Agreeing to Disagree

I am certain, that any day now, some political or journalistic personality will finally announce that Rome was indeed built in one day and further, it was built by one man, the Rt. Hon Hubert Ingraham. This news shall in turn comfort all of my fears and concerns regarding the future of our Country. We will all be able to rest comfortably being led by this larger than life, immortal “fire god” whom, at his earliest convenience will provide the remedy for crime and all of our other social ills; he will inspire our youth to play a greater role in the advancement of an instantly developed Island nation with a burgeoning economy; Long Island, Exuma, Cat Island and San Salvador would have rebounded from the effects of TS turned Hurricane Noel; while the leaders of the World, including Musharraff of Pakistan, will come from far and wide bearing expensive gifts for counsel from our esteemed Prime Minister, that is if Speaker of the House, the Honorable Alvin Smith, would allow.

It is important for me to be silly at this very important moment in our development as a Nation, as a people, if only to prove that a senior journalist and a budding political pundit can publicly disagree on any given subject matter and still remain civil. Like that famed, American comedian Red Skelton once said, "I live by this credo: Have a little laugh at life and look around you for happiness instead of sadness. Laughter has always brought me out of unhappy situations. Even in your darkest moment, you usually can find something to laugh about if you try hard enough." Certainly there is great sadness but also great humor in the attempts by some to mislead the public on the facts surrounding the negotiations of the sale of the Royal Oasis, just as the attempts to mislead us with respect to the preliminary groundwork performed by the former administration on the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union negotiations.

At a time when democracy and civility are being violently threatened in the honorable Halls of Parliament, when a life has been tragically lost to the fury of mother-nature, and thousands will find it difficult to sing about the “the first noel” as Christmas will find them worried about how to rebuild their lives and their homes post Hurricane Noel, more of us must cling to the tenets of joy and peace. This is a time of the testing of our humanity and our commitment to the Christian faith. The naked, the thirsty, the hungry, the homeless in our Southern Islands, need us to respond, urgently. Our leaders are all being faced with the great challenge of learning to “speak the truth in love” and when necessary, “turn the other cheek.” And every solution to our social ills lay in the ability of all of us to once again love our neighbors as we love self.

The reality is that Rome was not built in a day. And, the reality is that the responsibility of building a great Bahamas is not in the hands of one or even a few. This Country’s successful future is dependent upon us finding the unity, the togetherness to move forward. This togetherness begins with the acceptance that there are times more often than not, when some will disagree. But we must all now commit to agreeing to disagree, peacefully.

Slow but True!

On whatever side of the political divide one may sit or if even on the fence, one has to admit that the news and pending certainty about the details of the sale of the Royal Oasis is good news. It is yet another achievement time and chance have allowed this Free National Movement administration to take credit for. And yet another reminder to former Prime Minister Perry Christie who worked and worked, stroke recovery and all, to secure the long term economic success of Grand Bahama, that no matter one’s efforts, there is nothing “sure” when it comes to Bahamian politics. I can share with you that Grand Bahama’s future grew near and dear to the heart of the former Prime Minister, who had walked its streets after every ravaging storm, and in each step dreamt a more spectacular quality of life for the people of this Island. The Ginn development in West End, a revitalized Freeport City with a renovated Royal Oasis, and an upscale development near Barbary Beach, was in his mind to become the perfect complement to the shipping and industrial potential of Grand Bahama.

But true progress it is said, is a slow process and Bahamians it seems, these days, lack patience. Five out of six constituencies rejected the Progressive Liberal Party in the May 2, 2007 General Elections. While core FNM supporters remained FNM, and the swing vote went to the highest bidder, many voters had just become apathetic and disillusioned. The people of Grand Bahama, some of whom had seen waves from the sea rise over some twenty feet, could no longer be inspired by promises, they needed action and if not action, at least a workable plan.

Regrettably, the FNM’s Public Relations machinery and big money over shadowed Christie’s dreams, at least for the moment. And, with this the much needed balance of social harmony through restorative programs with economic advancement through spin-off opportunities has been placed on hold for the benefit of the likes of the Hon. Brent Symonette and his kind, who are speedily taking advantage of the big business already being generated through Christie’s “anchor project” scheme. True to form, the Bay Street Boys or the former UBP’s evolved with time and continue to secure their wealth through entrepreneurial endeavors such as real estate, shipping, trade, construction, and banking, to name a few. The DPM himself is said to have interest in companies including, Bahamas Hot Mix, Bahamas Fast Ferries and Commonwealth Bank – three on a long list.

This is no less than what the Progressive Liberal Party intended for more Bahamians – that even if we have not reached that stage where we own large scale developments and hotels, certainly more of us could enjoy the entrepreneurial benefits like the Bay Street Boys. More of us were to go from merely having jobs, being employees, to owning our own businesses and becoming employers. While it is indeed wonderful news about the Royal Oasis, the time has come for us to want more and to develop the patience and patriotism needed to bring these kinds of dreams into fruition. Because, true progress is indeed, a slow process.

Anti-violence as Anti-crime

Crime and or corruption are so entwined with the development of our Country, The Bahamas, that we really cannot seriously ever address it. We have, as biblical language would describe it, “been born in sin and shaped in iniquity.” Aside from the more major instances of ship wrecking, bootlegging and rum running, the drug trade and money laundering, you will find today that even the most sanctimonious among us are on their way to the “satellite man” because their illegal feed has been “hit” or out of necessity, even “Granny” is breaking some traffic laws in Nassau just to make it home. So when the Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham says, “Indeed, we need to develop a zero-tolerance level for crime – all crime – including petty crime…” does this mean that as the leader of the Free National Movement and Prime Minister of our Nation, he will see to it that no more votes are procured through the inducement of money and gifts during general elections?

What we can address is violence. The big question we must find the will to ask ourselves is “Why are we all so angry?” I know it to be more important to some members of the Governing Free National Movement to, by all means and any means, lock away as many of our Black fathers, brothers and sons, as opposed to committing more resources to restorative programmes and measures designed to get at the root cause of our societal dysfunctions. But how long before we understand that the violence exhibited by the young frustrated Black youth who finds his power in a gun or knife, is not very different from the violence exhibited by even some of our so-called leaders, whose power is in governmental and ministerial privileges conferred upon them. While it is not illegal to publicly embarrass or change the quality of life of someone by publicly firing them as part of one’s victory speech, and while it is not illegal to steal bread from the mouths of the innocent through victimization, all of these acts of violence contribute to the overall breakdown of our society because someone has inappropriately and mercilessly exercised momentary power over another. And in many cases this has been the behavior of choice because so many of us are naturally so very angry – with life.

Indeed, we need to develop a zero-tolerance level for violence – all violence. It would be better for our Prime Minister to lead the charge in this regard. Its really a losing battle if he does not. Out there in the streets, in our schools even in our homes, it isn’t some proverbial “rabbit” who has the proverbial “gun.” Out here, the guns are real! And just as it is almost impossible to reason with some House of Assembly representative who has abandoned all civility and common decency on a Wednesday afternoon, it is almost impossible to convince our young people to choose kinder, gentler methods of conflict resolution.

The Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham however, holds a special power. His style and rough demeanor has resonated with and in so many thousands of angry Bahamians who needed a poster boy for revenge. He can inspire at least 48% of the voting population to choose peace as a way of life by merely telling them to or through leading by example. No better person then to launch a successful national anti-violence as an anti-crime movement, which would capture the words of that most instructive song, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” No doubt ‘Funky D’ or some other artist can do a remake of the song to make it more relevant to Bahamian times, “Let there be peace in The Bahamas and let it begin in the HIP (Hubert Ingraham Party).”

What’s peace without laughter?

Trust or economic Thrust?

As interested as I have become in the affairs of predominately Black societies, for a long time it was my European heritage of which I was most boastful. Whether the lineage of my maternal or paternal grandmothers, Grant and McCoy of Scotland or that my grandfather while he carried the name Hall, was raised by his grandfather, Jimmy Wells of Long Island, somehow being able to point to White ancestry gave a sense of pride. When I speak therefore, of the UBP influence alive today behind the scenes of the governing Free National Movement, it is done so not out of some hidden anti-White racist motivation but because slavery, just as the discrimination endured by the ordinary majority in this Country pre 1967, was about economics/money and not about race. It is the love of money that is the root of all evil. It is that evil that worries me at this juncture in our development as a people, and that evil which causes my disappointment at the level of support won by the FNM in the past general elections. But money was responsible for that victory as well.

The allegations of conflict of interest surrounding the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Brent Symonette, son of Sir Roland Symonette is an indication of the kind of agenda men like himself are passionate about. And while at the end of the day those allegations may be dismissed as “small things”, what it all represents is the fundamental difference between the principles of Governance as espoused by the Progressive Liberal Party, and the principles that were embedded within the FNM when they joined hands with the fallen UBP.

As angry as so many may continue to be with the PLP because of the sins of some of the sons of the organization, you will find that the overarching principles of advancing the cause and championing the rights of the ordinary majority, whether through education, healthcare, economic empowerment or social welfare, remain paramount to the organization. This fundamental distinction is not so for the FNM. While the personalities of those selected to lead the FNM are sometimes more appealing, that very sinister motive which places things before people, that agenda which denied the majority political empowerment for as long as it could, still comes shining through as the primary thrust of the ones who call the tune of the FNM.

These are critical times for the ordinary majority. We are not as far along socially and economically as we should have been. Some indicators of our rampant deterioration as a society or network of communities is in our violent crime rates, our literacy levels and poor high school performance, and even in our risky and unhealthy lifestyles. On one hand the Country is poised to make a dramatic boom towards economic and infrastructural development, its entire landscape will undergo spectacular change within the next fifteen or so years. On the other hand there is the very real threat that its people as we are now defined, in the majority, will be left behind and relegated to a low waged working class. The potential of one day owning our economy is quickly slipping through our proverbial fingers.

The Party who was founded to go the extra mile to protect and ensure the viable future of our ordinary majority, the PLP who though not perfect, was committed in more recent years to bringing restoration to our communities, through initiatives like Urban Renewal and educational reform, and national health insurance and a myriad of second chance programs is forced now to be a strong Opposition in the face of an economic thrust agenda seeped in conflict of interest. But no greater conflict than this, that while the Deputy Prime Minister and his kind are out to make themselves even more wealthy, you will find that they have ordered that this Government is not allowed to spend money on “foolishness.” And when you examine what that foolishness really is, you will find that it is anything that gives that added compassion and inspiration needed to lift the ordinary majority to new levels of pride and productivity.

No! This is no era of “Trust.” We are stuck for a little while in a cold and unkind economic thrust. It is that damn love of money ……. Evil!

Black Like Who?

"I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps." -- Mahatma Gandhi

Personal growth and change is a lengthy and illusive process. During the years of metamorphosis, because we do not get the luxury of the cocoon experience like the caterpillar which becomes the butterfly, the outward appearance can look quite paradoxical. To the observing human eye, the person undergoing change can by his/her behaviour appear to be changing for the worse while truly, God may very well be dealing with the heart. I am holding out hope that despite what can be seen of the Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham, particularly during the House of Assembly proceedings on Wednesday past, internally, it is all a part of his transformation of becoming a better man. However, I am known to be a fool in this regard, believing in the good of others, after all I walk around convinced that we as a people can pull ourselves together sufficiently to become a First World Country. But then, Ingraham never said that he was changing, he self confessed to have been changed, as though he admits that there were aspects about him that had to be done away with.

The Hon. Brent Symonette, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, son of former UBP Premier, Roland Symonette, and heir apparent to the FNM throne, must find it all amusing. There he was nudging, whispering, and sitting next to his new found friend and co-conspirator Prime Minister, who once had to relieve him of his duties in a prior FNM Administration, for what common, ordinary people call thiefin’, as Ingraham led in what became an all out personal attack session nearing the end of the proceedings on October 3. But then Mr. Ingraham did the strangest thing. After having already laid on the Table of the House of Assembly, the 18 heads of agreement negotiated under the Christie led Administration, which only proved that Christie had really been working, and after having made light of the plight of the so many people and their children who are suffering because they are no longer employed in the civil service, from his seat and therefore, off the record, Mr. Ingraham retorted to an Opposition Member that he was, “Black just like you.” “I Black just like you!” Of course his hellish laugh accompanied the statement, as it was loud and boisterous all day long, only confirming that nothing much has changed – yet.

There have always been at least three kinds of Black people. You have the kind that savagely captured neighboring Blacks of other tribes and sold them to Whites into what became the slave trade. These are similar to the ones who undermined the many attempts at uprising against slavery and other forms of racial oppression, even in modern day. Then you have the class of Blacks who are in the majority, they follow whatever is popular at any given historical moment, whether it is a time of passivity or great revolution. Finally, you have a small percentage of Black people who know that the road to freedom is long. And, we are conscious that Black people the world over no matter the appearance of privilege, remain on this journey to true freedom because systems of capitalism and trade so design that there is still no level playing field for Blacks, when it comes to wealth as power. Without economic empowerment, although we can vote and even be elected to Government, our people are still relegated to a second class existence, the apathy of which leads to a displaced energy and the many subsequent social ills which hamper the full success of our Predominately Black societies.

So the question I ask, in all fairness to the man, in whose goodness I choose now to believe, is “Black like who?” When you proclaim to be Black, which kind of Black are you? I know its none of my business ultimately, so just whisper the answer to the one who sits as your co and deputy in our Honourable House of Assembly to your left. After all, he now shares in our African heritage too.

when Partisan Ludicrous Politics invokes the Fury of Noble Men

The family wealth of the former Premier, the late Roland Symonette, yes, the Honorable Brent Symonette’s father, was accumulated through the very lucrative but illegal venture of Rum Running. This is no indictment, as the economy of The Bahamas has always been boosted or maintained by some less than legitimate scheme, usually because of our geographical make-up and our being a stone’s throw from the United States. I had a grand uncle who died on a rum running “excursion” leaving West End, Grand Bahama, headed to the Eastern U.S. sea-board, God rest his soul. When you think about it, Rum Running was to that era, what the drug trade is to ours – except, a Rum Runner could emerge Premier while we castigate (as we should) the smuggler of today’s illegal drugs of choice. Additionally, the major players and beneficiaries of our Rum Running days were White or near White. And, although, there are some Whites or near Whites benefiting from the Bahamian facet of the drug trade, most of the major players are what you would consider, indisputably Black.

This particular article however, is not about the Bahamian drug trade or Rum Running. I actually want to talk about Partisan Politics as perhaps an even greater contributor than the drug trade, to the breakdown of Bahamian society. History reflects that when Rum Running was boosting our economy (and the pockets of those who emerged our leaders), the ordinary majority was becoming drunk with the kind of spirit that was hell bent on building a more just society, a truly better Bahamas, while near the end of the seventies, clearly into the eighties and thereon, the proceeds from drugs and its many scourges became tools in the hands of an ordinary majority, already high on the stuff that would aid in tearing us all down. This terrible “fix” was born just after Majority Rule in 1967, when the “Dissident Eight” eventually reestablished themselves as a political force with the “Symonettes,” and his kind, the UBP, Bay Street Boys, who never wanted to see the ordinary majority attain certain rights and freedoms, and moreover never wanted the ordinary majority to own a substantial piece of the economic pie. Some historians justify the actions of those PLP’s, known as the Dissident Eight, who moved a vote of no-confidence against Sir Lynden Pindling not long into his tenure as Premier, some justify the subsequent backlash levied against these freedom fighters, which forced them out of the PLP and eventually into the pockets of those they years prior, fearlessly wrestled on behalf of their people.

Every FNM I know has some personal reason as to why he/she is angry with the PLP. “You don’t know what they did to my mother!” is the kind of answer I get when I question an FNM supporter or “mother” is replaced with some family member. Sometimes, like the Dissident Eight and their supporters or those like the Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham, the response becomes, “You don’t know what they did to me!” And with this kind of response is ever present the bitterness, unforgiveness, and honest hurt in the voices of those scorned. It is the kind of pain that is only momentarily quelled when the PLP is defeated at the polls, the kind of pain that led/leads to those heated elections where family stops talking to family, and neighbours stop being neighbours, and Christians take a little break from Christianity. This coupled with an out of hand drug trade, is responsible for the crumbling of our “Gibraltar.” What came first, the spite or the vengeance? That debate would perhaps spark an all out war. One thing however, has not changed: while the ordinary have remained ordinary because we have been busily at odds with each other, a certain group of old friends and colleagues, hiding behind angry and hurting ordinary faces, have continued to secure their very substantial portion of this economic empire.

The PLP can never re-sensitize the Bahamian electorate about the historical injustices levied against us by the UBP (and it has to), until it effectively deals with the division, personal and national heartaches it has caused to so many others, itself. In its new age of compassion or attempt at compassion, the headship of the PLP must lead in the restoration of a kinder, gentler Bahamas by taking responsibility for the not so glorious actions of an over-all glorious past. “We Are Sorry” will go a long way in starting the process of healing so badly needed not just from the realm of our political culture but on all levels of Bahamian community and family life. “We Are Sorry” is a phrase that so many gone into the dust longed to hear, and so many living among us, PLPs as well, wish they could now hear, in many instances, just for peace of mind. A few on that long list may include, members of the Dissident Eight, the Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham, and from recent readings, even Mr. Oswald Brown. Because, there is a greater struggle before us now that requires a solidarity achievable only through the reconciliation of our past, as was reiterated by the Hon. Arthur Hanna, who when sworn in as Governor General, said that the past is behind us “it is the future which beckons us come.” But until we change the formula so that more of us are able to own our economy, which is what the Christie PLP administration attempted to usher in, we have little control over our beckoning future. And, sadly, until we return to a more peaceful and unified collective frame of mind, we cannot change the formula.

lyc … etv!

l y c - e t v

My niece has been trying to get me up to speed on instant messaging lingo – o m g = oh my God, l o l = laugh out loud, s m t = suck my teeth, etc., etc. It really is a new cultural phenomenon sparked by this international technological revolution. Our young people have essentially come up with a universal digital language that in many instances crosses borders, nationalities, religions, ethnicities, you name it. However I must admit that I haven’t really been able to concentrate on our “how to keep Aunty young and in touch” time or very much else for that matter, because of all of the violence plaguing our Country, The Bahamas. There is a groaning deep within my spirit, a preoccupation really because of a prophetic realization, that if we do not find a way and find it soon, to become more peaceful, more tolerant, more loving as a Society, history will not record that we were one of the first predominately Black developing Countries to reach First World Status. Rather, the story may very well read that despite our economic potential, despite our geographical make-up and positioning in proximity to the most powerful Country in the World, despite our rich history and long and peaceful love affair with democracy, despite the very natural indomitable Bahamian spirit prone to overcome even nature’s fury, and despite our ability to compete tenaciously on any world stage, somehow we were so overcome by violence, hatred, and unforgiveness, that not long into our existence as an Independent Nation, we found ourselves in a condition as grim and uninspiring as that of today’s Haiti.

Often time, we believe that the definition of violence is limited to physical altercations involving fists and or weapons. However, violence is so much more! It is in the harshness of our words, it is in so many of our actions and inaction, it is in the pens/keyboards of our writers, journalists and public figures, it is in our refusal to be each other’s keeper. Violence is in the silence of those who claim to love and serve God but refuse to be His voice in response to injustice, and violence with an intolerable prevalence seems to be infesting our political culture, as well as many of the hearts of those who have the privilege to be called our leaders. This morning I read where 23 adults and sixteen children are being violently chased out of a make-shift trailer community in Bootle Bay, West End Grand Bahama. In the article titled, “A Cry For Help” the author quotes a female resident who is also a mother in despair as the electricity has now been turned off to aid in forcing them out. She says, “We are willing to move, but we need more time, I have six young children, ages four, six, eleven and fourteen and John my six year old suffers from chronic asthma and requires constant care and special medication.” There is no greater violence than the kind perpetrated by the State against a child.

One perspective or account as to why former UBP senior man, “Sir” Stafford Sands left The Bahamas after the attainment of Majority Rule is that allegedly, he had no confidence in the ability of Black people to Govern and manage this Country. This sentiment you can bet is shared by many former UBP’s and their offspring. Suprisingly it also uncosciously crept into the writings of a very distinguished “colored” member of the now FNM as he tried to justify the FNM’s once anti-independence stance. I was astonished and disappointed because as a writer, and an objective Bahamian, I somewhat respect this particular man. But in his own words, in an open letter to a sitting PLP Senator, he penned the following, “You know full well that the Sir Cecil who advocated independence in 1967and warned against independence under Sir Lynden Pindling in 1972 was the same man but with an added experience. The Sir Cecil who spoke in 1972 had, along with the rest of us, been publicly condemned as a traitor by PLP colleagues. In an orchestrated attack at Lewis Yard he had also been beaten over the head with a metal chair because he dared to criticize the leadership of the PLP. There had also been an attempt on his life by a knife-wielding would-be assassin in Parliament Square. Do you wonder that under these circumstances he questioned whether we had attained the level of maturity necessary for a successful transition to an independent and tolerant democracy?”

Our gross and prevalent expressions of violence, again, even those penned, because the pen is still mightier than the sword, cause the concerns of those who question the potential success of Independent predominately Black societies, to hold some legitimate weight. Can we indeed reach beyond our differences and dysfunctions to display that maturity necessary for a continued independent and tolerant democracy? I alone can never answer this question. All I know is that I don’t want that sentiment about us to ever be proven true. In the potential shadows of Sir Stafford Sands and his kind, I therefore make a call for peace, everywhere, from our homes and streets to our schools, churches, Halls of Parliament and seat of Government, adding my own instant messaging lingo to it all: l y c – e t v. So that these men are not right about us, l y c: Love Your Country - e t v: End The Violence! Love Your Country – End The Violence!