Yesterday evening the blogmaster was fortunate to tune in to the Voice of Barbados radio station afternoon program hosted by superior radio personality Larry Mayers. He is one of a bare few, Maurice Norville another, who makes a serious attempt to program a message that connects to old Barbados.
Believe it or not his program yesterday featured hills to be found in Barbados with listeners sharing tales about the challenges of driving over Horse Hill in St. Joseph, Baxters Hill in St. Andrew, Bowling Alley Hill which connects St. Joseph to St. John, Sutherland in St. Lucy and a few others back in the day. To anticipate those who will jump in to say Barbados is flat, of course the discussions about hills is in a Barbados context.
November is recognised as the month those who lost lives in the First World War are honoured. Also, it is the month Barbados celebrates its independence from England on 30 November 1966. During this month the blogmaster will welcome our usually loquacious Prime Minister to take a pause from her international schedule to include what some in this forum consider important updates in her Independence Day message.
It seems to the blogmaster that in the last four years with the country lurching from from crisis to crisis and indicator on the misery index doing poorly, we have a people who need to get the mojo back. How do our leaders both political and other in civil society work to restore the confidence of a people?
A good place to begin is to make sure project 1, project 2, project 3, policy 1, policy 2, policy 3 are well researched with relevant information gathered to guarantee efficient implementation. During the process Barbadians – all groups in civil society – must be adequately consulted and treated with respect in the process.
To make Barbados a Republic requires changes to the Constitution of Barbados. The proposed changes are contained in new legislation called the Constitution (Amendment) (No.2) Bill, 2021. This Bill appears to violate the Constitution, so I wrote open letters to the Prime Minister and all Members of Parliament expressing my concerns.
In the Senate, Bills are to be carefully read three times before they are passed. During their first reading, our senators gave their obligatory political speeches, then it was down to business. This Bill allows the politicisation of our armed forces and the Auditor General’s office, and cancels the people’s defence insurance. So I expected the Bill to be rigorously scrutinised.
SUPERHUMAN ABILITIES.
It took me over 50 minutes to read the Bill. But I have ordinary abilities. On 6 October 2021, our Senators read the bill a second time and voted on it, in two minutes and 19 seconds. This was a pedestrian pace, because they read it a third time in all of nine seconds.
Of course, our Senators are not as gifted as our elected Members of Parliament. On 28 September 2021, they accomplished their third reading of the most important piece of legislation they will likely ever read, in two seconds – a farce of the highest order.
GO TO COURT.
When giving her closing arguments on the passage of the Bill in the House of Assembly, our Prime Minister advised those who thought that the Bill was unlawful, to argue their case in the Barbados courts. So, I filed an Application for Judicial Review on 7 October 2021.
The case was heard on 12 October 2021. I represented myself, since I could not find a lawyer willing to represent me. A senior lawyer agreed to be with me in court, to give me advice as a friend of the court. Surprisingly, the Attorney General objected to him being present, since he did not file the Application. The Judge agreed with the Attorney General (AG).
WAKE UP.
I explained to the Court that I simply wanted the AG to explain how the Constitutional amendments were not in breach of Section 49 of the Constitution of Barbados. I noted that if the explanation was persuasive, I would ask the Court to stop the proceedings, and I would accept the costs.
The Judge gave strict deadlines to file the necessary documents. I filed my initial Submissions in half of the time given. The AG was very late and unresponsive, so I filed a Notice of an Application for an Injunction to wake him up. Still no response. Then the press learnt of the case, after it had been quietly ongoing for over one month. Once it was public, the AG filed his Submissions.
FINALLY, AN ARGUMENT.
I finally got to read the AG’s arguments, and found that most of them could be refuted, and the remainder easily addressed. Much of the AG’s Submissions was spent trying to get my claim dismissed – including by claiming that I had no standing.
To have standing in a judicial review application, an applicant must be one of two persons. The first is “a person whose interests are adversely affected by an administrative act or omission” [1]. The Second is “any other person if the Court is satisfied that that person’s application is justifiable in the public interest in the circumstances of the case.” [2]
MAKING STRAW MEN.
I had applied as the Second “any other person”, and argued that fundamentally changing how Barbadians are to be governed is in the public’s interest. The AG used the straw-man defence. He falsely claimed that I was the First person, and then criticised me for not stating the interests that were adversely affected.
I filed a Submission in Response to the AG, responding to all the AG’s new arguments. I explained that I had not applied as the First person but the Second, and quoted from my Affidavit to prove this. For completeness, I also provided the interests that were likely to be adversely affected by the change to a Republic, had I applied as the First person [3].
NATIONAL INTEREST.
Shockingly, the Judge believed the AG’s straw man argument, and stated: “He has not identified if and how his interests are adversely affected.” [4], as if my Submissions in Response did not exist. The judge also noted that he was not persuaded that the application was “justified in the public interest” [4].
Instead of dismissing my claim, as parts of the media have falsely reported, the judge decided the following. “This is a matter of national importance that will see a change in the country’s governmental structure”. He continued. “The public deserves a full discussion on the legal process that facilitated the change. Instead of summarily dismissing the Claimant’s application, I shall examine it against the background of what the law requires.” [5]
NO FAIR DISCUSSION.
The judge then provided his interpretation of Section 49 of the Constitution. He appeared to simply repeat the AG’s arguments, without any discussion or reference to any of my arguments in my Submission in Response. After the Judge gave his judgement, he invited comment.
I asked the Judge why he had not referenced my Submission in Response, which generally disproved the AG’s arguments. The Judge noted that my Submissions in Response was a rehash of my initial Submissions, and he dismissed it. That was very unfortunate.
I had no knowledge of the AG’s arguments in my initial Submissions. Therefore, the only opportunity I had to address them was in my Submissions in Response. Since there has not been a fair discussion of Section 49 of the Constitution in the House of Assembly, the Senate, or the High Court, perhaps one can be gotten in the Court of Appeal.
Grenville Phillips II is a Chartered Structural Engineer. He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com
Happy Independence Barbados. The sacrifices of past generations have brought us to the place where we should be able to succeed in Barbados. One year from now you should be able to look back at this 53rd year of our independence and honestly say that it was your best year ever – despite the severe austerity.
For you to make such a declaration, you must decide now to be and do your best. You must determine that you will be the best son or daughter, sibling, parent, spouse, employer, employee, and friend that you can be.
There will always be challenges in each of these spheres of your existence. That is part of being human and living in a community. You will always make mistakes and so will others, even when everyone is doing their best.
There are things that you can change for the better and things that you cannot, and must simply accept. Therefore, your first step in making this your best year ever is to determine that you will do your best regardless of what mistakes others may make.
In Barbados, our Government has mistakenly led us on an unnecessary path of severe austerity, to our harm. Solutions Barbados published elegant solutions that were independently assessed to achieve over $1B surplus during our first year, without laying off any public workers, reducing their salaries or seeking external funding. We then spent 3 years sharing it with whomever would listen.
Regrettably, both established political parties chose not to listen. So we must all accept their severe austerity of: mass layoffs, increases in the cost of living, and inefficient delivery of poor quality public services. This is inevitable because of the mistaken belief in the heresy that our elected politicians are gods, who can simply speak things into being.
God speaks things into being. We humans cannot do that by ourselves. When we speak a command, we must have a management system for implementing what we have announced, otherwise we look foolish.
Without a proper management system, we will simply declare that garbage collection will improve, but it will not. We will declare that the bus service will improve, but it will not. We will declare that health and educational services will improve, but they will not. We will declare that laid-off persons will be sent home with money, but they will not.
People may try to implement the announced edicts as best as they can, but without a proper management method to guide them, the public must endure the foreseen and inevitable harmful consequences.
All external assessors who analyse Barbados’ economy have concluded that our main problems is the poor management of public services. We have known this for over 20 years, yet both political administrations made the grave error of rejecting the international quality management standard, which has significantly improved the public services of other countries. Instead, both administrations adopted, and we must all tolerate, a very low standard.
For this to be our best year ever, we must accept their gross errors, and do our best in response. The sooner we accept that our success does not depend on the benefits or mistakes of anyone, the faster we will get on the path to success.
For those who have been, or are soon to be laid off, here is my best advice. Place your uncertain hand in the trustworthy hand of our Creator, and perform every responsibility you are given with excellence, whether it is recognised by others or not.
Grenville Phillips II is the President of Solutions Barbados. He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com
A people stood in trance as one flag is lowered and another (THE NATIONAL SYMBOL) was raised while standing at attention, listening to the tones of a new anthem and visioning that their new self-governing nation will move to provide new opportunities, render freedoms, rise standards, facilitate the needy, and set a better future for our children and our children’s children.
Indeed. PILLARS of a new CONSTITUTION set, STATUES/ACTS/LAWS/REGULATION/CODES to dictate, Chambers to guide and direct. Political parties form and Constituencies select their representatives that move into a general election filling the seats of the Chambers. The Government is formed as implementer by CONSENSUS and REFERENDUM of that which will serve for the betterment of its people.
This is the MANDATE and so it is.
OVERSIGHT:
2016
50 years later, How are we standing?
Media headlines are telling the tales, the peoples’ issues are many, the landscape deteriorating/abandoned.
WHY?
Why is their silence in the air?
How did we get to a place:-
where taxes are burdensome dead weights while deficits remain.
where there is massive borrowing and no real tangible evidence is noticeable.
where exploiters of cheap labour are pedestaled while destroying the roll of Workers Unions.
where Privatization is the better option to Governance, making public outcries.
where tourism is exalted and Agriculture is debased.
where consumption leads to communicable diseases.
where health is threatened by garbage, lack of adequate water, insufficient/lack of sustainable medicines and paraphernalia.
where Pharmacies cry out for monies owed yet still providing their services.
where ghost structures stand tall while many seek housing.
how did we get to a place:-
where in 2016 minimum wage does not contribute to National Development while masses are being exploited of energy and unthinkable Labour Laws rule and regulations of employers under false and fictitious contractual “agreements”.
where the Judicial System 360s to white collar crime and Mr.Joe Broke spends time for a tin of Sardines.
where Commercial fraud and injury is openly displayed with no serious pursuit of perpetrators.
where the statue of the englishman remains pinacled while our Icons, Kings and Queens are poorly received.
where the commence chambers operates in stealth while redundancies fail to establish an expanded business sector.
where the MANDATE for policing by an ACT OF LAW still exists in a “PLANTOCRATIC” ideology
while members struggle with brothers and sisters and real crime prove evasive.
where the more I look the more I see.
WHY?…the explanation and remedy.
Uncontrolled by Governments, TIMELINES are changing. The Systems of the 3D matrix are quickly
collapsing and morphing into a new timeline of 5D Dynamics where ultimate benefit to humanity… prospers.
The plan…Humanity first, the environment second and the implementation of new technologies follow.
As a Nation subjected to this revolutionary/evolutionary Divine protocol, now is the time to
take stock of and release/abandon/remove that which does not work in the interest of the collective.
Reverse mind sets, repeal the failing and replace the workable, create and invent from necessity.
BE AWARE OF MANIPULATION, SUBTLE SUGGESTIONS, and exercise DISCERNMENT.
FOR HUMANITY, allow for the…
Release of tied hands by “Letters of intent to withdraw” from Treaties, MOUs, Protocols and contracts.
Abandonment of those Acts that speak to prejudices/exemptions of rule. ACTS, Laws etc, that are
binding/restricting real development and progress. Abandon paper not people.
Recall of representatives that are non-functioning by their Constituencies via an establish a protocol, with Government facilitating it by law. The Constituency’s’ determination supersedes that of Government.
Disclosure, limitation and transparency of Political and Private financial contributions.
Reversal of decisions made that adversely affects proven systems for achieving academic and other successes.
Repeal Acts and Laws that are non-inclusive of any sector or establishment.
Replace ancient landmarks.
Create the environment to succeed, NOT LIMITED, NOT PARTIAL, NOT POLITICAL.
Meaningful avenues for the provision to express visionary ideas and concepts.
Real Independence delivers. Collectively all prospers, it must be forefront of any manifesto as well as those
who sits in the chambers, anything less is non-functioning. I really have nothing to celebrate at this 50 for it seems that in a short time, all that we have proudly achieved has been compromised and contaminated by Deeds in Darkness that are now being exposed. Justice will be served.
ON REFLECTION, this confirms that the 3D matrix is in progress. What I do “celebrate” is the peoples’ fortitude in the present circumstances, the tenacity to demand better and calling a spade a spade. This new timeline and era will harness the expression of our real potential, that of SPIRIThuman, as it unfolds align with Truth, Light, Life and Love.
:
The Spirit of Independence means to me that ‘each individual have been given talents and abilities and should strive to magnify those gifts in appreciation of having received them’. The more we do so our awareness becomes sharpened and embellished as we excel unto perfection in our own unique way. This is the true Spirit of Individuality and Independence!
A good example of the Spirit of Independence and Self-Reliance is a Barbadian gentleman named Mr. Paul Bynoe the Managing Director of B‘s Recycling Barbados. Barbados #1 Recycler B‘s Recycling promotes a cleaner environment, B‘s Recycling Barbados.
A very good friend once taught me, “Humility is Our Friend”. Mr. Paul Bynoe certainly appreciates his humble beginnings, and with persistence and hard work he has forged ahead helping himself and others to be Self-governing. Through his Determinations and Struggles, Barbados is well ahead and a leading example thanks to the vision of Mr. Bynoe who cares not only about the environment but encourage others as well to be conscious of their surroundings. Mr. Bynoe is aware of the importance of raising individuals to higher standards as exemplified by his work ethics and his encouragement of those who work for him. And he is only one example. Nobody handed him his fortune on a silver platter and from what I understood it was by ‘the Sweat of his brow that brought him his Increase’.
What is happening with Barbadians is because of fewer Opportunities that stems from the Fact of Government Overreach? Big Governments are always very inefficient and because of pandering to the people and corruption we are in the position now where 2/3’s of Government revenue is paid to Service Debt. Imagine 2/3’s. The Nursery Rhyme comes to mind, where the little boy down the lane, meaning us” only receive 1/3”s of our increase. The rest is through legalized extractions of the peoples labour. Lots of people believe they’ll be getting free stuff. However a few people actually ARE getting free stuff, at the expense of others. Do you understand what happens when a nation defaults on its loans? Never has a society prospered from taking from someone else by force via uncontrolled Taxation. Society always prospers when the Entrepreneurial Spirit of each individual creates wealth. Collectivism, on the other hand is a scourge on humanity while Individualism is a boon to all humanity. We should always promote individual responsibility, virtue and respect for others and to beware of Envy (It breeds all manner of discontent).
5 Truths You Cannot Disagree With:
You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
What another person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
The Government cannot give anybody anything that the Government does not first Take from somebody else.
You cannot Multiply Wealth by Dividing it.
When half of the people Do Not Have To Work because the other half is Going To Take Care Of Them; and the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what he worked for, That is The Beginning and The End of A Nation.
A Casual Observation…
We have a drought of money in Barbados because of over- reaching Government through high taxation and endless bureaucratic regulations on the people. The result is that businesses are drying up and struggling to meet Payroll. Presently in Barbados we have a drought from the lack of rain fall and many are still experiencing water Shortages Island wide!
We also have a drought Of Leadership and to quote a famous Labour Union citation from the Scriptures, “Where There Is No Vision The People Perish”. In Ancient Days as is recorded in Holy Writ, people turning away from God caused these catastrophes. Do you think God is speaking and we are not listening?
Venezuela what you are experiencing is because of a Socialist Government Rooted in Communism (A Godless Conspiracy) who has now declared a State of Emergency in the Country to complete the Plunder of its people without their Consent! “Now What Liberty Can There Be Where Property Is Taken Away Without Consent”. –Samuel Adams 1772.
Socialism Is Socialism. There are different Degrees of Socialism, but it is All Socialism with guaranteed results of failure. People Voting-in this System of Governance is wilful suicide. Socialism is when you are forced to take money from yourself and give it to a Bureaucracy who promises to give you back a little if ya lucky! However I do not believe in Luck, I believe in making Correct Choices and allowing the consequences to follow!
We must be able to have a System of Governance that allows Free Market Enterprise without all the burdensome regulations and heavy taxation’s.
“Free-market Capitalism is a network of free and voluntary exchanges in which producers work, produce, and exchange their products for the products of others through prices voluntarily arrived at….
Man has rights because they are natural rights. They are grounded in the nature of man: the individual’s capacity for conscious choice, the necessity for him to use his mind and energy to adopt goals and values, to find out about the world, to pursue his ends in order to survive and prosper, his capacity and need to communicate and interact with other human beings and to participate in the division of labor”…
The lifestyles of Barbadians have improved tremendously in the past years. The big picture is not reparations due because of our forefathers were denied an inheritance; it is Opportunities we should seek. I should know, as both sides of my Ancestors were Slaves. I speak as half Barbadian and half Arab “sand negro”. I can relate in both instances, of a great heritage my husband John and I both share.
I was Born in Barbados in the parish of St. John, and lived in Messiah street as a child. My mother was a Reid of Barbadian Irish Ancestry who married Isaac Abraham from Syria. The spirit of Tyranny oppressed both sides of my Ancestry. One side fleeing an oppressive regime leaving the Middle East, while the other side travelled on Slave Ships bound for Barbados.
My husband John was born in Trinidad of Syrian decent. His parents immigrated to Barbados when he was seven years old. Both our families fled Syria as Christians many years ago under similar circumstance as to what we are witnessing now. In the late 1800’s the Ottoman Empire, controlled the Region, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, were not separate as they are now. Our fore fathers land and valuables were stolen and they were made Serfs because they were Christians.
When the Ottoman Empire started to break down, many fled to The Americas in hopes of Freedom and a better way of life. My Father and my husband’s family were the latter generation who were left of this mass migration which started back then. They worked very hard and overcame many barriers including language, culture, reading skills & education while adapting to their new environment, often in rural and inhabited territories. The Inheritance our forefathers received were the Values and Morals that instilled in them the fortitude to overcome at all odds what ever challenges their circumstances presented.
Both John and myself were not born with silver spoons in our mouths. John worked and provided for his family giving me the opportunity to be a stay at home Mom while providing me the chance to develop many skills and talents, to which those that know me can attest. People often say that they are ‘self taught’, I prefer to say ‘God Inspired“ as Steve Jobs attest too, “listening to ones inner voice, and having the courage to follow your own heart and intuition”. Steve Jobs was half Syrian also.
“Your time is limited; so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary”. Steve Jobs
My Husband John was responsible in part for the Legacy of Chefette. He and his brother had a Restaurant back in the day called Cococabana in Fonatbelle and Roti’s was the signature item on the menu. Cococabana would be remembered by the older generation that morphed into Chefette in 1972. John would bring Roti’s from Cococabana to school for me and my classmates. I was seventeen and in attendance when the first Chefette opened 1972. The New generation does not know the origins of Chefette. I know because I was there Oh How History Needs To Be Re-told Least We Forget Our Origins! John helped to build the Company for 31 years, however that is another story yet to be told!
Challenges make Champions was a virtue that we taught our Son Nathan from young. Because of unforeseen circumstances our lives were challenged when John was in his 50’s and as a result we had to start over with very little.
As a result Big John’s was born and was also known for taking Roti to a whole different Dimension of Flavor, Size and Quality, including making their own Dal Pouri Roti Skins. I know because I assisted John in developing and perfecting the Recipes. Because of lack of finance to support the business during a tanking economy and because of outside forces working against us, caused the closer of this unique brand in the quick service industry with tremendous potential of healthier alternatives including more grilling and less frying.
After two years of closure, Nathan said to his Dad, who he calls BIG JOHN, “let us open a Bar & Grill”, which he had desired for some time. Nathan created a whole new concept to Chefette and Big John’s with our assistance. Yet another entirely new concept to what we had previously, now it would be a casual sit-down service concept, rich in hospitality including great food and drinks with generous portions at reasonable prices.
The moral of that story is, although others through their influence and money may take away your livelihood, no one can take away the substance and experience gained of a man. He is what he is and his knowledge can never be taken away. That is why it is so important to build strength of character and to learn as much as we can in this life on all levels possible, because when we depart this life, all material possessions we leave behind and we stand naked before God in the nature of who we have become, whether Good or Evil!
God created each individual uniquely different with gifts and talents to develop according to their desires. We are all given talents according to the law of the harvest or the parable of the Talents. We are each to use our own initiative to grow those gifts given to us. If you remember the person that was given only one in the story, buried theirs and had no increase. That which they had and did not use was taken away and given to another that used their talents.
Failure does not mean that you are a looser; it means getting up and taking your best shot once again with the opportunity to learn by your mistakes. By having learned life valuable lessons gives one with the incentive to do better next time round. In life we can be beaten down or take the opportunity to rise in spite of our challenges.
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed”. Michael Jordan.
How do they fare under laissez-faire? … With this in mind, let us consider the position of the poor, the disabled, and the helpless in a truly capitalist system. What about the poor, the disabled, and the helpless? How do they fare under laissez-faire?
To answer this question, we must bear in mind that very few people are genuinely helpless or unable to support themselves; the great majority of people are capable of acting as their life requires. And if a person chooses to live and is capable of supporting himself, he has a moral responsibility to do so; if he refuses to support himself and, instead, steals, begs, or seeks handouts, he is acting parasitically and immorally.
With this in mind, let us consider the position of the poor, the disabled, and the helpless in a truly capitalist system. But we must take them one at a time, for they are not necessarily one and the same.
As to the poor: Free Enterprise (Capitalism) leaves each individual free to think, work, and make as much money as he is willing and able to earn. No other social system on earth does this. In a capitalist society, if a poor person wants to work his way out of poverty—as countless poor people have done—he is fully free to do so. Of course, if he doesn’t want to, he doesn’t have to; the choice is his to make, and no one can force him one way or the other….
We can all make a difference in making Barbados Great Again, starting with the importance of Individual Responsibility and using our God Given Talents and Abilities To Improve Our Lot!
President of the BHTA, Patricia Affonso-Dass, at the Accra Beach Hotel where she proposed a special court to deal with crimes against tourists – photo credit: Sharon Harding
THE NEW COMMANDMENT OF WHORISM: All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. Therefore:
“BEWARE LEST THOU VIOLATE THE SANCTITY OF THE CAUCASIAN, for his person is holy, and he has been put by God over us to be our great benefactor. If you have to rob and kill somebody, rob and kill your mother your father or you brother, but not the white man. If we should fall out of favour and lose his patronage we will all starve and suffer.”
Does anyone remember when Diana Ross and the Supremes started to sing the first song during our first Independence celebration in Independence square (I think it was the second night) and before you know it, a riot broke out?
I remember standing by JBLeslie enjoying the Supremes as they sang and the next thing I saw was people scampering. My cousin and I took off for Bay Street and headed home. When I went to school the next morning, I heard that two of my school friends were caught in the melee and were arrested that night.
As a member of the Red Cross through my school, and many students from other schools, we participated in the ceremony and parade that was held at the Garrison Savannah. When I was told about our presence, I asked my grandmother for money to buy a new Elite shirt from Fogarty and money to buy material to get a new skirt made.
On the eve of our 46th anniversary of Independence, in much the same way an organization is defined by its employees, so too a nation is defined by its people. I take this opportunity to encourage you and you and you to be the best that you can be and by so doing, our little country will continue to prosper.
I am having a problem understanding Barbados being INDEPENDENT. And the reason is because of the word INDEPENDENCE meaning freedom from rule by another. So If we have been given our INDEPENDENCE from the British, why then would the British have anyone in Barbados representing anything? Please correct me if I am wrong. Knowledge is a good thing to have, and I am seeking all that I am able to find.
So maybe Barbados has another form of INDEPENDENCE which doesn’t include **LIBERTY**? The word LIBERTY means free conditions. If the Governor is appointed by the Queen to be some kind of a mediator within the Parliament of Barbados then we do not have **LIBERTY** which is very **IMPORTANT**. What am I missing here with this situation that I am having a problem understanding? Can someone be as so kind as to explain this to me please if it’s not asking too much?
If these two words **INDEPENDENCE and LIBERTY** aren’t going hand in hand then we don’t have **TOTAL CONTROL**. Am I correct in making an assumption that everyone in Barbados fully understands really what position that we are in?
The Late Right Excellent Errol Walton Barrow at the Garrison on the night of November 30, 1966
For many Barbadians 2009 will be defined by that moment when Ryan Brathwaite won the gold medal at the World Championships. It was the first time Barbados had achieved such a result on the world stage. Its significance months later has not entirely soaked into the psyche of the Bajan. The Brathwaite achievement gave hope to many Bajans who doubted because of our size and limited resources showed that with dedication and commitment along with a good support structure, the sky is the limit. His victory continues to awaken the hopes and dreams of ordinary Barbadians.
Other Barbadians may vote for local Pop and R&B Diva Rihanna who continues to monopolize global song charts, win numerous awards, sign multiple deals; and importantly sustain a level of popularity on the world stage which is unprecedented. Of course 2009 will be remembered by Barbadians as the year when an American lout Chris Brown beat Rihanna and left her battered and bruise. It was a moment in the career of Rihanna when Barbadians and others wondered if she would have the mettle to comeback.
A people stood in trance as one flag is lowered and another (THE NATIONAL SYMBOL) was raised while standing at attention, listening to the tones of a new anthem and visioning that their new self-governing nation will move to provide new opportunities, render freedoms, rise standards, facilitate the needy, and set a better future for our children and our children’s children.
