Submitted by Terence Blackett
PURPOSE BEYOND THE CURSE: Reclaiming Barbados’ Future from the Shadows of Violence
Philosophical Anchor: Søren Kierkegaard’s “Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing” meets Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” – “Truth as the unstoppable current that either drowns the deceitful or carries the courageous…”
PREFACE:
DEDICATED TO MY WIFE’S FAMILY WHO LOST A YOUNG MAN 25 YEARS YOUNG TO GUN VIOLENCE ON SATURDAY NIGHT 26TH JULY 2025 @ SCARBOROUGH, CHRIST CHURCH – A STONE’S THROW AWAY FROM THE POLICE STATION
Joshua chapter 7, verse 13, weaves an existential, ethical, and communal reflection into a foreboding, ancient warning: “There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee…”
The Weight of Hidden Brokenness: A Preface to Divine Admonition
These words pierce through ‘millennia’ not merely as ancient judgment, but as an eternal mirror held to the human condition. At their core lies a truth both devastating and liberating: no collective – whether nation, community, or soul – can flourish while harbouring unaddressed “Corruption, Vice or Malevolent Intrigue”. The “accursed thing” is more than Achan’s stolen plunder; it symbolizes the unconfessed fracture festering beneath the surface of our shared existence as modern-day sons and daughters of Abraham.
Philosophically, this passage confronts us with three irreducible realities:
- The Inescapability of Moral Entanglement
We are bound to one another in ways deeper than geography or blood. Like a poisoned root tainting the whole tree, hidden deceit, exploitation, or violence inevitably weakens the body communal. Israel’s defeat at Ai was not military failure but spiritual collapse – a reminder that societies crumble first within before falling without.
- The Illusion of Compartmentalization
Humanity’s great delusion is that we can isolate our transgressions – that private greed, silenced trauma, or systemic injustice will not metastasize. Yet the text thunders: “Thou canst not stand before thine enemies“. The unconfessed sin becomes the unseen crack in the foundation, guaranteeing collapse under pressure.
- The Terrible Mercy of Exposure
God’s demand to “take away the accursed thing“ is not vengeance, but radical grace. It forced ancient Israel – and us (modern Israel) into the purifying fire of truth. For only in dragging darkness into light can healing begin. The alternative is the slow asphyxiation of the soul: a people preserving “ROT” within their walls while blaming the storm outside.
Modern Echoes of an ‘Ancient Curse’
Today, our “accursed things” wear new names:
- The normalized “GOVERNMENT” corruption eroding democracies
- The unhealed wounds and scars of a post-traumatic historical injustice
- The complicity in systems that dehumanize the vulnerable, punishes the weak while the rich and powerful get off scotch-free
Joshua 7:13 strips away our evasions. It declares that “no army, economy, or ideology can protect a society actively preserving its own brokenness”. Victory – whether spiritual, moral, or communal – demands the courage to excavate, excise and eviscerate the buried poison. Until we do, we remain like Israel of old: bewildered in defeat, praying for deliverance – while clinging to the very thing that enslaves us.
This passage is no tribal relic. It is a searing diagnosis of our shared human crisis – and the non-negotiable path to liberation. The divine ultimatum remains: “Remove the accursed thing, or remain kneeling before lesser gods…”
Introduction
The gunshots that shattered the night in Scarborough, just above Oistin’s last evening, is reminiscent of what occurred in Bayland, St. Michael, which did more than claim another young life – they tore at the soul of a nation. Leandrew “Babar” Coward, just 33 years old, was waiting for his mother when multiple bullets ended his journey, leaving behind a 13-year-old daughter and a community drowning in grief. His death is not an isolated tragedy but the latest haemorrhage in Barbados’ unrelenting crisis of violence – a crisis that tempts us to believe the island is “Cursed”. Yet embedded within this pain lies the urgent question: How does a nation historically forged in the crucible of slavery and colonialism transcend this legacy of violence to discover its unifying purpose?
The Visible Curse: Landscapes of Loss and Destroyed Potential
Barbados wears its paradoxes openly. Pristine beaches mask neighbourhoods where young men like Jamar Andre Corbin (34, Fitts Village) are gunned down on their own doorsteps, and where Shawn Leo Phillips – a predator with 18 prior convictions – could rape and murder Melissa Davis, a young mother, as she travelled home by bus. This violence manifests not randomly, but along socioeconomic fault lines:
- Shattered Futures: Each victim represents unrealized potential. Coward was described by friends as “well-liked,” his death creating “a void in the Bayland“. Davis left a 7-year-old daughter who, now 21, confronts the court with the lifelong trauma of maternal loss.
- Generational Echoes: Violence begets violence. When Coward’s daughter grows up fatherless, when Davis’s child testifies that her mother’s murderer “should not be allowed to ruin another life“, the trauma embeds itself in Barbados’ social, economic, moral, spiritual and historical DNA.
- Systemic Vulnerability: The ease with which Phillips – a known violent offender – could reoffend after prison reveals institutional failures. Justice Greaves deemed him “an evil, dangerous stalker, rapist and murderer” who posed a “significant risk to society” – a risk the system failed to contain.
Unearthing the Roots: Beyond Curse to Historical and Structural Trauma
To dismiss this violence as mere “Curse” is to ignore the sedimented layers of history and policy that fertilize its growth. Barbados’ origins as England’s first slave-based sugar economic colony, established patterns of dehumanization and inequality that persist today:
- The Plantocracy Legacy: Founded on the ‘1661 Barbados Slave Code’ that legally categorized Africans as “heathenish, brutish, and uncertain dangerous” chattel, (harping back to so-called Enlightenment philosophers like Thomas Hobbes” – who “Hobbesian State of Nature”) was representative of the island’s internalized violence as a tool of social control. The plantation system concentrated wealth and power while fracturing community bonds – a template for modern disparities.
- Environmental Pressures: Contemporary stressors amplify historical wounds. Barbados ranks among the world’s top 15 water-scarce nations, with tourism development straining coastal ecosystems and fisheries. The collapse of the sea egg fishery due to “overharvesting and illegal fishing” represents both ecological and economic desperation – conditions that fuel illicit economies.
- Cultural Dislocation: Despite a 96.6% literacy rate, Barbados struggles with identity fragmentation. The transition from “Little England” (the mother country that echoes similar shambles) to “Little America” (an asinine glorification of a soon-to-be fallen empire), reflects a nation caught between colonial legacy and neoliberal globalization, eroding traditional social cohesion without replacing it with anchored purpose.
Pathways to Purpose: Reclaiming Agency Through Collective Action
Purpose emerges not by “denying the curse”, but by transforming its diabolical energy into a collective, communal agency of repentance, re-evaluation and restoration. Barbados possesses the intellectual, cultural, and institutional resources to forge such a path:
- Restorative Justice Reformation: Barbados must reimagine its justice system beyond retribution. Phillips’ case reveals the danger of releasing violent offenders without rehabilitation. Investment in prisoner education, mental health treatment, and post-release monitoring – modelled on Norway’s recidivism-reducing-approaches – could prevent such future tragedies. Simultaneously, community-based conflict mediation programs in high-violence parishes can disrupt cycles of retaliation before they escalate.
- Healing Historical Trauma: Confronting the past is medicinal for the soul of a broken nation. Initiatives like the Barbados Museum and slave burial ground memorials should be expanded into national truth-telling processes – where schools must teach not just Caribbean history, but the psychological legacy of enslavement – as artist Risée Chaderton advocates: “A clean break from colonialism is good for our self-esteem“. Cultural renaissance must be more than Tuk music and Crop Over festivals – when the preservation of other African-derived resilience traditions remains untendered.
- Youth Investment Ecosystem: Purpose flourishes where opportunity exists. Barbados should leverage its educational excellence to create:
- Tech Incubators: Harnessing the Welcome Stamp Digital Nomad Program to mentor young Bajans in coding and entrepreneurship.
- Environmental Stewardship: Employing youth in coastal restoration (e.g., Holetown Waterfront Project) and solar energy initiatives, aligning livelihood with national need.
- Arts Guarantees: State-funded grants for young musicians, writers, and artists to explore narratives beyond violence and despair.
Transforming Historical Trauma into Modern Resilience
| Historical Legacy | Modern Challenge | Resilience Strategy |
| Plantation Hierarchy | Wealth Inequality | Cooperative business models; Land trusts |
| Cultural Erasure | Identity Fragmentation | Diasporan literature in schools; African history curriculum en masse |
| Resource Extraction | Water scarcity (60% leakage) | Investment in desalination; Rainwater harvesting incentives |
| Social Fragmentation | Community violence | Parish-level reconciliation councils |
The Unfinished Work: Toward a Barbados ‘Whole Enough’ to Heal
Justice Greaves’ words to Phillips resonate nationally: “Your attitude, the facts of this case, and your record clearly demonstrate that, given any opportunity, you are going to do it again“. Barbados stands at a similar juncture – will it repeat its cycles, or seize this moment of republican rebirth to redefine itself?
The transformation requires courage to address uncomfortable truths:
- Confronting Corruption: The water crisis – with unmetered wells and 60% leakage rates – symbolizes governance failures enabling all other dysfunctions. Transparency in public contracts is non-negotiable.
- Rejecting Tourism Dependence: While tourism employs 1 in 3 Bajans, overreliance creates vulnerability. Investing in medical tech, offshore education, and cultural exports diversifies the economy beyond sun-and-sand.
- Community Guardianship: Policing alone cannot heal the Bayland or Fitts Village. Programs training “violence interrupters” from within affected communities – akin to ‘Chicago’s Cure Violence Model’ – can de-escalate conflicts before guns speak with terminal velocity.
Conclusion: The Dawn Beyond the Long Night
Leandrew Coward’s death and my wife’s niece’s son beneath indifferent stars is a summons, not a surrender. Barbados’ Curse is not fate, but unfinished history – a call to build a society where young men waiting for their mothers are shielded by community, not exposed to the “Wild, Wild West” of bullets. From the “Bussa Rebellion” to the “2021 Republic Declaration”, Bajans have repeatedly turned oppression into purpose. The same resilience that birthed a nation can birth its redemption. What is critical mass at this juncture, is for the nation to remember that although “GOD” maybe a Bajan – He will not tolerate our wickedness, “CORRUPTION” and the blatant sin of violence and murder!
Melissa Davis’s daughter speaks for all grieving Bajans: “I hope he is as miserable as I am”. Yet purpose arises when her pain fuels not vengeance, but a Barbados where no daughter loses her mother to violence, no child her father on a street corner. ‘Beyond the Curse’ lies a covenant: to make the island’s beauty reflect not just its coasts, but its collective soul. The work begins where Coward fell; where that young man fell last night; as his light was so cruelly snuffed out – in the space between utter despair and a vanishing dawn.
Semper Fidelis
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