The Advent of Majority Rule in The Bahamas

What does Majority Rule in The National Affairs of The Bahamas mean?

Majority Rule Day marks the day when, for the first time in history, The Bahamas had achieved full democratic status

Majority Rule: a different eyewitness report

By Patrick Rahming

Someone once said that anyone who wants to test the veracity of history should listen to two eyewitness reports of the same car accident. In that spirit, this is another eyewitness report of the advent of Majority Rule and the events following. This report may appear to contradict one that appeared in The Nassau Guardian on the eve of Majority Rule Day, January 9, 2023, but it does not. It simply adds another shade of color to the picture. To be even clearer, then, I would refer to another quote about history: “History is created by those who write it.” I share my opinion for the benefit or otherwise of Bahamian history.

What does Majority Rule mean?

The popular belief is that Majority Rule has something to do with the majority party in Parliament finally looking like the majority of the people – that is, black. That, of course, would suggest that a community of majority black citizens could not choose to be represented by white politicians, and that The Bahamas determines its national affairs on the basis of race. I cannot believe that is the meaning of Majority Rule Day.

More likely, Majority Rule Day marks the day when, for the first time in history, the country had achieved full democratic status. I have spoken to many younger Bahamians who were unaware that, prior to 1962, there were four categories of Bahamian citizens. First, there were those who qualified to vote ordinarily, which applied to men with property only. Then there were those who owned properties in multiple constituencies, who could vote wherever they owned property, giving a single individual the opportunity to vote multiple times in the same election. Thirdly, there were those who owned or represented companies, who could vote “for the company”. Finally, women and men without property could not vote at all, basically a voiceless category of citizens. In other words, prior to 1962, national elections were anything but fair. The Bahamas was legally and constitutionally not a democratic country.

However, following changes to those laws, women voted for the first time in 1962 and by 1964 both the land vote and the company vote had been rescinded. By 1964, then, The Bahamas had finally become legally and constitutionally a democratic country. So, it is quite true that the 1967 election was the first election held as a true democracy (the results determined by one man, one vote). Regardless of who won that election, the day would have been the first Majority Rule Day. The meaning of the day was determined by its history, not its participants.

*It is therefore wrong to continue to vilify those who actually passed the laws we now celebrate. The PLP was not the government when the laws providing the franchise for women and those eliminating the preferential positions for land and company ownership were passed, and therefore could not have been responsible for them. Regardless of their role as promoters or agitators, they cannot accept responsibility for the legislation passed by a previous government. In the courts, for example, the judge holds the perpetrator of the crime responsible, not the person who convinced him to commit it. This is a matter of historical record, not opinion or preference. Our children deserve the truth, not our prejudice. If we are to celebrate, let us celebrate history, not partisan rhetoric and half-truths.*

Majority Rule and the economy

Those of us over 65 (that is, old enough to remember pre-Majority Rule conditions) have a view of the 1960s that is very different from the world we hear about when current politicians speak. We recall a world in which there was considerable participation in the economy by ordinary black and white Bahamians. In tourism, the anchor of the economy, almost all of the entertainment business, the primary wealth creator in the tourism business, was owned locally, over 90 percent by black Bahamians. All of the transportation business was owned by Bahamians, also mostly black Bahamians. Except for the heritage sites, almost every tourist attraction was owned and operated by Bahamians, again mostly black. Throughout the real City of Nassau (over the hill) just about every consumer business was owned and operated by black Bahamians: grocers, meat markets, dry cleaners, dry goods stores, shoe sales and repair stores, barbers and beauticians. Everyone seemed to be an entrepreneur, from bicycle repair to raising rabbits to operating joinery shops to teaching music. Even on Bay Street, almost every business was owned and operated by Bahamians. While the majority of them may have been white, they were Bahamians (unlike today) and their participation in the tourism economy was significant. We recall a productive, confident, self-sufficient, self-assured, future-oriented communities. This is the starting point for measuring our economic progress.

The fact that, after 52 years we find ourselves standing outside foreign-owned resorts begging for participation in a business we had shaped for decades before, speaks volumes about our lack of attention to our own business. Rather than patting ourselves on our backs because we now drive expensive cars and live in gated communities, we should be asking why we have become a nation of dependent, frightened observers begging for a job. If the political establishments would claim credit for our new middle-class, they must also accept credit for the high reliance on a pay check and fear of risk.

Majority Rule and human development

That said, I agree whole-heartedly with concerns expressed about the growth of the gap between the government and its people, and the urgent need to complete the Westminster system by establishing a true system of local government. Parliamentarians are today too busy to know what their constituents need. That must be a sign that something is wrong. There appears to be little or no concern for involving citizens in their own affairs, which has led to a strong sense of “us and them” throughout the country.

I am proud of many of the advances made over these 52 years, but cannot avoid the apparent complete lack of a concern for human development by successive governments. The simple fact that the people of the de facto City of Nassau have not yet been recognized as such in law, after 50 years of independence is shocking. The fact that successive governments still find excuses not to spend on the infrastructure for the reinforcement of our identity through cultural activity is shocking. The fact that when a draft of the National Development Plan, published three years ago, stated that at graduation, 50 percent of students in public schools did not qualify to graduate, it was not considered a national emergency, is shocking. Self-Image and identity are the bedrock of social behavior. Meanwhile the same governments seem mystified by our children’s antisocial behavior. Majority Rule officially made us all equally responsible for the future of The Bahamas. I am not sure we have lived up to that responsibility.

What is the significance of Majority Rule Day? It marks the day The Bahamas became a democracy. That, I believe, is by far more important than seeking partisan credit for a public holiday.

Pat Rahming is an architect, writer and songwriter who is passionate about the importance of the built environment and its importance to the social development of The Bahamas. He can be reached at prahming@gmail.com or via his blog “From the Black Book” at prahming.wordpress.com. He welcomes other points of view.

The History of Majority Rule in The Bahamas

 THE ROAD TO MAJORITY RULE (1942 –1967) 

This singular event in Bahamian history played a significant role in shaping the modern Bahamas we experience today. The significant events leading up and emanating from Majority Rule must become permanently etched in the Bahamian historical landscape as these events define us as a people, reveal what we believe in as Bahamians, and serve as a constant reminder of our vision and values. 

Following is a cursory account of the significant events surrounding and leading up to Majority Rule, the meaning of Majority Rule, and homage will be duly paid to the freedom fighters that fought this epic battle in the name of freedom and justice. 

The Burma Road Riots 

Many local political historians believe that June 1, 1942 marked the beginning of the modern political history of the Bahamas. The events of the Burma Road Riots came as a result of the agitation by labourers for equal pay for equal work, regardless of colour or nationality. 

As you know, a satellite airfield was being constructed in western New Providence for use by the American armed forces. A labour dispute ensued over equal pay and this dispute took on a life of its own and became intimately interwoven with the overall movement for freedom and social justice. Today that site is the Lynden Pindling International Airport. 

So it is clear that from the first stirrings of political activity in the country, labour has been an integral part of the struggle. 

The Suffrage Movement in The Bahamas 

The Movement really started with a conversation between Mrs. Mary Ingraham and her husband following his defeat in the 1949 general elections. The defeated candidate opined that his political fortunes could have been very different had women voted in that election. Other significant national events that fueled the Suffrage Movement were the Burma Road Riots of 1942, the General Strike of 1958, and the Labour Movement of the 1950s. The civil rights movement in the United States with Dr. Martin Luther King was an international event that also fanned the flames that burned for social justice and equality in The Bahamas. 

Mary Ingraham formed alliances with kindred spirits from across the political divide as Bahamian women and men worked tirelessly together to fight racial, political and economic injustice in The Bahamas. This alliance included freedom fighters such as Georgiana Symonette, Eugenia Lockhart, Althea Mortimer, Albertha M. Isaacs, Doris Johnson, Grace Wilson, Mildred Moxey, Ethel Kemp, Gladys Bailey, Una Prosper Heastie, Veronica Lotmore, Nora Hannah and Madge Brown. 

Mary Ingraham was elected as President of the Suffrage Movement in 1957. Georgiana Symonette was the Vice-president and Eugenia Lockhart was the Treasurer. In 1958, Dr. Doris Johnson returned home from studying abroad and joined the Suffrage Movement. 

During the years 1959 and 1960, the Movement gained considerable ground advancing petitions and demonstrating publicly for the right to vote. In November 1960, Eugenia Lockhart and Dr. Doris Johnson accompanied Henry M. Taylor, Chairman of the PLP, to London to present a Petition to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. In January 1961 a Select Committee of the House of Assembly gave a Report in favour of the right to vote for women but with effect from January 1963. The PLP and the Independents in the House of Assembly opposed the report. An appeal was made to the House of Commons in England again. On February 23, 1961 a Bill to enable women to vote was enacted with effect from June 30, 1962. Bahamian women voted for the first time on November 26, 1962. 

The Birth of the PLP 

The PLP was born out of a movement that embodied the hopes, aspirations, and feelings of a generation of Bahamians who were demanding equal work, majority rule, and freedom to pursue any hopes and wishes they dared conceive. The man who generally credited with conceiving the Progressive Liberal Party was William Cartwright, a publisher, real estate broker, and Member of the House of Assembly for Cat Island. In August of 1953, Mr. Cartwright reportedly invited to the first meeting on Bay and Frederick Streets, the following men: The Hon. Charles Rodriquez, Mr. Henry Milton Taylor, Mr. Cyril Saint John Stevenson, Mr. Samuel Carey, Mr. Holly Brown, Mr. Clement Pinder, Mr. F.W. Russell and others. 

Many black businessmen and lawyers were invited to join, but for reasons of their own, decided not to be identified with the new movement. But the party’s course was clear from the beginning; the PLP was designed to represent all that was opposed to unfair privilege and the wealth and power this afforded the Bay Street Boys. 

General Strike of 1958 

In support of 1957’s protests, a 16-day General Strike brought Nassau to a screeching halt. Unionized or not, just about every worker participated, and the strike was quite peaceful. The result was the Trade Union and Industrial Conciliation Act and the setting up of a Labor Department. The General Strike took place in January 1958. 

Later that year in June, Allan Lennox Boyd, Secretary of State for the Colonies ordered that the first constitutional steps be taken toward Majority Rule. The voting franchise was extended to all males whether they were land owners or not; the once ubiquitous unlimited plural vote was ordered to be reduced to two and the abolition of the company vote was ordered. 

Women’s Right To Vote 

In November of 1960 Sir Henry Taylor led a delegation to London to champion the right of women to vote in The Bahamas. Accompanying Sir Henry were notables like Dame Doris Johnson and Eugenia Lockhart. Shortly after their return, women received their right to vote and exercised those rights during the November 26, 1962 general elections. 

This new women’s right brought a force and element into the history of The Bahamas that affected the country’s social, economic and political development. To this day, the effect of women exercising their right to vote has impacted all aspects of national life as women from all sides of the political divide have, and continue to make their contribution to the country, holding key positions in many offices throughout our country. 

Black Tuesday 

On this day, the governing United Bahamian Party sought the approval for a Boundaries Draft Order, which established the boundaries for the various constituencies of New Providence and the Family Islands, under the provisions of the 1964 Constitution. During a sitting of the House of Assembly, the PLP proposed two amendments to the revision of the Boundaries Draft Order which the UBP had presented. The amendments were designed to get a fairer idea of the number of voters and their distribution, but both proposed amendments were rejected. 

It was at that point that Sir Lynden walked over to the Speakers’ table and lifted the 165-year-old mace, the symbol of the Speaker’s authority, and said, "This is the symbol of authority, and authority on this island belongs to the people and the people are outside." 

With that he raised the mace and hurled it through the open window of the House of Assembly. 

The Progressive Liberal Party describes this event as "an act of deviance in the pursuit of liberty and fairness." So Tuesday 27, April 1965 was destined to go down in Bahamian history as Black Tuesday. 

Majority Rule Day 

Some have argued that the great significance of Majority Rule was that after years of struggle by many freedom and justice loving people, the back of the old oligarchy was finally broken. More importantly, Majority Rule presented the opportunity for real democracy to come to the Bahamas, underpinned by equality, tolerance, economic justice, social justice, all important elements in the creation of a free, modern, democratic state. 

All Bahamians benefited, in one way or another, from the historic event that took place on January 10, 1967, a day that now wears the rather inelegant appellation of Majority Rule Day. 

Majority Rule ushered in the opportunity for all Bahamians to have constitutional, political, social, cultural and economic rights. Where these rights were not readily accessible, the Government of the day created laws and implemented policies to enable these entitlements. 

January 10th is a day in the national calendar that belongs to all Bahamians – not just PLP’s but to all Bahamians, black and white, rich and poor, young and old, city dweller and Family Islander, and, yes, PLP and FNM alike. January 10th needs to be commemorated and celebrated by all of us because it represents one of the truly great and defining moments in our evolution as a people. 

With the exception of Emancipation from Slavery in 1834 and the attainment of Independence in 1973, there is no event of more consequence and historical importance than the attainment of Majority Rule on January 10th, 1967. January 10th, 1967 represents the transition from the old Bahamas to a New Bahamas; the point of transition from minority government to Majority Rule; the point of transition to a modern democracy. 

It also represents, however, one of the highest pinnacles in the historic – and still ongoing – struggle of the Bahamian people for economic empowerment, for equality of opportunity, and for social justice. 

January 10th, 1967, to be sure, was neither an end nor even a beginning. Instead, it was an important milestone in a journey that was begun centuries ago when some anonymous slave struck a blow for freedom for the first time. We pause to pay homage to the personalities and players in this epic struggle. In a hard fought and competitive election in 1967, the PLP delivered the following 18 members to a 38-member House of Assembly. They were: Lynden Pindling, Preston Albury, Clarence Bain, Milo Butler, Clifford Darling, Elwood Donaldson, Arthur Foulkes, Carlton Francis, Arthur Hanna, Warren Levarity, Curtis MacMillan, Uriah McPhee, Maurice Moore, Edmund Moxey, Jimmy Shepherd, George Thompson, Jeffrey Thompson and Cecil Wallace Whitfield. Randol Fawkes who successfully ran as Labour in 1962 and 1967 with the support of the PLP threw his support behind the PLP and became a member of the first Majority Rule cabinet. He figured prominently in the movement toward Majority Rule. 

Successful Independent candidate Sir Alvin Braynen threw in his lot with the PLP and accepted the post of Speaker of the House. 

These two warriors for justice and freedom tipped the proverbial scale in favor of the PLP and the first Majority Rule cabinet was formed: This distinguished group consisted of Cecil Wallace-Whitfield, Milo Butler, Arthur Hanna, Clarence Bain, Jeffrey Thompson, Carlton Francis, Randol Fawkes, Warren Levarity, Curtis McMillan, Clement T. Maynard and Lynden Pindling. 

In this 40th year of nationhood, we come together as one people to mark a critically important milestone in our progress as a people – and to re-commit ourselves to a struggle that never ends. 

As The Bahamas looks to the future, it must be that the average man, making the average salary, with children to educate to university level; that they see not a glass ceiling but opportunities that give rise to hope as we work to build the best little country in the world.

Source

What were some of the major milestones that contributed to the centuries-long march to Majority Rule in The Bahamas?

The march to Majority Rule, Part III

Consider This...

By PHILIP C. GALANIS

History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future. - Robert Penn Warren

As we noted in parts I and II of this series, the march to Majority Rule in The Bahamas can be characterized by two words: sustained struggle.

On January 10, we quietly celebrated the first public holiday to commemorate the day that Majority Rule came to The Bahamas in 1967.  It was a life-changing event that catapulted the lives of many thousands to unimaginable heights.  Last week we reviewed three important milestones in the march to Majority Rule that helped to create the framework for the attainment of that achievement: the by-election of 1938, the Burma Road Riot of 1942, and the Contract beginning in 1943.  This week and in the final week in January, we will continue to Consider This…what were some of the major milestones that contributed to the centuries-long march to Majority Rule?

The 1950s were decisively transformative on the march to Majority Rule. It was a decade that witnessed the formation of the PLP in 1953, the 1956 Resolution on Racial Discrimination in the House of Assembly and the 1958 General Strike.

The formation of the PLP

The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) was established in 1953, following an attempt by the Citizens’ Committee to actively address some of the rampant discriminatory practices by the white Nassau elite.  The Citizens’ Committee, formed in December 1950 initially protested the government’s refusal to let Bahamians view three films: “No Way Out” (starring Bahamian actor Sidney Poitier), “Lost Boundaries” and “Pinky” all of which addressed societal injustices. Many of the members of the Citizens’ Committee, which was led by Maxwell Thompson, Cleveland Eneas, and A. E. Hutchinson and whose members included Jackson Burnside, Randol Fawkes, Gerald Cash, Kendal Isaacs, Marcus Bethel and other prominent personalities, suffered brutal discrimination and many of its members were deprived of the ability to earn a living by the Bay Street oligarchy as a result of their social activism.

In October, 1953 the PLP was formed by Henry Taylor (who would become the third Bahamian governor general in an Independent Bahamas from June 26, 1988 to January 1, 1992), William Cartwright and Cyril Stevenson with a platform that responded to the challenge by Rev. H. H. Brown that: “The Progressive Liberal Party hopes to show that your big man and your little man, your black, brown and white man of all classes, creed and religions in this country can combine and work together in supplying sound and successful political leadership which has been lacking in The Bahamas.”

The PLP made bold progressive promises for a more equitable social structure including equal opportunities for all Bahamians, better education, universal suffrage, stronger immigration policies, lower-cost housing and the development of agriculture and the Out Islands.

In the early days of the PLP, its members were subjected to abject ostracism and victimization by the white elite, including the loss of jobs and bank credit, as well as canceled contracts.  In 1955, Lynden Pindling and Milo Butler emerged as the leaders of the party, appealing to the black masses to mobilize in advance of the general elections of 1956.  The party also attracted Randol Fawkes, the founder of the Bahamas Federation of Labour in May 1955.

The general election of May 1956 was the first to be fought by an organized political party.  The PLP won six seats in the House of Assembly, four in Nassau and two in Andros. That election significantly accelerated the march to Majority Rule.  In March 1958 the white oligarchy formed themselves into the second organized political unit, the United Bahamian Party (UBP). The UBP would later disband and its members would join forces with the Free National Movement (FNM) in 1972.

The 1956 Resolution on Racial Discrimination in the House of Assembly

In the wake of rampant racial discrimination that prevented access for black people to hotels, movie theatres, restaurants, and other public places, H. M. Taylor, the chairman of the PLP, whose platform vowed to eliminate racial discrimination in the colony, tabled a number of questions to the leader of the government.

Moved by this and in light of his own disgust with racially motivated practices, in January 1956, Etienne Dupuch, the editor of the Nassau Tribune and a member of the House of Assembly for the eastern district, tabled an Anti-Discrimination Resolution in the House of Assembly. During his passionately eloquent speech on the resolution, the speaker of the House of Assembly ordered Dupuch to take his seat, threatening, if he refused to do so, that he would be removed from the chamber by the police.  Dupuch responded: “You may call the whole Police Force, you may call the whole British Army…I will go to [jail] tonight, but I refuse to sit down, and I am ready to resign and go back to the people.”  The speaker abruptly suspended the House proceedings.

Although the resolution was supported by H. M. Taylor, Bert Cambridge, Eugene Dupuch, C.R. Walker, Marcus Bethel, and Gerald Cash, it was referred to a select committee, effectively killing it.  However, the following day, most of the Nassau hotels informed the public that they would open their doors to all, regardless of their race.

The 1958 General Strike

The General Strike began in January 1958 after several months of tension that arose because of the government’s plans to allow hotels and tour buses that were owned by the established white tour operators to provide transport for visitors to and from the airport, at the expense of predominantly black taxi drivers who made a large portion of their living transporting tourists between the new Windsor Field (Nassau International) Airport and downtown hotels.  To allow the hotels and tour companies to supplant the taxi drivers would severely curtail the ability of black taxi drivers to earn a decent living.

The government learned that the taxi drivers would vehemently protest this arrangement when they blockaded the new airport on the day it opened.  On that day, nearly 200 union taxi drivers stopped all business at the airport for 36 hours, showing their determination to protest the government’s plans. Negotiations on 20 points ensued between the union, represented by Lynden Pindling and Clifford Darling, the union’s president, and the government for the following eight weeks, but broke off after they could not agree on one final point.

On January 11, 1958 the taxi union voted for a general strike and the next day the General Strike commenced with the cessation of work at hotels, which was supported by hotel and construction workers, garbage collectors, bakers, airport porters and employees of the electricity corporation.  The strike lasted until January 31 and prompted a visit to the colony by the secretary of state for the colonies who recommended constitutional and political and electoral reforms which were incorporated into the General Election Act of 1959. Following the General Strike, male suffrage was introduced for all males over 21 years of age and the company vote was abolished.

Undoubtedly, the General Strike accentuated the ability of effective reform that could be achieved by the peaceful mobilization of the black majority.

Conclusion

Next week, we will review the decade of the 1960s and discuss how the Women’s Suffrage Movement, the 1962 general elections and Black Tuesday culminated in the eventual attainment of Majority Rule with the general elections of 1967.

 

• Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis & Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services. He served 15 years in Parliament. Please send your comments to pgalanis@gmail.com.

January 20, 2014

thenassauguardian

- The march to majority rule, pt. 1

- The march to majority rule, pt. 2

- The march to majority rule, pt. 4

Significant milestones in the struggle for Majority Rule in The Bahamas

The March to Majority Rule, Part II

Consider This...

By PHILIP C. GALANIS

History is for human self-knowledge... the only clue to what man can do is what man has done.  The value of history, then, is that it teaches us what man has done and thus what man is. - R.G. Collingwood

As we noted last week in Part I of this series, the march to Majority Rule in The Bahamas is a story of a sustained struggle.

On Friday past, we observed the first public holiday to commemorate the day that Majority Rule came to The Bahamas on January 10, 1967.  It was a life-changing event that catapulted the lives of many thousands to unimaginable heights.  Last week, we highlight two important events that helped to create the framework for the achievement of Majority Rule.  This week and for the remaining weeks in January, we would like to continue to Consider This…what were some of the milestones along the centuries-long march to Majority Rule?

This week we will consider three important milestones, namely the by-election of 1938, the Burma Road Riot of 1942, and the Contract beginning in 1943.

The by-election of 1938

In July 1938, shopkeeper Milo Butler decided to contest a by-election that was called for the Western New Providence seat, facing multi-millionaire, Harry Oakes who was not even in The Bahamas for the election, allowing Kenneth Solomon to manage his campaign.

The Bay Street Boys worked hard to derail Butler’s campaign, even getting his credit stopped at the Royal Bank of Canada.  At the polls, in front of police who were stationed there, Oakes’ representatives flagrantly distributed money and liquor to buy votes.

When Butler realized he was going to lose his deposit, he announced he would lodge a protest against the bribery and, the day after the election, he and his supporters went to the Colonial Secretary’s Office to voice his grievances.  Butler drafted a petition to the governor calling for the enactment of the secret ballot, the creation of an election court of appeal and a fairer representation of the black population on all public boards and in the civil service.

Although rumors about a major riot proved to be false, Governor Dundas took the threat very seriously and became convinced that the secret ballot was the very least that should be done to defuse the situation.  Taking the governor at his word when he announced that he would dissolve the House of Assembly and call a general election where the secret ballot would be the central issue, the House immediately addressed the issue.

In June 1939 an act was passed for a five-year trial period for the secret ballot in New Providence.  However, the ‘Out Islands’, where one-third of the voters resided, returned two-thirds of the members of the House and the Bay Street Boys didn’t want to tamper with that winning situation, so the secret ballot did not come to the Islands until 1949.

The Burma Road Riot

By 1942, the majority of Bahamians, most of whom were black, suffered under tremendous social, economic and political conditions.  A miniscule minority of white Bahamians were engaged in the retail and wholesale trade, the real estate industry and the professions.  The sponge industry had recently collapsed and tourism in the islands, albeit in its infancy, and the construction industry were adversely affected by the beginning of World War II. These combined factors significantly contributed to the abject poverty in which the vast majority of Bahamians lived.

When the United States entered the war in 1941, the British and American governments decided, in order to aid in the war effort, to enhance the existing Oakes Field Airport in New Providence and also to build a new one in the western Pine Barrens of New Providence, later called Windsor Field that would evolve into today’s Lynden Pindling International Airport.  Both airports were worked on by the American firm, Pleasantville Incorporated, providing jobs for Bahamians, who worked alongside American workers.

The British Governor of The Bahamas, the Duke of Windsor, and the American government had secretly agreed that Bahamian workers would be paid at local rates, four shillings per day, while their American counterparts earned more than twice as much.  Although Pleasantville Incorporated was willing to pay higher wages to Bahamians, this was done because the Duke was concerned that Bahamian workers should not get used to such high wages since local employers would not be able to match that kind of salary once this job ended. Bahamian workers resented this untenable situation but did not have a formal vehicle to redress the wages and working conditions disparities.

The Bahamian laborers complained to Charles Rodriguez who headed the Labour Union and the Federation of Labour.  Notwithstanding his efforts to address the disparities, because they were not resolved in a timely manner, Bahamian laborers assembled on May 31, 1942, demanding equal treatment. On June 1, they congregated at the main Oakes Field office of Pleasantville and, armed with cutlasses and clubs, marched to the Colonial Secretary’s Office.  Failing to obtain satisfaction, they rioted up and down on Bay Street, damaging and looting stores there. A curfew was established but the riot continued the following day. By the time the riot ended, five persons were killed and many more were wounded.

In the aftermath of the riot, the Duke of Windsor appointed the Russell Commission, which, along with a committee appointed by the House of Assembly, determined that the riots resulted from the inequitable disparity of wages between the Bahamian and American workers. The Russell Commission also determined that the riots were sparked by the absence of social legislation as well as economic difficulties and political inequities.

Burma Road is not a street in The Bahamas. The Burma Road Riot was named after a place Bahamians knew from the newsreels of the day: the 717-mile mountainous Burma Road that linked Burma (now called Myanmar) with the southwest of China.  Built by 200,000 Burmese and Chinese laborers and completed by 1938, during World War II, the British used Burma Road to transport materiel to China before Japan was at war with the British. In 1940, the British government yielded to Japanese diplomatic pressure to close down the Burma Road for a short period. After the Japanese overran Burma in 1942, the Allies were forced to supply Chiang Kai-shek and the nationalist Chinese by air.

The Contract

Following the Burma Road riot and the layoffs after the completion of the airbases, the Duke of Windsor, worried about further unrest, negotiated with the American government for Bahamian laborers to work in Florida to alleviate the rampant unemployment here and to fill the United States’ manpower shortage that resulted from the war.  The 1943 agreement became  known as “the Contract” or “the Project”.

Individual contracts were executed for each worker, and stipulated the terms of employment, including a deduction for amounts to be sent back to their families in The Bahamas and an agreement not to be discriminated against on the basis of their color, race, religious persuasion or national origin.

While the 5,000 Bahamian laborers, mostly unskilled males, initially worked on farms and plantations in Florida, given the severe manpower shortages in other states, many Bahamians were transferred as far north as New York and as far west as Indiana.  Generally, workers spent six to nine months in the United States and then returned The Bahamas.  Some abandoned their contracts and others never returned to The Bahamas, sending for their families to join them in the United States, thereby accounting for the presence of many Bahamians who still live in the United States.

The Contract was transformative in many ways, primarily exposing Bahamians to overt, institutionalized racism in America.  The workers returned with an unwavering determination that racism and discrimination like that would have no place in their Bahamas.

Conclusion

Next week, we will review the roles played by the formation of the PLP in 1953, the 1956 Resolution on Racial Discrimination in the House of Assembly and the 1958 General Strike, all of which fuelled the march to Majority Rule.

 

• Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis & Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services. He served 15 years in Parliament. Please send your comments to pgalanis@gmail.com.

January 13, 2013

thenassauguardian

- The march to majority rule, pt. 1>>>

- The march to majority rule, pt. 3>>>

- The march to majority rule, pt. 4>>>

The centuries-long march to majority rule in The Bahamas

The march to majority rule, pt. 1

Consider This...

By PHILIP C. GALANIS

The journey was very long and fraught with many dangers, trials, abuses, separations, rebellions, revolts, violence, frustrations, successes and, yes, even deaths. – George A Smith

The march to majority rule in The Bahamas can be characterized by two words: sustained struggle.

On Friday, January 10, we will celebrate the first public holiday to commemorate the day that majority rule came to The Bahamas on that date in 1967.  It was a life-changing event that catapulted the lives of many thousands to unimaginable heights.  Therefore this week and during the month of January, we would like to Consider This… what were some of the milestones along the way on the centuries-long march to majority rule?

Although it is difficult to capture all the important landmarks on the march to majority rule in a single column, and while we acknowledge that there are many unsung heroes of the movement, we want to highlight several important events that should be remembered as creating the framework for the achievement of majority rule as we approach this public holiday.

Early days and accelerated population

When Christopher Columbus and other European explorers first discovered these islands beginning in 1492, they met Lucayans, Arawak-speaking Amerindians who arrived in The Bahamas between 500 AD and 600 AD, originating in the South American mainland, having first settled in Cuba and Hispaniola.

For the next few centuries after Columbus’ arrival, Europeans, Americans and those who lived in our islands developed significant trading relationships.  When the Loyalists, those individuals who remained loyal to the English Crown during the American Revolution and became refugees in search of a home when the Crown lost to the rebels, fled the new United States, upwards of 5,000 people, including Loyalists and their many slaves, settled in the Bahama Islands, bringing their ideals with them.  It was with their arrival that the infamous trade in human cargo – the trans-Atlantic slave trade – reached its zenith here.  As was the case in North America and the Caribbean, African slaves were brought to market at Vendue House in downtown Nassau and were subjected to the same inhumane abuses that were experienced wherever the trade flourished.

In these islands, slavery came to be recognized as a perversion, and consequently, there were many instances, both recorded and not, that demonstrated the sustained struggle against this perversion and inculcated a determination to achieve equality in Bahamians.  This week, we will review a few instances of different kinds of early rebellion against conditions of servitude that marked the struggle and shaped the Bahamian psyche as it continued to yearn for total freedom.

Uprising at Farquharson’s Plantation

Charles Farquharson owned a prosperous plantation on San Salvador, growing a variety of crops including cotton.  He is particularly remarkable in Bahamian history as his journal was preserved and, through it, we have perhaps the only look at the everyday life of a Bahamian plantation owner and his slaves.  The journal also affords us the bare outlines of an incident on the Farquharson plantation in early 1832 that amounted to an uprising against the brutality of James, a mulatto son of the owner, who was left in charge while Farquharson was in Nassau.

It was when James decided to resort to physical punishment yet again over a minor incident that Farquharson’s chief driver, Alick, took exception to this habitual brutality and struck back, hitting young Farquharson with a heavy cudgel before he was dragged off by the other slaves who immediately gathered around the fray in a threatening manner.

Although no more violence is reported, Charles Farquharson faced great opposition as he tried to reason with his slaves the following morning.  Unfortunately, when three of the ringleaders were sent to Nassau for trial the following March, more violence was threatened by the Farquharson slaves.  Finally, after time spent at hard labor in the Nassau workhouse, all except Alick were returned to San Salvador.  Alick, for his crime of not tolerating abuse, was ordered sold and never saw San Salvador again.

Pompey

A few years before the Farquharson plantation unrest, there was the legendary slave revolt in Exuma led by Pompey.  It was early 1830 and, with only three days notice, a group of 77 of Lord Rolle’s slaves were told they were to be sent to Cat Island.  No husbands or wives or any children under 14 were to be separated but they were only given one weekend to pick their pea and bean crops, thrash their corn and dispose of their livestock.  Moreover, they would have to abandon fields of Indian corn that had just been planted.

With 32-year-old slave Pompey leading them, most of the slaves involved hid in the bush for five weeks until their provisions ran out.  It was at that point that 44 of them, representing nine families and three single slaves, stole Lord Rolle’s salt boat and sailed it to Nassau in an effort to personally put their case in front of the governor, Sir James Carmichael Smyth.

Sadly, the slaves were taken into custody and thrown into the workhouse before seeing the governor.  The adult slaves were tried immediately as runaways and most of them, including five women – two of whom were nursing babies – were sentenced to be flogged.

Although he had not been kept apprised of the events surrounding this case, when the governor, known for his sympathy towards slaves, found out, he was furious, immediately firing the police magistrate and the two justices of the peace involved in the case.  He also ordered Pompey and his group of rebels to be taken back to Exuma.

When they arrived back at Steventon, they were joyously hailed as heroes and subsequently all the other slaves refused to work.  This behavior alarmed those in authority over them so they called for military reinforcements from Nassau, telling the governor that an armed slave insurrection was imminent.  Fifty soldiers and the chief constable of The Bahamas landed in Exuma during the night of June 20, 1830.  The slaves were quiet but not prepared to go to work, saying that they had understood they were to be made free.  After a thorough search of the slave houses, the soldiers only found 25 old muskets and very small amounts of powder and shot, putting the idea of an armed insurrection to rest.

However, the soldiers were still worried and decided to march to Rolleville, another slave village, to search there.  Pompey knew a short-cut and reached Rolleville before the soldiers, warning the slaves there who hid in the bush.  Although only three muskets were found in Rolleville, Pompey was captured and taken back to Steventon where his public punishment of 39 lashes persuaded the slaves to go back to work.

Most of the soldiers returned to Nassau and Lord Rolle’s slaves were reportedly left “quiet and industrious” by the chief constable.  But Pompey’s rebellion was really the first time that Bahamian slaves had resisted a transfer and succeeded, establishing that Bahamian slaves could not be moved without their consent, a major achievement in beginning to establish that slaves were people who had civil rights.  The protest that arose when the flogging of the women became known throughout abolitionist circles gave great impetus to legislation, including the bill that granted full emancipation that would finally occur four years later.

Next week in part two of this series, we will look at how some 20th century events continued the march to majority rule, preparing even more Bahamians for the struggle that was begun by Alick and Pompey as they bravely stood up for their rights so long ago.

 

• Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis & Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services.  He served 15 years in Parliament.  Please send your comments to pgalanis@gmail.com.

January 06, 2014

thenassauguardian

- The March to Majority Rule, Part 2>>>

- The March to Majority Rule, Part 3>>>

- The March to Majority Rule, Part 4>>>

July 10, 1973 to Now: ...The Bahamas Independence Generation... ...and the story of Majority Rule and Independence... ...The 40th Anniversary

Independence Generation Should Tell Of The Struggle

By Llonella Gilbert - BIS:



NASSAU, The Bahamas -- Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie said as a proud member of the generation that ushered in The Bahamas’ Independence on July 10, 1973, he feels that while Bahamians cross the bridge to the future, they must see the bridge as a connection to those of the Independence Generation.

The Prime Minister was speaking at the Official 40-Day Countdown Launch Ceremony in Celebration of the 40^th Anniversary of the Independence of The Bahamas in Rawson Square, June 4, 2013.

“Truly, the significance of celebrating the 40^th Anniversary is that this is the last time that both generations will be able to work side by side in marking this pivotal event in our country’s history,” he said.

“This is the last time that we will be able to hear the voices of the Independence Generation and I implore you to listen.”

Prime Minister Christie said the Independence Generation must tell their stories to those who have come afterward.

“We must have them tell us their stories. It may simply be a retelling of a grandmother’s Independence morning experience; it may be the airing of the complete Portraits series; it may be an interview with a member of the Women’s Suffragette Movement, however we do it, it must be done.”

The Prime Minister added that he believes that part of what is right for the country, on this Independence journey, is to record, preserve and honour The Bahamas’ history and culture.

“We have been, in many respects, negligent of our heroes and our history.

“It is vital that every Bahamian, of every background know their history. “Every Bahamian student should be able to tell the story of Majority Rule and Independence.

He said proper attention must be given to these things.

“Our Bahamian heroes must have permanence in the Bahamian Story. We must write it well, so that even after death they live.”

Prime Minister Christie also explained that during his last term as prime minister, he appointed the National Cultural Development Commission with the mission to organise and formulate a wide range of policies and positions on cultural matters.

He said the framework for a National Honours system was passed and this year, deserving Bahamians will receive the country’s own award.

“This public honouring will not only draw the necessary attention to these individuals, it will be the best way that a grateful nation can say thank you.”

The Prime Minister said the National Independence Committee is also working with The College of The Bahamas on hosting the 40^th Anniversary Independence Conference.

The conference, which will be held June 12 – 14, 2013 and is open to the public, will do much to help further educate and examine what the future of The Bahamas can be.

“The aim of the conference is to examine the context and construction of the Bahamian nation; investigate the challenges emerging in the post-independence period; discuss contemporary social, cultural, economic and political issues that have emerged since 1973; and explore future prospects for nation building and development.”

Prime Minister Christie said in planning the celebrations for the Anniversary, the committee felt it was critical to host events that will showcase Bahamian arts and culture.

“I have said before that it is important to the development of our national identity and to the deepening of our Bahamian culture that our artists have a high level of support.

“We often enjoy and celebrate what other nations in the world have offered us and we forget that we have produced many cultural icons who have influenced them.”

June 05, 2013

Bahamas.Gov.Bs

Caribbean Blog International

The Bahamas and the Case for Another National Holiday... ...the addition of Majority Rule Day... ...

By:	Llonella Gilbert
	Bahamas Information Services
	May 7, 2013

Bahamas Would Not Be Out Of Sync With 11 National Holidays

NASSAU, Bahamas -- Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie said based on random surveys of other nations, with 11 national holidays including the addition of Majority Rule Day, The Bahamas will not be out of sync with international norms.

The Prime Minister set out to prove that the concern about the aggregate number of public holidays in The Bahamas is “greatly exaggerated” as he wrapped up the debate on the Majority Rule Day Bill in House of Assembly, Monday, May 6, 2013.

“At present, we observe 10 national or public holidays in The Bahamas. The addition of Majority Rule Day will bring this number to 11. How does this compare with other countries?”

Prime Minister Christie said, “As a comparative frame of reference, the following should be noted:

In the U.S. there are 11 federal public holidays (one of these, it should be noted, is observed quadrennially (the others being observed annually).”

He explained that in Barbados, they also have 11 public holidays. (Of particular interest, Barbados has both a National Heroes Day and an Errol Barrow Day observed as separate national holidays).

“In Trinidad, they have as many as 14 national holidays.

“In the United Kingdom, the position varies: England has eight ‘bank’ holidays, as they are called, but Scotland and Northern Island which are integral parts of the United Kingdom have nine and 10 public holidays, respectively.”

He said in Bermuda, a colonial territory with whom The Bahamas has a great deal in common, both in terms of historical ties and basic economic configuration (tourism and financial services), there are 10 public holidays.

In the Cayman Islands, another colonial territory with which The Bahamas has certain economic similarities, they have 12 public holidays.

The Prime Minister explained that in continental Europe, in France, they have 12 public holidays.

“In Switzerland, a country that we have a lot to do with in terms of our financial services industry, holidays are set not by the federal government but by the 26 individual cantons into which the country is divided.

“Interestingly, however, for a country that justifiably prides itself on its work ethic, 17 of the 26 cantons have public holidays of 10 or more. In fact, there are some cantons in Switzerland that have as many as 14 to 15 public holidays every year.

“Indeed whether one looks at it intra-regionally, hemispherically, or globally, we will remain very much in line with the norms of developed and developing countries alike.”

Prime Minister Christie said he is aware that employers are concerned that additional holidays may translate into additional measurable financial losses during a time when many businesses are facing during difficult times as many countries are facing recessions and they want to ensure maximum productivity from workers.

“However, that is not an argument against making Majority Rule Day a public holiday. Rather it is, I would submit, an argument – and a perfectly legitimate argument - that perhaps the time has come for national bi-partisan consensus that the total number of public holidays should not increase beyond the total number that will come about when Majority Rule is added to the list.”

He added, “In other words the time has perhaps come for us to agree that after this addition of Majority Rule Day, no more holidays will be added in the future unless an existing holiday is eliminated. That way, the total number would remain stable for the indefinite future.”

Bahamas Gov

Caribbean Blog International

Majority Rule Day ...and Randol Fawkes Labour Day

Majority Rule To Become National Holiday- Labour Day named in Sir Randol’s honour

By Korvell Pyfrom
The Bahama Journal





The Christie administration has introduced legislation aimed at making Majority Rule a national holiday and renaming Labour Day in honour of the late Sir Randol Fawkes.

In the House of Assembly Wednesday, Prime Minister Perry Christie said that Majority Rule is in a class by itself and it outshines its competitors for the most singular place of honour in Bahamian history.

“Majority Rule belongs to all of us,” Mr. Christie said.

“It belongs to all Bahamians, not just black Bahamians and certainly not just to PLPs. It is perhaps understandable that in the years following 1967 there was a tendency by the PLP, both as the government and as a party, to claim exclusive proprietorship of Majority Rule and of January 10. In the context of the times that was understandable and there really is no need to apologise for it.”

Majority Rule was established on January 10, 1967. It followed the victory of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) in that year’s General Elections ushering in a Bahamian government.

“The Bill that is before us now will give effect to what has long been the prayerful aspiration of many people in our society that the attainment of Majority Rule be accorded a special place of commemoration in the national calendar, and that each year we pause, in context of a national holiday, to give thanksgiving for the heroic struggles of those fearless men and women who from one generation the next carried, and then handed off, the baton of freedom until the relay was won on that glorious night 46-years ago.”

Labour Minister Shane Gibson also introduced a Bill aimed at renaming Labour Day in honour of the man considered the Father of the Labour Movement in The Bahamas, Sir Randol Fawkes.

“The award if this singular distinction on this outstanding pioneer in the trade union movement is not only deserving but most fitting because it comes at a time when we are about to celebrate 40-years of Independence in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, 51-years after the first official Labour Day was celebrated in The Bahamas, and 71-years after the Riot of Burma Road,” Mr. Gibson said.

Both Bills are expected to receive unanimous support.

April 11, 2013

Jones Bahamas

Caribbean Blog International

Many of the progressive dreams of Edmund Moxey and others were interwoven with the struggle for majority rule and became synonymous with the early Progressive Liberal Party (PLP)... It is telling, therefore, that the majority of those elected in 1967 as a part of the first PLP government eventually left the party... including Ed Moxey

Jumbey Village – Montage of a Dream Deferred

Front Porch

By Simon

Edmund Moxey’s contribution to the social, cultural, economic and political advancement of Bahamians found magnificent expression in Jumbey Village.  The new documentary on the creation and destruction of Jumbey Village chronicles some of our post-independence history.

Some of the dreams of Ed Moxey became manifest.  Still, many of his dreams were deferred, like a raisin in the sun, calling to mind the memorable poem by Langston Hughes.  In his book-length poem suite, “Montage of a Dream Deferred”, Hughes asks, What happens to a dream deferred?

“Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore– And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over– like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?”

Many of the progressive dreams of Edmund Moxey and others were interwoven with the struggle for majority rule and became synonymous with the early Progressive Liberal Party (PLP). It is telling, therefore, that the majority of those elected in 1967 as a part of the first PLP government eventually left the party, including Ed Moxey.

Over the years other progressives left, including Dr. B. J. Nottage who later returned to the PLP, and Hubert Ingraham who did not. The PLP today is a shadow of its progressive roots. Its core leadership is non-progressive and reactionary, constantly stymieing the progressives in the party.

The National Committee for Positive Action (NCPA) was formalized in 1959 as a pressure group within the PLP to bolster the party’s progressive agenda and the struggle for majority rule.  The NCPA proved successful in its efforts, playing a pivotal role in the electoral success of the PLP.

Yet, the group’s ambitions were greater than winning an election.  With the majority secured they intended to transform life for the mass of Bahamians.  Some of their ideals were secured by the PLP, such as independence, the creation of various national institutions and early strides in areas such as education.

Disillusioned

Still, many of the progressives in the PLP, including much of the core of the NCPA, became quickly disillusioned by the cult of personality emerging around Sir Lynden Pindling, which was antithetical to their vision of collegiality.  The progressives were also troubled over the foot-dragging on urgent needs such as the urban redevelopment of Over-the-Hill.

Jumbey Village and other community projects were a part of Ed Moxey’s dream for the economic, social and cultural self-empowerment of Bahamians.  The physical demolition of Jumbey Village was emblematic of many other progressive dreams which were destroyed and denied by a once progressive PLP that lost its bearings and became enamored of power for its own sake.

It is one of those twists of history that some progressive movements which uproot the reigning oligarchy begin to mimic the very system they replace.  The PLP began mimicking the culture of economic and political entitlement of the Old Guard.  Today’s PLP Black Knights are in some ways yesterday’s Bay Street Boys.  They constitute the new oligarchy.

The rump of the old UBP did join the nascent Free National Movement (FNM).  But the core leadership of the FNM were among the more committed progressives and even so-called radicals who sacrificed much to bring about Majority Rule.

The departure of the Dissident Eight left the PLP less progressive, more reactionary, and engulfed by Sir Lynden’s cult of personality.  One prominent observer and politician remarked at the departure of the Dissident Eight that the party was losing its soul.

The brain trust of intellectually-gifted individuals who left the PLP included men with impeccable progressive credentials and commitment to the movement like Sir Cecil Wallace Whitfield, Warren Levarity, Sir Arthur Foulkes, Dr. Curtis McMillan and Carlton Francis.  The haemorrhage continued with the culturally-inspired Edmund Moxey and peaked with the departure of Hubert Ingraham.

Over the course of its 25-year rule the PLP became stagnant in terms of its intellectual culture, policies and programs.  The dream of the urban redevelopment of Over-the-Hill died.  This included the innovative urban and infrastructural plans by Columbia University and others, as well as the urgent need to upgrade the sewerage system Over-the-Hill.

Much of today’s urban plight and blight is the consequence of the failure to act by successive Pindling administrations. There were some efforts, but no real plan for transforming the urban landscape of traditional grassroots neighborhoods.  When Sir Lynden left office after a quarter century there were residents Over-the-Hill still relying on outside toilets.

The Urban Renewal program of the Christie government included a number of good elements.  Still, the program was a hodgepodge of ideas dating to the administrations of Sir Lynden and Mr. Ingraham. Mr. Christie’s efforts were welcome. But they were neither groundbreaking nor truly transformative.

Reactionary

Perry Christie has not proven to be a progressive.  Worse, he has demonstrated a reactionary worldview.  He is an ardent supporter of the death penalty.  In terms of economic policy Mr. Christie seems stuck in the past with an outdated mindset for economic development.

He advocated the large-scale anchor project concept of a by-gone era including the outrageous Mayaguana land giveaway.  He agreed to give Baha Mar far more concessions than any Bahamian government should have countenanced.

Mr. Christie successfully campaigned to defeat the proposed constitutional amendment to secure equality for women in terms of automatically passing on a certain right of citizenship.  Yet when he had a chance to make this right he did not reach for a legacy.

And he failed to introduce National Health Insurance.  It would have been a landmark accomplishment for him and the progressive movement.  Though Mr. Christie once served as minister of health, it was an Ingraham administration that significantly advanced access to free pre- and post-natal care for pregnant women.

Nor did Mr. Christie advance any major infrastructural projects Over-the-Hill.  Following the recent massive water works a lower income senior citizen in her 70s remarked favorably about the clear water gushing out of her pipes.  She has lived in Grants Town her entire life and has always voted PLP.   She never thought she would live to see the day when she would get that kind of water pressure  and clean water in Grants Town.

She is thankful to the government.  But she will never vote for the FNM. Better said, she will never vote against the PLP.   The pull is visceral, almost religious in nature.  It combines the iconography of Sir Lynden as Moses and the theme of liberation from Exodus in the Hebrew Scriptures.

For some, the idea of voting against the PLP is a betrayal of their self-identification as a black Bahamian.  This individual and social psychology is not only a Bahamian phenomenon.

Dependency

It is a mindset that behavioral and social psychologists as well as political scientists and sociologists have studied in many cultures.  It often involves a cycle of dependency and strong identification by some with a strongman leader, powerful organization or power structure.

In failing to transform Over-the-Hill during its 25 years in office, the PLP in significant ways betrayed many of its core grassroots supporters.  It is an observable fact that both Sir Lynden and Perry Christie failed to significantly improve conditions in South Andros, and Centreville and Farm Road respectively over the many years they represented these constituencies.

This, despite serving in government for decades, and as prime minister.  It is in marked contrast to the work Prime Minister Ingraham has done to dramatically upgrade the public amenities and services throughout Abaco.

Though the PLP created important national institutions, it generally failed to do likewise when it came to national cultural institutions.  In the post-independence period when Bahamians were forming a greater sense of national and cultural identity, important cultural institutions were absent.

Such centers of critical consciousness and cultural expression are necessary for nation-building.  Their absence during that formative period helped to retard our national development.

It was not until the FNM came to office that core institutions such as the National Art Gallery, the Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Corporation, the National Museum, and the Centre for Performing Arts were launched.  There is much work to be done to advance the missions and the reach of these institutions.  But they represent impressive strides.

So too are ideas recently advanced by Mr. Ingraham including a heritage tourism initiative, a public arts project, a parks and recreation authority and an oral history project, ‘Our Bahamian Stories’.

These all contain elements of Edmund Moxey’s dream.  But his dream is bigger still. He understood early that a place like Jumbey Village could help us to raise our children and uplift the Bahamian people.

There is planned for Big Pond a regional park.  Might the plans for that park include elements of the original concept for Jumbey Village?  The best way to honor Edmund Moxey is not solely in tributes.  The better way would be to revitalize and institutionalize his dreams.

Though the fruits of some of his dreams were destroyed, the seeds of his vision are still alive and can bear fruit.  It is possible to transform a dream deferred into realized hopes.  But it is too bad that we had to wait for so much to explode around us before we remembered the vitality and the urgency of the dreams of patriots like Ed Moxey.

Apr 03, 2012

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

The shareholding society Hubert Ingraham has sought to encourage is a direct link to the progressive aspirations of those who struggled for majority rule... ...This is an inconvenient truth for the doom and gloom crowd, Ingraham’s opponents ...and those who believe that they have a copyright on majority rule

Hubert Ingraham’s Quiet Revolution

Front Porch

“The Bahamas Achieves a Quiet Revolution as Its First Black Government Takes Hold” was the headline of a New York Times story announcing the achievement of majority rule in the Colony of the Bahama Islands in 1967.

The story began: “A quiet revolution has been achieved in these resort islands as a Negro government has taken office this week to end three centuries of white rule.  The impact has been nil on the tourists who have packed Nassau's hotels, but the changeover seems to have touched the heart of every Negro citizen.”

By quiet, it did not mean that the movement for majority rule was quiescent or a laid back struggle.  The word quiet speaks to the nonviolent nature of the fight for the second emancipation in Bahamian history.

In newspaper editorials and columns, from pulpits and on talk radio, we continue to read or hear the trite and factually wrong gibberish masquerading as commentary that The Bahamas has dramatically regressed in relation to the aspirations of majority rule.

This decline meme has variations, but in all versions the sky is falling or getting ready to fall.  This is accompanied by the requisite wailing and gnashing of the teeth by those who have little sense of irony or historical perspective beyond their nose and the morning newspapers.

 

Doom and gloom

That these prophets of doom and gloom are even able to spin and spew their poorly reasoned viewpoints from the vantage point of a pulpit, a free broadcast media or writing in a newspaper is testament to the legacy of majority rule.

Moreover, those black Bahamians including black women, able to offer such opinions and who enjoy the privilege of an advanced degree and notable professional status might wish to recall that without majority rule little or none of their success would be possible.

Like all great movements, the legacy of majority rule is mixed.  There are noticeable and continuing successes.  In other areas there is much work to be done.  Majority rule was about political, social and economic empowerment.

As noted last week, many of the progressives in the struggle for majority rule appreciated that attaining political power would be relatively easier than wrestling economic power from entrenched interests.

Moreover, surprisingly, the early ambitions of some of these progressives to dismantle the economic monopolies of the Bay Street Boys were thwarted by their more reactionary colleagues in the fight for a majority government.

Yet on the eve of the 45th anniversary of majority rule, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham announced that his government was nearing the final stages of the dismantling of the near monopolistic control of the port business by a few families.  These families included some of those Bay Street Boys from whom political power had to be wrestled.

Ingraham has added his own chapter to the Quiet Revolution.  He has dismantled many decades of entrenched economic domination in port ownership in New Providence.  He is also transferring some of that wealth and the opportunity for wealth-creation to the Bahamian people.

For some time, Ingraham has been building a shareholding society as a means of broadening and deepening ownership in the economy by Bahamians and especially so by a broader cross section of Bahamians.

During his first term in office the government made 49 percent of the shares of the Bank of The Bahamas available to the Bahamian public.  When the funding for the second Paradise Island Bridge was done it was through the issuance of Treasury Bonds which were made available to the general public.

 

Good investment

The introduction of cable television provided another opportunity for Bahamians to buy shares that have proven to be a good investment.  Today, Cable Bahamas is fully Bahamian-owned.

When the Bahamians who owned the majority stake in Commonwealth Brewery sought the approval of the Ingraham administration to sell their controlling interests to a foreign company, the approval was conditional.  It was conditional on Heineken, the new owners, making 25 percent of the shares in the company available to the Bahamians.

With the new port on Arawak Cay, Bahamians will have the opportunity to purchase shares in a potentially lucrative venture.  Some of the same white merchant elite who held political power prior to majority rule also controlled many of the country’s lucrative enterprise including the port.  These included families with surnames like Kelly, Symonette and Bethel.

The surnames of those who can now own shares in the Arawak Port Development (APD) will run the gamut from A to Z in the telephone directory.  Members of the Mailboat Association will also own shares in the port development.

Civil servants will be afforded the opportunity to buy shares in APD through salary deductions.  Those who mindlessly claim that little progress continues to be made in the advancement of the aspirations of majority rule may wish to suspend their commentary long enough to purchase some shares.

Perhaps they can also suspend their insipid rhetoric long enough to talk to the thousands of ordinary Bahamians who now own shares in various Bahamian enterprises including cable and banking, and soon at BTC.

The shareholding society Hubert Ingraham has sought to encourage is a direct link to the progressive aspirations of those who struggled for majority rule.  This is an inconvenient truth for the doom and gloom crowd, Ingraham’s opponents, and those who believe that they have a copyright on majority rule.

frontporchguardian@gmail.com

www.bahamapundit.com

Jan 24, 2012

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

...the enduring legacy of majority rule in The Bahamas

Majority Rule at 45

Front Porch

By Simon

The success of great political events and movements inspire all manner of grandstanding by secondary figures who played tangential or minor roles in such events.  As often, those who played more critical roles, and are disinclined to preen and prance, are not given their fuller due.

Thankfully, in the light of greater historical accuracy, the pretensions of the airbags desperately attempting to inflate themselves into great leaders are often deflated.  And, the extraordinary contributions of the great men and women of history are recorded for accuracy and posterity.

Three events of the past few weeks highlighted aspects of the struggle for and legacy of majority rule.  They include the 45th anniversary of January 10, 1967, the passing of Sir Clifford Darling, and the opportunity for ordinary Bahamians to own shares in the new Arawak Port Development (APD).

At the inauguration of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. this past October, U.S. President Barack Obama chastised the negativity and cynicism of those who sought to downplay the accomplishments of the civil rights movement for racial equality.

As America’s first black president, the credibility of his claim was incontestable.  Obama further noted that there was still considerable work to be done to achieve Dr. King’s dream.

The same may be said of the achievements of majority rule in The Bahamas: We have accomplished much, yet there is significant work to be done.  To boost his political stock, a rapidly diminishing public figure continues to dismiss the enduring legacy of majority rule.

 

Mindset

Sir Clifford’s funeral was the opportunity for a religious figure to fall into the same either/or mindset with a diatribe that ignored many of the accomplishments of majority rule.  Thankfully, that harangue was vitiated by the oratory of Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes in his tribute at Sir Clifford’s state funeral.

Sir Arthur and Sir Clifford played significant roles in the advancement of majority rule and in national development.  Humble men, not given to grandstanding, both assumed the high office of governor general.  And, both shared a confidence in the country’s future captured in a moving recollection of Sir Arthur’s: “I assured him [Sir Clifford] that in my recent travels around our Bahamas I had seen future generations of Bahamians full of promise, young Bahamians who will become social, commercial, cultural and political leaders, Bahamians who will value and build upon the legacy that he and others had bequeathed.  The man from Chester’s, Acklins, smiled.”

This January 10, the country again celebrated the expansion and deepening of democracy in The Bahamas.  Unfortunately, the Progressive Liberal Party continues to treat the event as its singular achievement, and the Free National Movement studiously avoids joining in the annual celebrations.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. always appreciated that the civil rights movement was about political empowerment and economic opportunity.  In 1963, he led a small march in an all-white enclave in Chicago to protest inequality in housing and other areas of economic life.  The protestors were attacked and Dr. King struck in the head.

Reflecting on the march, he observed that gaining political rights might be the easier part.  He appreciated that gaining economic power from entrenched interests would be a more difficult and longer process.

Many of the progressives in the struggle for majority rule appreciated the same reality.  Surprisingly, the early ambitions of some of these progressives to dismantle the economic monopolies of the Bay Street Boys were thwarted by their more reactionary colleagues in the fight for a majority government.

Change often takes time and comes about in surprising ways.  Hubert Ingraham’s rise from poverty to become prime minister is a testament to his own talents and ambition.   Still, his rise would not have been possible without the opportunities afforded him because of the achievement of majority rule.

 

Progressive

The prime minister is a man of complexity and paradox.  It has made him a pragmatist.  He is fiscally conservative and socially liberal.  He utilizes capitalist-based measures to advance an extraordinarily progressive economic agenda.

Ingraham grew up in an Abaco where white privilege and supremacy were the order of the day.  He took over the leadership of the FNM, the supposedly more economically conservative major party, which counted some of the former members of the defunct United Bahamian Party among its members.

On the eve of this year’s majority rule anniversary, amidst the charged and often self-serving rhetoric that accompanies the 10th day of January, Ingraham held a press conference.

On January 9, 2012, he announced that his government was nearing the final stages of the dismantling of the near monopolistic control of the port business by a few families.  These families included some of those Bay Street Boys from whom political power had to be wrested.

Not only is Ingraham dismantling many decades of entrenched economic domination in port ownership in New Providence.  He is also transferring some of that wealth and the opportunity for wealth-creation to the Bahamian people.  There are chapters still to be written in the Quiet Revolution.

Jan 17, 2012

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

Labor, Politics and Majority Rule

The Bahama Journal Editorial


Another Majority Rule anniversary has come and has gone.

And so, today we reference matters germane to labor, politics and Majority Rule in the Bahamas.

And for sure – even as this one recedes into the mists that come with memories effaced; another will arrive and some other Bahamians will venture that, the General Strike of 1958 did play a massively important role in the social transformation of the Bahamas.

And so we would argue that those who now go in search of the mainspring governing action in those days might first wish to look at the leadership cadre behind the General Strike; there they would find Randol F. Fawkes [labor’s main man and champion of the so-called grass roots]; Clifford Darling, a taxi-driver [and therefore an owner in his own right of his means of production] and Lynden O. Pindling [as Parliamentary Leader of the then-nascent Progressive Liberal Party].

Fast forward to the social history available to most Bahamians and you would find that, it was the Progressive Liberal Party – with the help of a distinguished cadre of intellectuals and other political savvy men and women [with some of them like Clement Maynard, labor leaders in their own right]; that was able to command the support of the so-called “Majority”.

We would also venture that the role played by Clifford Darling and his men was the maneuver that did more than any other tactic to show the resolve of the Bahamian people not only in the specifics that had triggered the strike, but also in the broader struggle for full adult suffrage in the Bahamas.

And yet again, any fair reading of the social history of the past fifty-plus years would show that it was Pindling’s fate and that of his party to take the mantle and become the pioneers of development in a Bahamas that had entered history’s stream in a truly big way when the case of the Bahamas [that is its case for freedom] was argued before the United Nations.

This was like Black Tuesday of April 27th. 1965 uniquely Pindling’s.

As the record attests, Pindling and his Progressive Liberal Party went on to a series of victories that took them and the people they led to both so-called Majority Rule and Independence.

Evidently, they also faced some major challenges.

Highest on that list would be the damage done by the illicit trade in drugs throughout the Bahamian archipelago; the corrosive effects this trade had - and which it continues to have on social life in our country.

Notwithstanding this challenge and a host of others, there is no doubting the conclusion that the Bahamas built by Pindling endures. In this regard, it is nothing short of exemplary that the man who is today Chief and the man who would be Chief are both distinguished political alumni of the late and truly great Sir Lynden O. Pindling.

And so we would argue that if there is a legacy of 1958 that resounds even now; the resonance is to be found in the ascendancy of the Progressive Liberal Party in the years subsequent.

But even as we make these brief points concerning the General Strike of 1958, the eclipse of Fawkes and his supporters, the subsequent ascendancy of Pindling and the PLP, we also note that, despite their advances and that of the nation itself – there has always been an underclass of workers who have not benefited as much as they might have at one time or the other dreamed.

In addition, there are clearly any number of so-called ‘small’ businesses that have not been able to consolidate themselves in the all the years since the achievement of so-called Majority Rule.

This is not as surprising as it might – on first blush- appear; this because regardless of intention, no government no matter how well-intentioned, can make someone [or better still anyone] succeed in business.

And as an old saying puts it, money goes where money lies – and so it has and so will it continue.

But for sure – even as the evidence mounts that this is so, there remains a persistent cry to the effect that this or that group is being oppressed by another.

This is evidence of the highest order that the real struggle in our country and others has to do with the struggle between classes and the masses; and not that between the so-called ‘races’.

Indeed, such is the current state of political play in the Bahamas that both of this nation’s political parties now vie for the support of practically the same people; and thus the current slide towards a politics of tribalism and personal destruction.

January 11, 2011

The Bahama Journal Editorial

Bahamas Blog International

Majority Rule is a concept that has long been lost in the everyday Bahamian way of life

Who says the majority rules?
thenassauguardian editorial


Today is being observed as Majority Rule Day in The Bahamas.

Historically, the day represents the emergence of a local, black Bahamian government, with the responsibility of helping Bahamians govern their own affairs and their future, as The Bahamas began its trek to Independence.

Now in its 44th year, Majority Rule Day continues to be observed as a day that honors those who contributed to The Bahamas we know today. However, mention the words “Majority Rule Day” to the average Bahamian and ask them what it is about and more than 85 percent will look at you like a deer staring into headlights.

Ask the average young person (between the ages of 15-25) and more than 90 percent will think you’re speaking a foreign language.

Not enough Bahamian history is being taught. Most Bahamians don’t know their history, and for the most part, many could care less.

But that’s another story for another time.

As far as celebrating Majority Rule Day is concerned, some feel it is pointless, considering the fact that The Bahamas finds itself in a contradiction from a socio-economic point-of-view. We live in a society where the minority rules the majority.

The rich minority controls and dictates the lifestyle of the majority of the poor Bahamians. We live in a society where “the rich gets richer” and the poor remains poor.

In addition, the idea of “government for and by the people” is not based in reality.

The Bahamian Parliament, which is supposed to represent and fight for the rights of Bahamians, seemingly pass laws that burden the average Bahamian and gives more power to the wealthy among us.

Majority Rule is a concept that has long been lost in the everyday Bahamian way of life. What it stood for in the past, seems to have less relevance and meaning today.

One of the co-founders of Majority Rule Day, former Governor General Arthur D. Hanna, noted that Majority Rule Day was an uphill battle “in that we couldn’t get a level playing field.

“The government of the day (United Bahamian Party - UBP) wanted to hold on to power, therefore, they had all kinds of tricks. One was how they dealt with constituencies.”

On the surface, it seems ironic that many of today’s governments have used the same “tricks” during elections in The Bahamas, but when one considers the fact that some of our leaders of today learned from those of the past, then we can understand certain similarities.

The concept which our forefathers fought for, does not hold the same significance today. So, we celebrate a day that has somehow lost its meaning and its focus, which is the Bahamian people.

We celebrate a day where the majority does not rule, but rather where the minority rules the majority.

1/10/2011

thenassauguardian editorial

Bahamas Blog Internaional