The Wavelength
Monday August 3rd, 2020 with Joe Reilly
Songs of freedom and the struggle for equality. To help mark Emancipation Day, which was on August 1st, we play some powerful music that speaks of freedom and how some are still denied their freedom and equality to this day!

Two hours of music that speaks about freedom and the desire to have freedom where and when it is denied. The mix grew out of hosting the Canada Performs at the RBC Bluesfest Drive In on Saturday night with Sarah Onyango from CHUO. Sarah told me about Emancipation Day which was celebrated on Saturday. It is marked every year on August 1, as it was on that day back in 1834 that The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 came into force across the British Empire. The Act abolished slavery throughout the British Empire (with the exceptions "of the Territories in the Possession of the East India Company", the "Island of Ceylon" and "the Island of Saint Helena"; the exceptions were eliminated in 1843.) Only slaves below the age of six were freed. Enslaved people older than six years of age were redesignated as "apprentices" and required to work, 40 hours per week without pay, as part of compensation payment to their former owners. Full emancipation was finally achieved at midnight on 31 July 1838. You can find more information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Day#Canada There is a growing movement to have the day recognized across Canada. Thanks to Sarah for bringing me up to speed on this! Some of the pieces/songs tonight are about that feeling of Freedom and the power of it, and some are about how the struggle continues - notably in Black communities across North America.