Today is Labour Day in Jamaica – a national holiday. Labour Day in Jamaica commemorates a labor rebellion on this day in 1938 that contributed to Jamaican independence.
As part of the British Empire, Jamaica had historically had a public holiday on May 24th to mark Queen Victoria’s birthday. This holiday was known as Empire Day. Empire Day was renamed Commonwealth Day in the 1950s, but is still celebrated as Victoria Day in some places.
In 1962, Jamaica gained its independence from the United Kingdom. Celebrating Empire Day was no longer seen as relevant to the fledgling country and in 1961, Jamaican Chief Minister Norman Washington Manley proposed replacing Empire Day with a new holiday called Labour Day.
This new holiday was to be a commemoration of a labor rebellion on May 23rd 1938. The rebellion was led by Alexander Bustamante who gained prominence during the rebellion, becoming a noted trade union leader and eventually becoming Jamaica’s first prime minister following independence.
In 1972, Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley started the movement to make Labour Day a day when Jamaicans would get involved in local community projects. Today, on Labour Day, groups, individuals, and communities all over Jamaica will dedicate their time and labor to improve public areas, do repairs, paint or build homes, schools, and churches.
Cute…
I got my garden started and am looking forward to a big harvest…
Today is the birthday, in 1946, of Daniel Klein, bassist with American rock band The J Geils Band, who had the 1982 US No.1 & UK No.3 single ‘Centerfold’ which was taken from their US No.1 1981 album Freeze Frame. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqDjMZKf-wg
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