GROVE PLACE, ST. CROIX — Calls for greater civic participation, historical preservation and community responsibility were central to Sunday's D. Hamilton Jackson Day celebration in Grove Place, where Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett urged Virgin Islanders to exercise their democratic rights, two St. Croix Central High School students presented poetry reflecting on violence and electricity outages, and historian Percival Tahemah Edwards renewed demands to protect the community's historical legacy.
The November 1 ceremony, organized by the Grove Place Action Committee at D. Hamilton Jackson Park, marked 111 years since Jackson published the first edition of The Herald, the newspaper that challenged Danish colonial restrictions on the press and provided Virgin Islanders with a platform to address the conditions affecting their lives.
Held two days before the November 3 general election, the observance brought together elected officials, community leaders, students and cultural performers to commemorate Jackson's contributions to freedom of the press, organized labor and political representation.
Plaskett, who is running for governor alongside Senate President Milton Potter, acknowledged the significance of what she described as her final public remarks as the territory's representative to Congress.
"These are my last public remarks, as your humble representative to Congress," she told the gathering.
She reflected on Jackson's willingness to challenge colonial authorities despite having neither political power nor the right to vote in the government that ruled him.
"Jackson held no title, no wealth, no vote in the government that ruled him," Plaskett said, describing his determination to secure greater freedom and economic opportunity for Virgin Islanders.
She connected his work to her own advocacy in Washington, including efforts to secure equitable Medicaid funding, challenge the Insular Cases and obtain federal disaster recovery assistance.
"I am refusing to accept that our people are owed less because of where we live," she declared.
Plaskett argued that honoring Jackson required more than annual ceremonies and historical tributes. Residents, she said, must actively participate in public affairs, question their elected representatives and protect the institutions that allow communities to hold government accountable.
"Liberty is not a monument. It is a practice," she said.
She also emphasized the responsibility of residents to support independent journalism and resist the spread of misinformation.
"Read something true and share it," Plaskett urged. "A free press survives only if people use it. Support our local journalists and refuse to pass along what you have not verified as true."
Her remarks included an appeal for voter participation ahead of Tuesday's election, with Plaskett encouraging residents to become involved in decisions that affect their communities.
"November 3rd, Virgin Islands determines its own destiny," she said. Students reflect on violence, grief and outages through poetry
Among the day's cultural and educational presentations were two original poems delivered by students from St. Croix Central High School's Advanced Placement English class.
Eleventh-grade student Kylie Lockhart recited "When the Sirens Fade," a poem exploring the emotional consequences of gun violence and the lasting grief experienced by families after losing loved ones.
"On my island, we are losing young people before they can live their dreams," she recited.
The poem described sirens interrupting the night, unanswered telephone calls and families struggling to cope with unexpected deaths.
"When the sirens fade, the silence begins," Lockhart said during her recitation.
Her verses reflected on how public attention often moves beyond a violent incident while the families and friends of those killed continue living with its consequences.
Although the poem did not identify any particular homicide, its themes carried particular relevance following a series of deadly shootings across the territory.
As previously reported by the Consortium, the October 22 killing of 17-year-old Ky'janny Niles in Frederiksted was among several recent homicides on St. Croix. The violence continued Saturday night when 31-year-old Torae Sanders was fatally shot in the driveway of her Estate Rattan home.
Sanders's death brought the territory's 2026 homicide count to 46, including 28 on St. Croix and 18 on St. Thomas, according to the Consortium's latest tally.
Another Central High student, Deandra Bruley, presented a poem titled "Needed," which examined several challenges affecting Virgin Islands communities, including crime, unreliable electricity and mental health concerns.
Her verses described neighborhoods falling into darkness, residents enduring the heat while waiting for electricity to return, and people experiencing emotional struggles that may go unnoticed.
"We need more than promises spoken in the light, more than temporary fixes when the power returns," she recited.
The poem also expressed a desire for greater understanding and support for people experiencing personal difficulties.
"We need safe streets and support for struggling minds. We need people who listen before the silence grows," Bruley said in her presentation.
The references to electricity failures reflected a familiar experience for many residents, particularly following the recent generation problems that caused repeated outages on St. Thomas and St. John.
The Water and Power Authority's October disruptions forced the closure of public schools and government offices in the district and led to emergency repairs at the Randolph Harley Power Plant.
The student presentations drew praise from the program's emcee, who described both poems as powerful reflections on the conditions affecting the community. The emcee encouraged parents to speak with their children and pay attention to the ways violence and other difficulties may affect them emotionally.
The poetry recitations formed part of a wider program celebrating the participation of young Virgin Islanders in the community's cultural traditions.
Historian renews call to protect Grove Place's legacy
Historian and lifelong Grove Place resident Percival Tahemah Edwards delivered an extensive presentation examining Jackson's life, the history of St. Croix's labor movement and the importance of preserving the community's historical records and property.
Edwards traced Jackson's organizing efforts to the harsh conditions experienced by plantation laborers under Danish colonial rule.
He discussed the establishment of the St. Croix Labor Union and the 1916 labor strike, which he said secured higher wages, shorter working hours and additional benefits for workers.
According to Edwards, daily wages increased from 20 cents to 35 cents following the strike, while the workday was reduced to nine hours.
He also highlighted the acquisition of plantation estates through the labor movement, explaining that these purchases helped provide land ownership opportunities for families whose ancestors had worked under colonial plantation systems.
Edwards urged residents to recognize the importance of those historical property transactions and protect the documents that establish ownership and inheritance rights.
Renewing an appeal made during previous Liberty Day celebrations, he advocated for a properly staffed Grove Place Action Committee office capable of examining surviving labor union records and providing legal assistance with historical property questions.
"Grove Place Action Committee should have a fully functional office with a secretary and legal counsel," he said.
Edwards also questioned what he described as the omission of Estate Grove Place and Estate Bethlehem from an online heritage listing maintained by the Virgin Islands State Historic Preservation Office.
He argued that the communities' contributions to labor organizing and the struggle for economic advancement deserved greater recognition.
"This has got to be corrected," he declared.
The specific omission alleged by Edwards has not been independently verified. Estate Grove Place is already listed on the federal National Register of Historic Places, having received that designation in July 1978. The federal designation is separate from the territorial website listing referenced in his remarks.
Edwards proposed a broader initiative to document St. Croix's historic estates using government land records, archival material and community histories.
He also called for greater recognition of the historic Guinea Almond tree, commonly identified as a baobab, located in Grove Place.
According to Edwards, the tree holds particular cultural significance because generations of residents gathered beneath it to commemorate Jackson's accomplishments and the labor movement.
He proposed installing a plaque explaining the tree's historical importance and preserving the traditional name used by generations of Grove Place residents.
His recommendations followed similar appeals during the 2025 ceremony, when he called for stronger institutional and legal stewardship of Jackson's legacy and the surviving assets associated with the St. Croix Labor Union.
Community celebrates Jackson's legacy
Grove Place Action Committee President Jaynilah Williams welcomed attendees to Sunday's observance, expressing pride in her upbringing in the community and the opportunity to continue its longstanding Liberty Day tradition.
Williams emphasized Jackson's contributions to freedom of the press, workers' rights and equal treatment, describing his accomplishments as an enduring example of what determined individuals can achieve.
She also thanked committee members, residents and volunteers for their work organizing the annual event.
The committee has undergone a generational leadership transition in recent years. During the 2025 celebration, longtime leader Raymond Williams formally passed a symbolic torch to Jaynilah Williams, recognizing the responsibility of younger residents to preserve the community's traditions.
Sunday's ceremony featured entertainment by the Bomb Squad Dancers and a twirling group, along with the student poetry presentations and introductions of contestants participating in the upcoming Crucian Christmas Festival pageants.
The program concluded with remarks encouraging residents to continue serving their communities, followed by the traditional sharing of bull and bread.
Throughout the celebration, speakers connected Jackson's historical accomplishments to present-day responsibilities, including civic participation, preserving cultural records and strengthening community institutions.
The students' poems added a contemporary perspective to those reflections, using creative expression to portray the emotional realities of violence, grief, unreliable electricity and the need for understanding.
As Virgin Islanders prepare to vote Tuesday, the observance offered a reminder that the freedoms Jackson fought to secure remain closely connected to the responsibilities of the generations that followed him.
