Dear Editor,
After so much work went into making
Majority Rule Day a holiday, why are we only commemorating and not celebrating
it? There are no national events to honor this day for the second time in a
row. The only event is the laying of a wreath at Sir Lynden grave. Probably we should call this day Sir Lynden
Pindling Day. Majority Rule is more than that, it should entail the hopes and
dreams of a united people pressing on to maximize their potential.
To understand the significance of
this day we have to go all the way back to 1834 when the slaves we first set
free. There cannot be any true accomplishment without first being free. This is
what I consider Wave 1.
Wave 2 was the Social Revolution.
After the slaves were set free, they settled into smaller communities like Bain
& Grants Town, Adelaide, Gambier and Fox Hill. These communities developed
quickly and people then formed church groups, lodges, civic groups and unions.
These groups became the bases for protest when they felt it was necessary. This
included the Burma Road Riot, the General Strike, the Citizens Committee and
the Women Suffrage Movement.
This brings us to Wave 3 which is
the Political Revolution. There is no country on earth that marks the
transition of political power like The Bahamas. This is why we are the only one
to make it a holiday. The Bahamas has one of the oldest parliaments in the
entire western world so whatever was done had to be done within the rules for
it to be legitimate. On January 10, 1967 was the first time women voted. It was
also the first time of one man one vote with the elimination of the company
vote. So the stage was set in the PLP favor and they should have won by a
landslide.
However the propaganda of the UBP back then was that black people
could not govern and pointed to Haiti and other African countries as examples.
Many of the black population believe this and it resulted in the PLP winning 18
seats, the UBP winning 18 seats, Labor 1 seat and independent winning 1 seat.
Prior to all of that it was Effie Walks who convinced the PLP leaders back then
that they had to do something dramatic to convince the Bahamian people that
they were ready to govern.
This resulted in the mace being thrown out of the
House of Assembly of Black
Tuesday. I am very surprised that the PLP never did
anything substantial to honor this Bahamian heroin. Since then we have had
three black Prime Ministers who has made The Bahamas, the envy of the world
with the third highest standard of living in the western hemisphere behind
United States and Canada.
Wave 4 must be about the economic
revolution. The new Majority Rule message must not be about the past but rather
the future. We must use the events of the past as a driving force for reference
to drive us to a higher calling. In order to control our destiny we must own
and control our economics.
The key to economic empowerment is
small business development. Small businesses solve many social and economic
problems simultaneously. In United States, more than 50% of the labor force comes
from this group. Therefore if you want to reduce unemployment then encourage
more sustainable small business. This would also lead to a reduction of crime. For
small businesses to be successful there must be an emphasis on education,
training and mentoring. The government had a plan to develop small businesses
call the Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDA).
That
should have been the first thing they did in coming to office but now they have
abandon it. That would have amalgamated the Bahamas Development Bank with all
the other government small business agencies. Therefore training and funding
was going to be under one roof. Also by now Junior Achievement should be in
every government secondary school and throughout the Family Islands. We should
have at least 100 JA companies every year.
The next area of economic
empowerment is natural resources. It is good that the Sovereign Wealth Fund has
been tabled. However it is better to encourage locals to own manufacturing and
production enterprise. The real wealth is not in the natural resources but the
finish product. Therefore we must produce more entrepreneurs who produce goods
for shelves that say made in The Bahamas. The same thing must happen to Bahamas
Agricultural and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI). We must also encourage the
farmers in the Family Islands to create Co-operatives that produce can goods
for food stores.
In this day and age, Majority Rule
must not be about the past rather the future. January 10 is a good time because
it is still the beginning of the year. This ought to represent a time to
motivate our people to strive for higher ideals. Bahamians are a unique set of
people and we are blessed with an amazing country. We ought to recognize this
and do the right things so the world will mark the manner of our bearing. Therefore Majority Rule must be about moving
“Forward Upward, Onward and Together”.
Yours truly,
Rudy Dean
Disclaimer:
The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his/her
private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of
TheBahamasWeekly.com
