On Nov. 23 the Virgin Islands will honor Virgin Islands Freedom Day, a celebration that stitches together two acts of extraordinary courage: the 1733 St. John Rebellion and the 1892 Coal Workers’ Strike. Though separated by centuries and circumstances, both events are rooted in a shared refusal to accept injustice, a legacy of defiance that defines the Virgin Islands.
On St. John, the 1733 Rebellion exploded when enslaved Africans, led by Akwamu leaders like Queen Breffu, took Fortsberg and demanded freedom. Their resistance was as strategic as it was audacious, holding off Danish forces for months in one of the earliest slave revolts in the Americas. The rebellion’s duality, bold fight for liberty, and internal contradictions as the Akwamu sought to impose their own rule underscores the complexities of freedom itself. But what remains unshakable is this: they fought, and in fighting, they forever disrupted the narrative of power.
On St. Thomas, the 1892 Coal Workers’ Strike embodied the same spirit of resistance in a different form. The “coaling ladies,” tasked with carrying 100 pound baskets of coal for a single cent each, stopped everything. With Queen Coziah leading the charge, they marched through Charlotte Amalie demanding fair wages in Danish silver, not the worthless Mexican coins they were handed. Their rallying cry, “Dollar for Dollar,” became a movement. Their victory, a peaceful resolution achieved in just one day, showed the world what collective action, fueled by indignation and solidarity, could accomplish.
This Freedom Day, the Dollar fo’ Dollar Culture & History Tour in St. Thomas, and the 40th commemoration of the St. John Rebellion at Fortsberg will bring these stories to life. In connecting these two moments, Virgin Islands Freedom Day becomes more than a date, but a bridge between past and present.
