem or a song for the crowd.
"I don’t know about you but around this time my heart goes to Buddhoe," said St. Croix author and poet Richard Schrader, when he took to the stage, leading into a soliloquy on the mysterious fate of the man credited with leading the successful revolt against slavery.
"What happened to Buddhoe?" he asked. "Why didn’t he go to Denmark to answer questions, like (Gov. Peter) Von Scholten? … Did you make him walk the plank and with a cat o’ nine tails tear the skin off his back?"
Schrader then read an original poem about President Obama.
Asta Williams, Wayne "Bully" Petersen and Sandra Michael put on a musical, comedy, storytelling number right out of vaudeville or a music sketch on the ’70s TV show "Hee Haw," but with quelbe music and old Afro-Caribbean stories with crabs, soursop and guava woven into them.
Sen. Terrence "Positive" Nelson read two original poems, radio personality Abdul Ali told a humorous story. Omar Henry performed a comedy routine about hurricane preparedness. The Millennium Choir performed traditional favorites between acts, helping to keep the show lively and the mood cultural.
During intermission volunteers from Rigidims Festival Troupe served sweet buns and bush tea. Lastly, Trinidad native Paul Keens-Douglas gave a motivational address.
"Always remember to pay respect to those who went before," he said at the beginning of a wide-ranging philosophical talk. "That is why we celebrate emancipation; to remember those who went before."
Thursday’s tea meeting was a prelude to the actual 161st anniversary of Emancipation on Friday. At 5:30 a.m. Friday, Sen. Terrence "Positive" Nelson is sponsoring his annual fort-to-fort walk, going from Christiansted’s Fort Christiansvaern to Fort Frederik in Frederiksted, with rest stops at Sunny Isles and Sunshine Mall on the way. After the walk, at noon, Fort Frederik will host the crowning of the 2009 Hal Jackson’s Virgin Islands Talented Teen, Caprisha Richards, and the 2009 Miss America’s Virgin Islands Outstanding Teen A’Jada Burke. Just outside, in Buddhoe Park, there will be a food sale. Then at 4 p.m. historians Mario Moorhead and Carlyle Corbin will speak during the main Emancipation commemoration. In the evening, at 7:30 p.m., the street will be filled with folks dancing the traditional quadrille to the music of the Native Rhythm band.
The Department of Tourism helped to sponsor the tea meeting.