St. Vincent Spiritual Baptist Liberation Day on May 21
St. Vincent and the Grenadines will commemorate May 21 as Spiritual Baptist Liberation Day, which will be observed as a national holiday.
The establishment of this national holiday makes St. Vincent and the Grenadines the second country in the Caribbean to officially declare a national holiday for the Spiritual Baptist Faith.
The bill creating the holiday was passed unanimously in Parliament on August 27, 2024, receiving full backing from both sides of the House of Assembly.
The national celebration comes after a long, difficult history for the Spiritual Baptist community. On October 1, 1912, the colonial government passed the Shakerism Prohibition Ordinance, which explicitly outlawed the religion, made it illegal for members to practice their faith, and sparked years of persecution.
This legal ban stood for over fifty years until it was officially repealed on March 22, 1965, by the E. T. Joshua-led Legislative Council.
While the ban was lifted in 1965, members of the faith have historically observed May 21 as their true Liberation Day.
The date honors May 21, 1951, when the community achieved a major legal victory in a court case where they were successfully represented by the Honorable Robert Milton Cato, a former Premier.