News Brief
- A Warning on Freedom: In her Spiritual Shouter Baptist Liberation Day message, President Christine Kangaloo warned the nation that modern threats—ranging from global wars to social media manipulation—prove that freedom must never be taken for granted.
- Honouring a Legacy: The President paid tribute to the Baptist community’s historic fight against legal prohibition, urging citizens to defend their own rights with the same courage and resilience.
- Historic Milestones: This year’s celebrations are particularly significant, marking 75 years since the repeal of the Shouter Prohibition Ordinance in 1951, and 30 years since the public holiday was declared.
- Educating the Youth: To mark the occasion, the Office of the President hosted nearly 300 students at its second annual Liberation Day Exhibition, continuing the President’s initiative to open The President’s House for cultural and educational enrichment.
By Prior Beharry
PRESIDENT Christine Carla Kangaloo warns that modern threats such as social media manipulation, intolerance, and global conflicts prove that fundamental freedoms must never be taken for granted
She made the comment in her 2026 Spiritual Shouter Baptist Liberation Day message.
Kangaloo paid tribute to the Spiritual Shouter Baptist community, noting that their historic struggle against discrimination, hardship, and legal prohibition helped deepen the true meaning of freedom in Trinidad and Tobago.
She said, “Theirs is the story of being denied the right to worship as their conscience commanded, yet of never yielding.
Kangaloo said, “I believe that their story is a powerful reminder that freedom must never be taken for granted.”
The President drew a line between the historical oppression faced by the Baptists and the contemporary dangers threatening civil liberties today. While some threats are as visible and brutal as wars that crush basic human rights, she warned that others are quieter but equally dangerous.
“Social media, for example, can spread falsehood, division, hatred, and manipulation. It can erode privacy, weaken independent thought, and distort truth,” the President said.
She added that freedoms are also jeopardised by fear, violence, misinformation, corruption, and indifference—especially “whenever people are bullied into silence (and) whenever truth is buried.”
Kangaloo said: “They teach us that freedom requires courage…”
She said, “Let us protect our freedoms, cherish them and, when necessary, fight for them with the same courage, resilience, and conviction that this noble community showed in its own struggle.”
Educating the next generation
The President’s call to protect these hard-won freedoms is being actively passed on to the nation’s youth.
Last week, the Office of the President proudly hosted its second annual Spiritual Shouter Baptist Liberation Day Exhibition in the Ballroom of The President’s House. Running from March 23 to 25, the interactive event welcomed 281 students from six different schools.
Mounted in collaboration with the Spiritual Baptist Faith Inc and the Heritage Library Division of NALIS, the exhibition offered an immersive exploration of the faith’s history. Students engaged with displays chronicling the struggle for religious freedom and were educated on the immense historical weight of this year’s celebrations.
The year 2026 marks a double milestone for the community: 75 years since the colonial-era Shouter Prohibition Ordinance was finally repealed in 1951, and 30 years since Spiritual Shouter Baptist Liberation Day was officially declared a public holiday in 1996.
The Office of the President noted that the exhibition is part of President Kangaloo’s ongoing commitment to opening the historic grounds of The President’s House to the public.
By focusing heavily on youth engagement, the initiative aims to provide young citizens with opportunities to deepen their understanding of the nation’s heritage, transforming The President’s House into a “living centre for intellectual, cultural, and artistic exploration.”
