Sept. 22, 2006 – The V.I. Unity Day group will hold its second annual Unity Day observance on Oct. 1 in Cruz Bay Park, also called Frank Powell Park. Festivities begin at 4 p.m.
"Last year was so successful, we decided to have it every year," the organization's president, Ronnie Jones, said.
He said that the event will include a discussion of the historical aspects of Contract Day, observed throughout the territory as the day when plantation workers signed their yearly contracts.
Jones said historians Gilbert Sprauve and Gene Emanuel will speak about Contract Day.
The Unity Day event will also include a discussion on the upcoming Constitutional Convention. Jones said someone from the University of the Virgin Islands will address the group on this matter.
He said a discussion is also planned on the press release issued Sept. 15 by the FBI that announced the conclusion of its investigation into alleged hate crimes against Esther Frett. According to FBI officials, there was no evidence of racial bias. "It didn't say anything," Jones said of the press release.
Frett was not named in the press release, but she spoke publicly about the alleged rape and racial epithets written on her car at the first Unity Day rally, held Oct. 1, 2005.
The 2005 Unity Day event followed Frett's Aug. 30, 2005 claim that she was raped.
Jones said music and refreshments will be provided. Call 514-4798.
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