Youth, Sports and Culture Minister Charles Maynard Photo: Derek Carroll
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The Freeport News - The Antiquities, Monuments and Museums
Cor-poration (AMMC), in collaboration with the Grand Bahama Port
Authority (GBPA), officially unveiled its travelling exhibition: "Lest
We Forget 'the Triumph Over Slavery'," yesterday.
The exhibit, stationed at Sir Charles Hayward Children's Library,
uses narratives, artifacts and movies to explore the struggle of slaves
and their triumph over captivity and is open for six weeks for public
viewing.
Youth, Sports and Culture Minister Charles Maynard served as guest
speaker at the ceremony, where he hailed Grand Bahama as a
"trend-setting" island and expressed appreciation to the AMMC and GBPA
for hosting the showcase.
"It is very important for us as Bahamians to know our history and
know the sequence of events that caused us to be where we are today as a
people," he said. "This exhibition details a very major part of what
made us the country that we are today and so for our young people to
have a physical space to be able to do some research and really spark
their imagination is very significant."
Photo: Derek Carroll
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After offering his remarks, Maynard declared the exhibition open and
proceeded to cut the ceremonial ribbon to signify this opening.
Chief Curator for the AMMC Kim Outten-Stubbs said that the theme
"Lest We Forget..." is an appropriate one because it speaks to the
significance of history to a people's progression.
"We cannot afford to forget, because if you forget, you could repeat
it," she said. "We know slavery was not unique to the African
population. Throughout history people have been enslaved and humankind
continues to repeat it. It may have a different face, and with media you
may not see it as it is but it exists. So the objective is to try and
make us realize that we cannot continue to repeat this."
Another objective is to promote kindness and harmony, Outten-Stubbs
explained.
"We need to teach people, but we need to ensure that they understand
that we don't want them to be hostile. It's a time of gaining
knowledge."
The GBPA's Director of Community Relations Geneva Rutherford
expressed similar views, calling the exhibition "incredibly important."
Rutherford, who was noticeably moved by the display, agreed that the
story of slavery ought to be shared with younger generations to prevent
such "horrific" ac-tions from happening again.
Photo: Derek Carroll
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"The big thing we want students to learn is how to respect human
beings; respect the rights of every human being. We have to get away
from the criminal, domineering attitudes that we have toward each other
and learn to love each other," she said.
Encouraging all teachers and students to view the exhibition,
Rutherford pointed out that teaching packets have been prepared to aid
educators who bring their students to the display. The packages include
lesson guides complete with educational games and sample tests and
answers which can serve as support material for students completing
History coursework.
It is also hoped that viewers will understand that their ancestors
fought and died so that they could live freely.
Chief Curator for the AMMC Kim Outten-Stubbs Photo: Derek Carroll
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"We didn't just drop out of the sky free," she said. "This happened.
We are where we are today because persons from our ancestry struggled
out of it."
According to Outten-Stubbs, the exhibition, which has premiered in
Long Island, Cat Island, Eleuthera and San Salvador, has already made a
breakthrough.
For instance, The display held at the Pompey Museum in Nassau has, on
occasion, moved some viewers to tears.
"They say, 'We didn't know.' These are European people and Caucasian
people... they didn't know about these details," Outten-Stubbs said.
She added that black people, too, have been "ignorant" about the
slave experience and that the exhibition is helping to correct that.
Article SOURCE
Photo: Derek Carroll
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Vice President of the Grand Bahama Port Authority, Ginger Moxey. Photo: Derek Carroll
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Photo: Derek Carroll
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Photo: Derek Carroll
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Photo: Derek Carroll
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