By Stanley Collymore
You're infinitely more than just a
homeland to me, for in essence
you're distinctively my truest
inspiration, the natural fulcrum of
everything, that constructive and
quite markedly beneficial in my
life, are the instigative force, of
each positive, and meaningful
aspiration that has obviously
done, remarkably enticingly
still does; and, so assuredly
will carry on doing so well
into my upcoming future!
Additionally too, you're the
forge and anvil that quite
intimately, scrupulously
and rather skilfully permanently
fashioned the crucially separate
but basically distinctive strands
effectively, of my own parental
genetic and similarly ancestral
DNA into specifically what I've
vibrantly, unquestionably and
dutifully individually become:
a fully fledged member of my
Collymore family Klan, yet in
essence also, still an outright
and loyal Bajan all the same!
A term, synonymous to so many
people, past and present, who
for an enduring and positive
good of our country have actually,
both individually and collectively
shaped, the course of our nation.
A nation, and a beloved one, we
know as, and are very proud to
refer to, as Barbados. And also,
where in colloquial jargon our
navel strings so appropriately
respectively, either physically
or spiritually, are delightedly
thankfully, blessedly buried;
a fascinating, magnificently
impressive, and proud fact.
And from St. Lucy to St. Philip;
St. Joseph to St. James, and
the areas in between let
us all in reverence and gratitude
solemnity pause and thankfully
reflect in humble supplication
how far, we've come; and the
multiple sacrifices attendant
with the numerous, positive
assistance which our proud
Black ancestors; regardless
of whatever, their status in
life or origin, did indelibly
make, to the ongoing plus
progressive development
of our Barbadian Nation.
And in their names, our own and
those, as presently unborn, but
fittingly destined to be future
Barbadians - let us quite gloriously
celebrate with Pride and Industry
but never forgetting, the chilling
cum calamitous adversities that
were enforcedly occasioned, to
us by slavery which shaped us
fundamentally into decisively
who and specifically what we
now so indisputably are, as a
nation and very approvingly
alright, for the 21st Century;
a characteristic progressive
bedded with a meritocratic
forte, democratic Republic.
(C) Stanley V. Collymore
29 November 2021.
Author's Remarks:
On the 30th November 2021, St. Andrew's Day - St. Andrew is the Patron Saint of Barbados - my ancestral homeland of Barbados will be celebrating both the 55th anniversary of its attainment of independence on this day in 1966, while significantly too on this auspicious day the Government ans citizens of Barbados will voluntarily and quite approvingly relinquish 396 continuous years as an English realm and have Barbados become a Republic.
It"s a move towards republicanism that I've longstandingly and wholeheartedly supported and will neither make apologies nor court any explanations, least of all on this momentous and celebratory occasion, for my decisions and actions, other than to say, read my published works and you'll be able to acquaint yourselves with them.
Instead I shall be avidly celebrating with my fellow Bajans and supportive non-Barbadian friends, as I likewise pay tribute and extend my earnest gratitude to all those who in so many diverse and similarly also not uncommonly multitudinous and exceptionally courageous ways, and often invariably at great personal risk and sacrifice to themselves, and therefore enabled us who are presently here to be at the significantly important stage that we're currently at. My indebted and enormously grateful thanks to you and God's eternal blessing be upon you.
To our exceptionally brilliant Prime Minister: The Right Honourable Mia Mottley, our first ever female Prime Minister with the added distinction of being the only leader of a Barbadian political party to contest a General Election and win every constituency seat for their respective party - yes you did read that correctly - every single one of them to reiterate what I earlier said, in a General Election to the Barbados Parliament, and effectively, quite impressively and exclusively doing so in the 382 years old continuous history of the Barbados Parliament - the Barbados Parliament was established in 1639 and has been going continuously ever since to the present day; is itself older than the formation of several European countries including Europe's economic powerhouse Germany, the white British dominions of Australia, New Zealand and Canada and, of course, Britain's former North American colonies and now themselves a REPUBLIC, the United States of America - is no mean feat or achievement on Mia Mottley and her Barbados Labour Party (BLP) part. Furthermore, the only parliament that is continuously older than the Barbados one is the House of Commons situated in London, England.
Mia Mottley's landslide victory - no hyperbole needed as it was simply that - was reinforced by the fact that in her Barbados Labour Party (BLP) manifesto and during her elections campaigning Mia Mottley categorically said that on her and her party winning the elections in 2018 Barbados would become a Republic. And she won those elections, as I said earlier, by a literal landslide and, accordingly, has kept her word. Furthermore, after my article in 1989 which triggered the national debate about Barbados politically moving to a republican status all the local political parties began moving in that direction and the political party of which I'm a lifelong member, the Barbados Democratic Party (DLP) together with Mia Mottley's BLP and others participated in a National Commission on the matter and from which was unanimously decided that Barbados should become a Republic.
So why needlessly have a pointless referendum in view of all this and the absolute landslide in the 2018 General Elections when Mia Mottley not only campaigned on this issue, but it was also a party manifesto issue that the Barbadian electorate was fully cognizant of and also au fait with and accordingly gave Mia Mottley the political mandate she'd successfully campaigned for. And just because white western politicians generally and British ones in particular don't keep their campaign promises - which are usually lying and deceitfully disingenuous in the first place, doesn't mean that Black Bajan politicians should behave likewise, specifically when they don't! So do climb down from your white and hypocritically self-servingly bandwagon that Bajans were denied a referendum on the issue of Barbados becoming a Republic; as in the obvious circumstances a referendum wasn't needed! As the electorate had comprehensively spoken on the matter in the 2018 General Elections.
Thus Mia Mottley kept her word as she's always politically done. A true chip off the old block, and I'm here referring to her late grandfather: Ernest Deighton Mottley (1907-1973) a very astute politician, a renowned Barbadian philanthropist and a self-made successful businessman who used his own money beneficially and altruistically, and not for political purposes, to help numerous poor Black Bajan families, enabling parents to provide food for their children, ensure that there was a roof over their head, and assist them with tuition fees to be able to attend Grammar School and subsequently acquire a university education that they otherwise would not be able to afford.
All this when whites through their egregiously political and blatantly transparent gerrymandering exercises, engaged in for their own white, demographic minotity but self-evidently privileged position literally controlled Barbadian politics and for their own personal benefit. Since any white resident, and even white visitors to Barbados could vote in locally held elections but when it came to Black adults each of them had to be earning in excess of an arbitrarily prescribed for them continuously earning wage in order to be eligible to vote; failing that stipulation they were denied the right to vote in their own country.
Consequently white employers routinely ensured that Blacks generally were racially proscribed from having decent and well paid jobs as a matter of normalcy, while whites irrespective of their actual skills were designated top jobs with those jobs attendant salaries. A state of affairs that invariably saw Blacks doing the actual work that these whites had no competency for but were nevertheless the ones who got paid these outlandish salaries that the Blacks doing their work for them were never paid. And in respect of this kind of voter restrictions on Blacks and other non-whites and the processes of political gerrymandering, just fast forward to the USA in 2021 and those repulsive states, country wide, racist and determinant practices there; plus the embedded racism of inured convict, genocider and delusional Terra nuliius white Australia demanding laws, themselves supported by the courts, where indigenous Aborigines, who as a people have continuously lived on their island continent home for in excess of 65,000 years could be summarily deported from their homeland Australia in a manner in which it wouldn't be contemplated on in the case of whites, let alone remotely acted upon. Couldn't make any of this up! Could you? But then, as you well know, white privilege rules, okay?
It was Errol Walton Barrow a Royal Air Force distinguished World War Two veteran and the Father of Barbados' independence that changed all that. On return home post World War Two he founded the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) and when he became Premier of Barbados Errol Barrow made sweeping changes. My family could afford my Grammar School fees but all such fees were scrapped and education throughout Barbados became universally free for everyone who was Bajan, from kindergarten to postgraduate university studies. A first rate National Health Service was likewise instituted, free to all Bajans wherever they were born; and like the same free educational mandate is still in place nationally and going strong. Voter restrictions were abolished and the voting age lowered to 18 years; long before Britain even thought of let one contemplated soing so.
Mia Mottley's grandfather was the Premier and Prime Minister that Barbados during his time deserved but never got because of the white privileged control of his and my own homeland. Errol Barrow made amends for that; he also became my friend and mentor, just like Mia Mottley's grandfather was, as well as other politicians of both the DLP and the Barbados Labour Party (BLP).
When I became old enough and eligible to do so I happily joined the DLP - the party created by Errol Barrow - but like most Bajans my loyalty was similarly first and foremost to Barbados and still is. A situation that was demonstrated most graphically and decisively when Mia Mottley uniquely won her evidently impressively, outstanding landslide in the 2018 Barbados General Elections, with massive numbers of the electorate of all parties, and not just Mia Mottley's BLP, voting for her. Because like her late grandfather and other phenomenally outstanding Barbadian political figures - the likes of Errol Barrow, Owen Arthur, Homey Corbin, David Thompson and also Josh Haynes - some of whom became Prime Minister of Barbados, and who like Mia's grandfather are most regrettably no longer with us; these were political stalwarts and unquestionably loyal, patriotic Bajans of the kind that Mia Mottley herself is undeniably moulded from.
And taking into full consideration that it was our Black women who kept our race intact during the systemic and barbaric emasculation of Black men during our enforced slavery, it's only fitting, I honestly and confidently believe, that as our mutual Barbados - the Birthplace of the Transatlantic Slave Trade - now maturedly transitions from being a realm to a Republic with its own Barbadian Head of State, that quite appropriately and decisively both our first President, Dame Sandra Mason, as well as our similarly first female Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Mia Mottley, MP are both ladies! Thank you Barbados; and God Bless Them both; our Citizens too and our Republic of Barbados.
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