Looking ahead to Barbados 50th Independence Celebration

In plenty and in time of need…

For all our current economic problems and the failures of a corrupt political class to provide principled, unselfish leadership over the decades, Barbados on our 48th National Independence Day is still a country and a society to be envied.

Millions of people from countries around the world would get down on their knees and thank God if they were blessed enough to have had their navel string buried in Bajan soil. Stand still anywhere on this island for ten minutes and take it all in: even inner B’town’s worst is only a short walk from the salt water and beauty.

And isn’t that the truth? No matter where you are in Barbados you are only a minute or two from beauty the likes of which people from other countries spend thousands of dollars to see and experience for a few days.

The beauty of these fields and hills though, is nothing compared with the beauty of our people, our children and the ordinary folk who give Bim its character and reality.

It is true that we should be worried about the excesses of celebration for lowered achievements and about some of the youth whose activities could not be more ‘un-Bajan’ – but despite these things, can you not ask for assistance from a stranger on this island and still receive a helping hand? Of course you can!

Try that in New Jersey, or Soho. Been there, “have the t-shirt” as they say.

We naturally focus upon the decades, and our 48th anniversary is an uninspiring number compared to our 45th or our 40th. Remember our 30th? Remember the rains and no one cared? Soaked or not the party went on for three days. A bit different from these last two days, yes?

Admittedly things back then looked a bit brighter economically, but it was more than that: the mood was about us as a nation, about our wonderfully rosy future. About us as a people.

A short two years from now and we will be facing our 50th year as an independent, fully sovereign nation.

The question we should be asking ourselves now is not “How shall we celebrate our 50th?”, but “What do we want Barbados to be on our 50th, and what should we do to reach that goal?”