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SLU Beverages Limited Takeover of Banks Holdings Limited (BHL)

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Submitted by Atrue Freeman

banks-beerHow is the bid by SLU Beverages Limited to takeover Banks Holdings Limited (BHL)  likely to playout?

History of similar events suggests that BHL’s directors will have a significant, possibly the most significant, influence on the outcome […]in relation to BHL’s small shareholders.

It may be worthwhile to explore how the directors of BHL are likely to perform vis a vis the performance of the directors of Light & Power Holdings Ltd. when Emera Inc. launched its bid to takeover LPH.

My recollection of the endgame in Emera’s takeover of LPH is that the LPH directors commissioned and received a valuation of approximately $25+ to $32+ per LPH share and recommended that shareholders accept the lower end of the valuation of $25+.  This notwithstanding that LPH’s main business was the provision of an essential service (electricity) and that LPH was a monopoly (only entity providing the essential service that it did).  It certainly appeared that there was a strong case for the directors to recommend to the shareholders that a price nearer to the upper end of the valuation be sought, even if it meant soliciting an alternative bid.

Would BHL be a good fit for Goddard Enterprises Ltd. and would GEL respond favourably to an invitation to bid, even a stock for stock bid, for BHL?

The below link describes the opposition to SLU Beverages Ltd.’s acquisition of its initial equity interest in Banks Holdings Limited at $4 per share in 2010, the same price being offered in 2015 in an attempt to takeover BHL.  But this issue has a wider reach. Sagicor Financial Corporation owns around 6+% in BHL.  While a minority shareholder, SFC has the ability to be heard on this matter and the responsibility to defend its investments on behalf of its many shareholders.

http://www.broadstreetjournalbarbados.com/business-briefs/2011-02-15/shareholders-protest-actions-of-bhl-board

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130 responses to “SLU Beverages Limited Takeover of Banks Holdings Limited (BHL)”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    @Atrue Freeman

    Your last comment appear to be a non sequitur. Why would Sagicor, a minority 6% shareholder, commit to defend other minority shareholders?

  2. Atrue Freeman Avatar
    Atrue Freeman

    David, I am saying that Sagicor itself has many shareholders and a responsibility to defend its (Sagicor’s) investment in BHL on behalf of its (Sagicor’s) many shareholders.

  3. David Avatar
    David

    How significant is Sagicor’s holdings based on current share price?

  4. Atrue Freeman Avatar
    Atrue Freeman

    At Jan 8, 2015, 3,956,722 (6.1%) @ current $3.10 = $12.3 million (@ $4.00 = $15.8 million). Assuming the same investment at present, $3,956,722 will be foregone for every $1 undervalued.

  5. David Avatar
    David

    Thanks, it is a negligible number and it is hard to fathom Sagicor taking an aggressive position against the takeover.

  6. Atrue Freeman Avatar
    Atrue Freeman

    David, not the takeover, the price being offered… And have you noticed Sagicor’s performance in recent years and its dividend that remains at 50% of what it was in better times – $4 million+ is not negligible in these present times.

  7. David Avatar
    David

    Point taken.

  8. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ David
    This blog is incomplete without the below comment submitted a few days ago on the Voice Note blog.

    ++++++++++++++
    Ticked off September 23, 2015 at 8:09 PM #

    The news that Anthony King and his Banks BHL beer cronies plan to sell our world famous national beer to a Saint Lucian company is sickening. There is no line in the national interest that the selfish unpatriotic business tycoons wont cross. The only criteria for the sale of Barbados patrimony and family silver by these folks is to ensure it does not fall into the hands of black Bajans.

    The wholesale sell off of traditional Barbados brand enterprises to Trinidadians was an outrage. The plantocracy descendants who became wildly rich because hundreds of thousands of black Barbadians over hundreds of years purchased their goods and services displayed scant regard for the economy and their fellow citizens when they sold out to Trinidad. The Banks sale to a Brazil company based in Saint Lucia should be halted by government .

    Anthony King, Allan Fields and that lot of mercenaries should be disallowed from offloading companies that became lucrative with Black people’s money to non Barbadian interests. The family silver if it is to be sold must be offered to credit unions and local business interests even small shareholders first before being given away to foreigners under the cover of darkness to make a few business elites richer. Barbados is in dire need of a large dose of patriotism.
    +++++++++++++++

    This is simply a case of the ongoing problem of the white minority being unable to find ANY white talent (however limited) to pass these national treasures on to, and their DETERMINATION not to pass them into BLACK bajan control….however talented some candidates may be…
    Money Brain’s father did it…
    Frank Mcconney did it…
    Allan Fields over did it…
    ….and Tony King is of the same ilk…

    Perhaps when Sir Cave comes to grips fully with his betrayal of BLACK Bajans in this regard, …during the period leading up to, and during his sojourn on the Hill, he will turn his able attention to more modern HISTORY as it relates to Black DIS-enfranchisement. Or perhaps he yet remains TOO CLOSELY indebted to too many of the guilty…..

  9. David Avatar
    David

    It fits in nicely with the Pope’s comment this evening about the downside of globalization and the impact on homogenizing our identify because of it.

  10. de Ingrunt Word Avatar
    de Ingrunt Word

    @Atrue Freeman, to your point of Sagicor’s responsibility to defend it’s investment – which frankly is way beyond the fundamental fiduciary need to increase their shareholders value- can you please clarify at what price Sagicor acquired these shares?

    Although no company would readily leave a possible 28% premium on the table, I would agree with David that the $3.5 M could be ‘negligible’ if the company is already gaining a sizeable profit over their original purchase price and they see this as an opportune time to cash it this investment.

    Your comments suggest also that the price offer of $4.00 does not truly reflect the BHL value and that the Directors should hold out for more.

    Can you provide any details as to why the offer is undervalued and why you perceive that GEL can unlock a better value equation and should thus consider acquiring the brewery and its beverage holdings.

    The national sentiment is well understood and again to your point its seems strange -if I may use that word – that other local maguffies like a GEL or a Bizzy are not keen on holding on to their local gem.

    Is it that worldwide beer consolidation is deeply entrenched and even our local brewery can’t avoid the inevitable!

    And course SLU Beverages has been a long standing partner with BHL so this next step is surely not a shock to the business community.

  11. Atrue Freeman Avatar
    Atrue Freeman

    Here is the link to BHL’s financial reports http://www.thebhlgroup.com/page.cfm?p=archive. Review reports from 2010, when SLU’s initial purchase was made, to the current interim 2015 reports and hopefully you will have a similar conclusion. GEL, or another suitable Barbados public company, because it offers an opportunity for the shareholders to remain invested in the assets.

  12. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Is it that worldwide beer consolidation is deeply entrenched and even our local brewery can’t avoid the inevitable!
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Dee Ingrunt Word always talking shiite bout ‘inevitable’….
    “Inevitable” is what happens to brass bowls and jackasses.
    “Inevitable” is for the reactive, the blind, and the lazy.

    What Inevitable what??!!

    People on the damn blog talking about how to be REAL MEN and WOMEN and how to take control of our destiny …and he up in Canada living off the white people’s largesse and telling us nonsense bout ‘what is inevitable…’

    As ‘Ticked off’ says, these businesses were built on the low wages (sometimes forced labour) of “hundreds of thousands of black Barbadians over hundreds of years” who also purchased their goods and services.
    JUSTICE AND KARMA requires that such inputs by generations of blacks be counted when such decisions as ultimate disposal are made.

    We voted for a pack of black D/BLP jackasses in Parliament to represent such interests, …only to find them loitering at the back steps of the same damn white people looking for bribes and knighthoods.
    We invested in scholars like Hilary to become champions of our JUST causes … only for them to be brought lock, stock and barrel by the same damn white people in exchange for for mock knighthoods, and meaningless appointments….

    ….now we have those who have chosen to become ‘honorary Canadians’ coming on BU with their adopted ‘white’ perspectives – telling us ’bout how it is all ‘inevitable…’

    Inevitable shiite!!!!

  13. David Avatar
    David

    Can we discuss the downside, again, of locals not having significant shareholding in the major companies on the island?

  14. de Ingrunt Word Avatar
    de Ingrunt Word

    Bushie, it’s amusing to see you rant and rave so eloquently. I know that you are a sensible and rational man but I realize that you have this propensity to bluster on the same basic screed regardless of fact or circumstance. Your prerogative good sir.

    I am confident you have the ability to step off your bluster and engage in serious discourse..so onward we go.

    My remark re ‘inevitable’ was based on news re serious consolidation in the US beer market in recent weeks and more generally other world wide consolidations. If you want to deal with facts you would realize that beer consumption is a growth industry in emerging markets even as there are fissures in the US market due to the adoption of more craft beers.

    That has led to the big boys buying up some of the craft breweries and also completing more mergers.

    So when I speak of inevitability it relates to our small brewery having to implement all options compete with regional and worldwide players who are drowning it in suds

    I also looked at the link from @Atrue and was shocked to see that BHL;s net income fell by a whopping 59% between 2007 ($22.8M) to 2011 ($9.3M). It continue dto fall and in 2013 was $5.4M. Bouncing back to $12.5M last year.

    I have not examined the specifics of that precipitous fall (and I am sure that falling beer revenue alone is not the cause). Yet, the overall change in the regional and world market must also affect Banks sales outside of Barbados (among other issues like regional heavy taxation on their products etc etc).

    However, if you simply want to rant about black ownership and such emotive issues that’s certainly your call.

    This matter goes beyond that….

    @David, and who stops locals from making that investment?

    According to Bushie the white owners have precluded Blacks from ownership. I can only presume from that ‘unbiased and rational’ remark that serious black businessmen, employees and others have actually tried to exercise their free will to buy shares/takeover BHL but were stopped based on the color of their skin.

    It’s one thing to talk of racism in terms of access to the top jobs but in terms of ownership of a publicly traded company it’s beyond amusing to see intelligent men and women adopt such emotive and irrational remarks in order to justify their personal biases.

    Steeupse!

  15. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ David
    What exactly do you mean by “locals not having sufficient shareholdings…”
    Is “shareholding” measured only in dollars held in paper shares?
    There are ‘ways and means’ of restricting such ownership….

    Name a local major company that has not been BUILT on the unfair exploitation of black Bajans over many years.
    Name one where the so-called ‘shareholders’ have not immorally and deceitfully schemed to exclude blacks from owning shares…
    Do you recall the massive circling of white wagons when …(GOD FORBID,) it appeared as if blacks could claim their RIGHTFUL interest in the MUTUAL…?

    Remember how they BROUGHT OUT Hilary and Ann Gittens… gave them ‘big jobs’ and then quietly converted to SAGICOR …which they will now move offshore…?

    In ANY OTHER country, the POLITICAL FORCES that make the LAWS of the land would recognise the rightful ‘shareholdings’ that have accrued to blacks and ensure that the LAWS of the land reflect this ….. with the resulting enfranchisement.

    Instead, we have our politicians raiding CLICO (mimicking the tactics of traditional ‘shareholding’ sector); and being bribed and then manipulated like puppets into embarrassing positions of abject idiocy ..as with Sandals, Bizzy, Maloney, COW, SOL and now the homeless Clare…

    We have our ‘scholars’ being about as impactful as John Boyce has been on Health or Lashley on sport…

    …while all the sacrifices and blood and sweat of our ancestors go to EMERA, C&W, MASSY and BUTCH…. and their descendants are led by Sir Cave up to the back door of the White Empire seeking ‘reparations’….

    Steupsss…
    Brass bowls how ever you look….

  16. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Steupsss
    Look Dee Word….
    Wunna people who live in ‘white-man-land’ where the MAJORITY whites own the MAJORITY of every shiite and where even AFFIRMATIVE action Laws have been passed to ensure that MINORITY blacks have a reasonable chance at enfranchisement CANNOT expect to come here using USA examples when we are talking about BAJAN problems…
    Leave that shiite for Dompey.

    If you don’t know about …or don’t understand BAJAN issues, then buzz off and look for a Canadian blog to talk about your “fissures in the US market due to the adoption of more craft beers.”

    Who gives a shit about the US market…?
    The sale of Banks is all about OWNERSHIP in Barbados…… just as the sale of BL&P was; and that BS&T was….

    If you don’t get that, then you did the right thing to move to Canada…. and you should respect the old Bajan truism about being in church and chapel at the same time…

  17. de Ingrunt Word Avatar
    de Ingrunt Word

    @Atrue, a basic review of BHL reports shows a company share price going in the wrong direction. The company has lost much value. So on the face of it the offer price looks exciting but alas I get your point that there is significant value still in the company and to allow a buyout is another EMERA rape.

    A company like GEL with its food service operations likely use a lot of BHL products already but still there would be additional value that they can unlock with their strong regional presence if it was part of their group.

    An interesting situation.

  18. Gabriel Avatar
    Gabriel

    I think Banks has fallen to the political rules of trade in the sub region and costs of production,so that it cannot compete on a level playing field based in Barbados.My 1960 introductory mite of $100.00 is now worth about $6000.00 It would be a very unfortunate separation personally,having been there at birth so to speak.

  19. de Ingrunt Word Avatar
    de Ingrunt Word

    Bushie, it would do you a whole lot of good if (and excuse me) you would get your head from so far up your backside.

    Surely you know that for example of the serious black owned operations in US. You understand that fellas like Jay Z and P Diddy run diverse conglomerates. Mr Jay is a part-owner in a basketball team; in recent years he established his own talent agency company to rep the millionaire athletes, singers etc.

    There are significant (but surely not enough) black entrepreneurs making much money in the US and pushing back on the ‘system’.

    The above simply stated to say that despite all your ole talk there is serious stuff at work in the US and there is absolutely much to learn and be used for guidance.

    In sum stop being so idiotic with this talk of Barbados’ can’t learn from US or all Barbados issues are so different from the worlds.

    Yes the US has different dynamics that lead to different market circumstances and opportunities but surely you can’t be so stupid to not understand that the same corporate sensibilities and tactics that need to be implemented by the oppressed in Bim to counteract the subterfuge and shenanigans of the oppressors have been done in the US.

    On the market side, the same dynamics in beer market are at play in the regional as the US.

    We can all recall the years Banks would boast of their well earned acclaim from their international beer awards. Oh smart man was that for local marketing only or for positioning Banks also in regional markets.

    Hasn’t Banks introduced new products even as US craft beers have expanded palates with interesting flavors?

    Are you a doofus or simply being deliberately stupid!

    Clearly, you want to talk racial BS and I am interested in discussing the issue in a serious vein so please leff me be. Please. You are a head shaking annoyance at times.

    I look forward to the next time you say stuff with which I agree. Until then, be well and work on those neck shrugs!

    Oh lawd, this must be the second time on BU that such utter asininity pushed my buttons. Steeupse.

  20. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ Gabriel
    I think Banks has fallen to the political rules of trade in the sub region and costs of production,
    ++++++++++++++++
    Banks has fallen victim to years of inept management…. with many totally asinine decisions that were based more on personal and family interests than on shareholder or national interests …and DEFINITELY not based in efficiency or employee interests…
    As a major shareholder and observant Bajan, you cannot possibly have missed that fact…. 🙂

    As a result of the above, you are right that they have ‘fallen to the political rules….’ and even that such a fall was ‘inevitable’….
    HOWEVER…
    The FUNDAMENTAL problem continues to be that NO ATTEMPTS have been made to ensure that the most competent, creative and successful leadership was put in place… and instead incompetent, connected morons have managed to fumbled their way to this situation.

  21. ac Avatar
    ac

    that is the kind of dictatorship mentality bush shit espoused everday, the kind of mentality that communist regimes tolerate, not saying that the companies first choice when selling should not to barbadians, well very few barbadians control the capital to buy big compamies like banks and the very few are leary to invest large sums out of fear of failure, having said the above securing large capital is an en-devour which can only be undertaken through loans from the banking industry and i doubt very much that commercial banks would be willing to underwrite such large loans to a middle class blacks
    Even in the USA blacks obtaining menial loans have to go through many processes and background checks of variuos kind before obtaining a loan.

  22. David Avatar
    David

    @Bushie

    Is it BHL and years of inept management of BS&T? We have become slaves to the business indicators that drive what is an acceptable shareholder value. We are a small country like any household which should live within its means. We support rampant consumption behaviour i.e. BMWs, Mercedes extravagant lifestyle not aligned with national productivity. We mimic the dynamic of a USA with a raw capitalist DNA. Someday we will learn.

  23. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush Tea

    BU is aligned to your view. We have allowed our people/businesses to be swept along with what is popular. Barbados today is a country controlled by others. Errol Barrow’s prophesy has come to past. These hills and fields…

  24. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    BTW Gabriel
    …you had $100 to spare in 1960?
    shiite man … you had a silver spoon den!!
    Hope you know that you averaged about 7.75% interest on that investment over 55 years. Skippa, you would have done MUCH better if you had invested in selling fishcakes…

  25. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ David
    One of these days the truth (- the whole truth,) will be “shouted from the rooftops” (or posted on BU 🙂 ) and you will come to understand the level of shiite that has been perpetrated in this country to maintain a plantation-styled status quo.

    In all fairness, we must appreciate that hundreds of years of breeding Bajan blacks who are conditioned to kow-tow to whites and to say ‘yes massa…’ with a subservient smile – HAD to produce a disposition of self deprecation in a people…. a la AC….

    But shiite man…. this is SIXTY years now….. mean we can’t find a couple hundred freaks ..who have some self-respect? ….who have a self image as a HUMAN BEING of worth?

  26. de Ingrunt Word Avatar
    de Ingrunt Word

    @David, if you making a serious statement and not just blowing fluff please help me to understand your remarks that …

    ” We have allowed our people/businesses to be swept along with what is popular. Barbados today is a country controlled by others. Errol Barrow’s prophesy has come to past.”

    Which country in the globe is NOT swept along with what is popular? I suspect they will soon have Iphones in Iran, even.

    When Barbados exported teachers and policemen and nannies and bus drivers and lawyers and judges and others throughout the region and beyond were we not moving aggressively along the ‘popular’ pathway then too?

    And to which EWB ‘prophecy’ do you refer? The one about mirror images and how we crave the US style and fashion?

    Is that the same EWB that readily embraced the cosmopolitan airs and hubris to the extent that he married a lovely American lass?

    Barrow told us nothing in that regard of which we were not fully aware.

    At which point in any of our lives did we not expect that the people on this 166 sq miles rock which still gets the proverbial cold when the US or UK sneezes would not be so radically changed in soul and character ?

    Mr Blogmaster we are tiny islanders who want big country life style and don’t have what is required to sustain it…we have brought these major problems on ourselves.

    We can blame the DLP for missing out on UWI degrees now but who we gine blame if we don’t get some proper grades at CXC or CAPE?

    Sorry Mr Blogmaster Barbados is controlled by Bajans. Not by ‘others’

    External forces absolutely affect us strongly but we ourselves control all the internal crap that happens daily!

  27. Atrue Freeman Avatar
    Atrue Freeman

    Gabriel September 26, 2015 at 10:17 PM # I think Banks has fallen to the political rules of trade in the sub region and costs of production,so that it cannot compete on a level playing field based in Barbados…

    If this is the case, would BHL’s directors have made the first move to seek a suitable partner or did they… And would cost reduction by producing as many products on as few production lines as practicable be an objective, causing a shift in production to or away from Barbados. How does the new BHL production plant compare to SLU’s production plant in capacity, cost of production…?

  28. balance Avatar
    balance

    “Bush Tea September 26, 2015 at 9:04 PM #

    @ David
    What exactly do you mean by “locals not having sufficient shareholdings…”
    Is “shareholding” measured only in dollars held in paper shares?
    There are ‘ways and means’ of restricting such ownership….

    Name a local major company that has not been BUILT on the unfair exploitation of black Bajans over many years.
    Name one where the so-called ‘shareholders’ have not immorally and deceitfully schemed to exclude blacks from owning shares…
    Do you recall the massive circling of white wagons when …(GOD FORBID,) it appeared as if blacks could claim their RIGHTFUL interest in the MUTUAL…?

    Remember how they BROUGHT OUT Hilary and Ann Gittens… gave them ‘big jobs’ and then quietly converted to SAGICOR …which they will now move offshore…?

    In ANY OTHER country, the POLITICAL FORCES that make the LAWS of the land would recognise the rightful ‘shareholdings’ that have accrued to blacks and ensure that the LAWS of the land reflect this ….. with the resulting enfranchisement.

    Instead, we have our politicians raiding CLICO (mimicking the tactics of traditional ‘shareholding’ sector); and being bribed and then manipulated like puppets into embarrassing positions of abject idiocy ..as with Sandals, Bizzy, Maloney, COW, SOL and now the homeless Clare…

    We have our ‘scholars’ being about as impactful as John Boyce has been on Health or Lashley on sport…

    …while all the sacrifices and blood and sweat of our ancestors go to EMERA, C&W, MASSY and BUTCH…. and their descendants are led by Sir Cave up to the back door of the White Empire seeking ‘reparations’….

    Steupsss…
    Brass bowls how ever you look….”

    Required reading very very true Bushie in every sense of the word.

  29. balance Avatar
    balance

    “his is simply a case of the ongoing problem of the white minority being unable to find ANY white talent (however limited) to pass these national treasures on to, and their DETERMINATION not to pass them into BLACK bajan control….however talented some candidates may be…
    Money Brain’s father did it…
    Frank Mcconney did it…
    Allan Fields over did it…
    ….and Tony King is of the same ilk…

    Perhaps when Sir Cave comes to grips fully with his betrayal of BLACK Bajans in this regard, …during the period leading up to, and during his sojourn on the Hill, he will turn his able attention to more modern HISTORY as it relates to Black DIS-enfranchisement. Or perhaps he yet remains TOO CLOSELY indebted to too many of the guilty…..”

    Lord have mercy, Bushie. according to Sandi; you batting like Garry Sobers.

    In plenty and in time of need when this fair land was young our brave forefathers sowed the seed
    from which our land was sprung
    Upward and onward we must go
    inspired exultant free

    Is the above true or false or brassbowlery.

  30. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Bushie,

    There are more than two hundred of us freaks with self-respect and a positive self image. We just don’t recognize each other. There is no trust these days. We think EVERYBODY is wearing the appropriate mask for his or her role in the stage production.

  31. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    I am not in possession of any insider story but I did share a school with Bajan whites for several years so I know how they feel about us. About fifteen years post school I decided to go to Bushy Park to see what the fuss was all about. Having no desire to bake in the sun I paid for entry to the Grand Stand. Needing to use the bathroom facilities I made my way there. On entering the bathroom I was met with such glares and stony silence from the large group of Bajan white girls socializing there that if I had given a damn about them I would have run away and wet my pants instead. So things hadn’t changed. And twenty years later my brother’s Bushy Park experience after receiving a free ticket to the pit area before race time says that things still haven’t changed. He didn’t back down either.

    Another strange thing is this. The only Bajan white boy who went to Kolig with my brother and actually recognized him (from the back view at that), walked over and slapped him ’round his head and asked him if he thought he could hide from him committed suicide a few years ago. I believe he was too different to fit in and that probably left him alienated. I know of another unconventional older white Bajan who was abandoned and commited suicide.

    Sooooo, I said all this to say that I believe what Bushie said about the concerted effort to avoid businesses falling into black Barbadians hands. The profile just fits.

    And Balance is right. They cannot find any white talent. If it hadn’t been for the head start through slavery they’d be broke. Too much in breeding.

    I also agree that the politicians sell their souls for thirty pieces of silver and betray us into their hands and with De Word who believes that we through our excessive lifestyles are responsible for our own plight. We could break through if we worked together with a good plan of our own. There IS strength in numbers.

  32. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Never was impressed with Hilary Beckles either. Cave Hill is crap now. More quantity than quality in that output. And if I had any doubts about him they vanished when he got promoted. That is the sort that advances in this neck of the woods.

  33. David Avatar
    David

    @Dee Word

    You cannot be so naive.

    The banking sector is foreign.

    The distributive and retail sectors are heavily concentrated in foreign ownership.

    The media is significantly concentrated in non Bajan ownership.

    We could go on.

    What this means is that key decisions are made for Barbados that affect how we manage who we are as a people.

  34. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    I remember years ago when I was at QC and the Queen of England came to visit. My friends and I had been involved in a satisfying game of rounders when we were unceremoniously summoned to line Constitution Road like little natives to wave at the Queen. Well we stood dutifully in line until the car reached us and may I say that all the Queen saw was our behinds, thankfully not bent over as we were too ladylike for that. Boy, you should have heard the berating we got from those white girls, “So disrespectful!” they cried. “What a disgrace!” The class was split down the middle in opinion. White vs. black.

    It is memories such as these that inform my opinion of these Bajan whites, their attitudes and motives for action. To those who think otherwise – enjoy your beakful of sand!

  35. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Oh, the backsides were still wearing their games shorts, of course.

  36. Gabriel Avatar
    Gabriel

    Much food for thought here.I have observed a lot of what I see posted as it relates to bajan red people aka bajan whites.I don’t know who is responsible for their views but it’s the same in most if not all Caribbean islands and mainland territories.I was surprised to find it in Puerto Rico so it has to be a European subjugative phenomenon but it can be replaced by a continued emphasis on the education of the majority people.If you have no self respect you are open to exploitation of mind and body.Fortunately for me I had a good grammar school education minus the trauma Donna et aux experienced.There was no separation of the boys,all ‘o we did one.

  37. ac Avatar
    ac

    there are two sides to a story first i have to agree with David last comment and by the same token what Dee Word say is true “but we ourselves control all the internal crap that happens daily!
    I believe Dee word last statement points one in a direction that some of us wants to deny and excused
    Remember EWB once suggest that we take a look in the mirror and ased ourselves what mirror image we wish for,
    Obviously our political will to produce such an image was dwarfed looking for quick fixes and continues up to present time we gave up and relinquished our control to others i suspect that Dee Word is correct that we have nobody but be blame but ourselves,

  38. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ David
    “Dee Word …You cannot be so naive.”
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    …pray tell why not?
    What do you need David? …a certificate of naivety?
    Dee Word is a perfect result of a Bajan mixed with a Canadian…..

    The motto of such a being is…
    Keep your ass quiet and….for God’s sake…
    DO NOT ROCK THE BOAT.
    What is to be is to be, and who are we to question it…?

    If you can’t decide on a National language – keep both.
    In everything have quotas for women, blacks, indians, Shiites and Arabs…
    forget competence…
    Take no international position on anything…
    Join a war only if the majority has already joined..

    …Just be sure to create plenty banks and get hold of the natives’ money…

    LOL
    He probably sees nothing wrong with Barbados becoming one large plantation.. owned by Scotia and Emera.

  39. TheObserver Avatar
    TheObserver

    @De igrunt world
    You really have to realize that a lot of financial statements in entertainment news are just bloated figures

    Jay z total stake in the basketball team was reportedly $500,000 and represented one-sixth of 1 percent ownership of the team, — (that’s not “ownership)

    Then there was a guy (Suge Knight) who was always referred to as a mogul, and was a mogul until he got into serious trouble and had to find bail of a few million dollars.

    And 50 cents with hundreds of millions of dollars until he was sued for a few millions dollars.

    Whilst some of these very wealthy, the true worth (of many)n is often much less than the what is printed entertainment news. Don’t believe the hype.

  40. TheObserver Avatar
    TheObserver

    “Whilst some of these entertainers are very wealthy, the truth (worth of many) cannot be gleaned from what is printed in the entertainment news.”

    Excused other errata given above.

    Donna’s and Bush Tea’s contributions to this discussion are outstanding.

  41. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Gabriel,

    Wasn’t any trauma. I grew up in a family of rebels with a cause. Those white girls didn’t bother me. Besides we co-existed peacefully enough with a few minor spats. But it WAS understood that at lunch time the benches by the tennis courts belonged to them. It was their retreat from the strain of interacting with us during class time. Of course that was understood by everybody but my friends and I who staged a takeover of the benches just for a lark. You should have seen their faces when they converged like ants to a nest from all over the school and found us already in possession and having a grand picnic. Priceless!

    Question – you say you all were one. Are you still one?

  42. Dompey Avatar
    Dompey

    Observer

    The federal government is privy the to financial worth of these above individuals, unless their have their financial assets hidden under family and friends names, and so as the federal employees who prepares their annual income tax returns, so it ought not be a big secret as to how much their are actually worth.

    The Forbes Magazine published a list of all the billionaires in America last year, and surprisingly, 50 cent who was purported to be a billionaire wasn’t on that list, so the evidence was telling.

  43. de Ingrunt Word Avatar
    de Ingrunt Word

    @Observer, LOLLL. I accept your admonishing but please note that my quick reference to the ‘entertainers’ was simply to pull names likely more familiar to bloggers.

    I did also casually note that there are several other black entrepreneurs in the mix.

    So there is also Oprah (of course), B.Smith (food service), John Johnson (media, publishing), Robert Johnson (BET), Reginald Lewis (finance) and mucho others.

    There is no hype here. At that level you are either successful from the dint of hard work, some luck, lots of conviction and smarts or you are not.

    Don’t let’s get caught up on the larger than life entertainment folks. There were the attention grabbers.

    Is Donald Trump worth $10B or only $4B? Come on now, are we going to quibble about whether 50 is bankrupt or not or if one of these guys is a millionaire or a multi millionaire or just rich?

    Whether Jay Z is/was a minor owner or a minuscule, minor owner. Was he not at the table and did that not give him more access and help in next steps in building his business empire?

    They ‘game’ and outfox the system at a high level as well as the best.

    You accuse me of hype but you seem to be strangely myopic here!

  44. de Ingrunt Word Avatar
    de Ingrunt Word

    @David, I can only smile with a shake of head at your 7:05 AM remarks.

    When we originally spoke, you said “Barbados today is a country controlled by others.”

    I clearly advised that yes there were strong external forces but that we were wholly responsible for our present predicament. The issue as I understood it was one of daily life and the self determination to change bad practices.

    Just to say. Through all the foreign ownership the country has been Bajan run.

    We live here. We created the mess.

    Why is it naive to state the obvious?

    Are we going to change the situation with this continuous rant or will the change be made when we ourselves initiate it?

    And my naivety tells me that BAJANS sold or otherwise were unable to stop the sale of their distributive and media assets. So either they determined that the decisions that the outsiders made could be controlled to suit their needs (as they STILL controlled the government) or they just didn’t care.

    It is hyperbole (my emphasis) to say that “What this means is that key decisions are made for Barbados that AFFECT how we manage who WE ARE as a PEOPLE.”

    I can now understand how the other islanders felt when Bajans used to be large and in charge all over the place. Irrational but strong xenophobia It was wrong then and its even more wrongheaded now.

  45. Gabriel Avatar
    Gabriel

    Donna
    Yep all ‘o we is still one.Still hailing each other when in sight.You know you are not alone in those apartheid experiences.As fate would have it,in my professional life,I had to manage a superior who came through your same experience next door to you and he bears the scars up to now in his retirement years,from the sight of those guys under the tree.I had to be the go between with the two guys in two different companies but one bearing the scars,the other oblivious to the others’ feelings towards him which had its genesis years ago in hammond time.And he is not alone.At 4 schools,apartheid was the order of the day.Total disrespect perpertrated by the plantocracy,foisting dunces in classrooms among the brilliance of the majority people,yet not seeing them when on the street owing to some misguided philosophy that suggests that the majority people do not exist(they are not human) and therefore they are not seen.

  46. ac Avatar
    ac

    Many members of the NUPW have reported that they have not been paid their salaries.

    They have given the Union until Monday to make things right or else.

  47. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Gabriel,

    I don’t have any scars, though. Who cares what they think of me? I think even less of them. Glad you picked up on the reason why they don’t recognize us. And yes the two “dunciest” girls in our form were both Bajan whites.

  48. Colonel Buggy Avatar
    Colonel Buggy

    Banks, Exactly!!
    http://i.imgur.com/sSPzdM9.jpg?1

  49. balance Avatar
    balance

    “And Balance is right. They cannot find any white talent. If it hadn’t been for the head start through slavery they’d be broke. Too much in breeding.”

    Glad for the recognition donna but was only quoting Bushie. Do not want to steal his thunder. The credit is his or perhaps her.

  50. balance Avatar
    balance

    “Donna September 27, 2015 at 8:28 AM #

    Gabriel,

    . Those white girls didn’t bother me. Besides we co-existed peacefully enough with a few minor spats. But it WAS understood that at lunch time the benches by the tennis courts belonged to them. It was their retreat from the strain of interacting with us during class time”

    Have you ever had the experience of snubbing by persons of your own race because they consider you not in their class?
    Have you ever been met with the question ” wuh you doing here? who invite you here? by persons of your own race sometimes by persons with whom you grew up because they had moved up socially?
    You think white people shunning you because they rightly or wrongly want to strengthen a common bond is worse than rejection by your own kind.

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