Carnivals and festivities flourish as Emancipation Day celebrated across Canada, Caribbean

Share!: D

Today is Emancipation Day in Canada, and many parts of the world. The day celebrates the freeing of hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans and their descendants, and has long been marked by parades and other festivities.

“On the lands that we now call Canada, slavery began in 1628 with the enslavement of Africans, “ said historian and social justice advocate Rosemary Sadlier. “It did not end until Aug. 1, 1834.”

The U.S. would wait 30 more years before ending the practice during which time tens of thousands fled to Canada to taste emancipation, many settling in the northernmost part of the Underground Railroad at Owen Sound, Ont.

Here, the day has been celebrated for 160 years — longer than Canada has been a country

Kayla Mclean from Global News has more.