Mapp issued statement marking African Liberation Day and Virgin Islands African Heritage Week

Gov. Kenneth E. Mapp issued a statement on May 25, 2018, recognizing African Liberation Day and Virgin Islands African Heritage Week.

Government House said the observances were established under Act 5473 of 1989 pursuant to Title 1, Chapter 11, Section 192 of the Virgin Islands Code. Under the law, Virgin Islands African Heritage Week is commemorated annually during the third week of May and African Liberation Day is observed on May 25.

The statement said the 2018 observances coincided with the fourth year of the United Nations' International Decade for People of African Descent, which runs from Jan. 1, 2015, through Dec. 31, 2024, under U.N. Resolution 68/237.

Mapp also said the 2018 observance marked the 60th anniversary of the First Conference of Independent African States, convened in 1958 and led by Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first president.

In the statement, Mapp called on residents and visitors to support events scheduled in honor of the observances.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/statement-on-african-liberation-day/