By Rasbert turner, Portmore Star Writer

Mayor of Portmore George Lee says residents need to do more than celebrate the heritage on the festive occasion, signal-ling Emancipation Day.

The Mayor, who was speaking at the Portmore Festival of Arts at the Heart Academy auditorium, recently, said that there is a need for residents to fully recognise the true meaning of emancipation.

He said that since 1838, several battles have been fought for the preservation of the legacy of our foreparents who fought to make Emancipation Day significant.

Lee said that several of the residents are still affected by mental slavery and have yet to rid themselves of that mentality. He said that people need to accept that the fight for emancipation must continue.

respect icons

"We must respect the lives of Marcus Garvey, and more recently, cultural icon Louise Bennett-Coverley, who have worked assiduously through culture to preserve emancipation," Mayor Lee said.

With this output of national acceptance and the recognition for true emancipation, the mayor said that the festival of arts and such events will continue to work in the nation's favour to make persons truly realise where they are coming from.

At this year's competition, several of the schools and cultural groups throughout Portmore which have been selected by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) as gold medal winners, performed several cultural items, much to the delight of those who turned out at the second staging of the festival. There were also displays of various food preparations such as 'blue draws', 'run down', mackerel and banana and a host of other products.

Yasmine Brown, JCDC representative, and the mayor both endorsed the festival as a success.