Ode To A Legacy Yet Fulfilled
What’s in a name? Is it something to be passed on? Does it have meaning? Does it carry weight? Or has power? Is it one’s identity? Or simply what an individual is known as? According to Webster’s dictionary a name “is a word or combination of words by which a person, place, or thing is called or known.” Names then carry significance because they have personal, cultural, familial and historical connections that encompass our identity. They represent who we are, the communities we belong to and even our place in the world.
Why is this relevant one may ask? It’s because the legacy we leave behind is a result of who we are and what we have done. It is the road map left behind for others to follow. A blazing trail of our faith, values, mores, ethics, reputation and assets all rolled into one.
To The Right Honorable Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, you sir epitomize a legacy already created by your forefathers that paved the way for you to take your place in the world. As such Mr. Prime Minister the baton has now been passed to you and given you an even greater opportunity to do the same for the generations to come. As leader of this great nation you have the responsibility of ensuring your name, reputation, values and mores are etched in the history books of time to never be forgotten and carried on. Your tenure in office gives you the chance to create a legacy unparalleled to those before you by doing even greater works than they did.
So how, you may inquire, can your legacy appear and be solidified on the walls of time? Begin, by breaking the bondage of the British influences, utilizing our every own rich culture and history. This can be done by naming the waters in the Western Atlantic Ocean the “Lucayan Sea.” As former RBDF Commodore Tellis Bethel said, “Naming our waters would represent the historic significance of The Bahamas as the birthplace of Modern Americas.” What greater legacy could be had for The Bahamian people than paying homage to the country’s first inhabitants who were direct descendants of the Arawaks that lived along the Bahamian shores for years before they were captured and taken into slavery. Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is desirable than great riches..” (NIV). This renaming would exemplify to the world that we may be small, but we are great people with a rich history and values separate from the British and European influences. That we existed long before colonizers came and decided that we needed to be made more “civilized”. That a legacy had already been established by our progenitors before they were cruelly taken away and uprooted by those who thought less of them. The renaming would symbolize that we embrace who we are, where we came from and proudly take ownership of our birthright.
Secondly, nothing gives one more a sense of accomplishment and pride than possessing land. It is the dream of every Bahamian to one day be able to call the space they reside in theirs. Even more so, when an individual has something tangible to leave behind for their descendents this sense of pride is elevated. Proverbs 13:22 states, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.” Unfortunately, Mr. Prime Minister it is not the privilege of many to be born into a legacy such as yours hence, a reformation of the “Title Act,” would be one of the most historical and unprecedented moves to take place in this country. The idea of every Bahamian being entitled to five acres of Crown Land would automatically give them equity. This then increases the chances of persons becoming entrepreneurs because they would have something of value to present to lending institutions. A commission can be formulated to manage and oversee the distribution of land and ensure transparency. The procedures would then not be so tedious in terms of applying because all Bahamian registered voters would automatically qualify.
As we are well aware, our independence from the British no longer entitles us to receive anything from The Crown nor does the Reparation Act for slavery in the U.S. impact us in anyway. However, you Mr. Prime Minister have the power to alter the state of living and become a living part of the legacy of every Bahamian by reforming the “Title Act”. President James Madison, 4th President of the United States said, “The rights of persons, and the rights of property, are the objects, for the protection of which Government was instituted.” If what President Madison said is to be believed, then Mr. Prime Minister is it not your sovereign duty to ensure that the rights of the Bahamian people are not impinged upon? Is it not the sum total of your job as our leader to protect our lands from being swallowed up by the foreign element? Moreover, obtaining Crown Land in this country is a tedious and arduous process and the success rate for gaining approval is practically non-existent.
In 2021, there were approximately 30,000 applications for Crown Land and less than 50 applicants were approved. However, the foreigners can receive up to 500,000 acres of the same Crown Land we the people are fighting for? How is this inequitable distribution considered just when we as a people still do not value ourselves above others? Hence, the reformation should include a cap being placed upon how much land a foreigner can own, while Crown Land should be left solely for the people of the country. As our forefather Sir Lynden O. Pindling said, ‘If Bahamians are not prepared to stand for and defend their own Bahamas, then ya don’t deserve to have it…” I daresay, Mr. Prime Minister are you willing to defend your people? Are you truly our knight in shining armor, championing us on the road to reclaiming our beloved Bahamaland? Or is it just a false reality, keeping ‘we the people’ bound by the laws of the colonizers of old? Do you believe we should have what our ancestors fought for us to gain? Tell us sir, whose side are you on?
As we conclude this journey of legacy creation another avenue that should be explored is the formulation of a debt commission. This should be set up bipartisanly to focus solely on ways and means of decreasing our debt problems. This commission would comprise of members of the ruling party, the opposition, economists and other qualified individuals to identify and implement profitable ventures to solve this mounting issue. We cannot continue to be an indebted country struggling to survive and call ourselves independent.
Hence, another task of this commission would be to look at ways for us as a country to become self-sufficient and self-reliant. We cannot continue to simply rely on Tourism and Banking to sustain us. “A nation’s strength ultimately consists in what it can do on its own and not what it can borrow from others” (Indira Ghandi). So, the job of this commission would also include ways of creating a market for our indigenous products such as the straw work and jewelry making to become an international brand. They would discuss avenues for us to invest more in feeding ourselves instead of the millions of dollars spent importing food. Recreate the sponging industry, develop the arts and culture, amongst other things.
Our fellow brothers and sisters in the Caribbean are way ahead of us in the game. Some of Jamaica’s exports include: alumina, bauxite, sugar, rum, yams, and chemicals. In Barbados they export mineral fuels, pharmeceuticals, paper and salt. While over in Grenada they export nutmeg, bananas, cocoa, and clothing. Further down in Trinidad, they export natural gas and oil and the list goes on and on. Our Caribbean sisters and brothers have gone a long way to ensuring their economies are sustainable, but what have we done in making these kinds of strides? What we are here in The Bahamas waiting for? As Maya Angelou said, “If you’re going to live, leave a legacy. Make a mark on the world that can’t be erased.” I say to you Mr. Prime Minister, will you leave a mark that can’t be removed? Only time will tell!
