Happy Barbados 48 Year Celebrations. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbados I wish a happy and glorious celebration of 48 Independent Years to those who make Barbados what it is to all people. Now that we are entering the 49th and 50th year (half century), let us all step into our greatness and do what it takes and is necessary to create a Barbados where we all move together forward as one leaving no one behind. We are a group of alumni that contributed and played an important role in the development of Barbados in its transition from an Agricultural industry to a Tourist industry. I remember when our Principal Mr. DaCosta Edwards announced at our prayer gathering one morning that we were going to play an important role in the transition, and requested each of us to educate our parents on the benefits of the Tourist Industry and what it meant to be a country whose industry is dependent on tourism. I remember Premier and Prime Minister Errol Walton Barrow especially because he was the spearhead of the Tourism movement from our industry of Agriculture. He recognized that we, the children of the sharecroppers and sugarcane harvesters, attended high school with the intention of avoiding reaping sugar cane alike our parents; hence, a projected shortage of workers in the fields reaping sugar cane. A little History: He also introduced National Health Insurance and Social Security and expanded free education to all levels. I stood at Seawell International Airport (Grantley Adams International Airport) and watched My Prime Minister Pilot a, United States Air Force Thunderbirds air demonstration squadron of the United States Air Force (USAF) jet, through the sound barrier (what a boom that was) at what looked like ten feet from the runway floor. I also remember that beaming broad smile he had on his face when he dismounted the cockpit and walked toward the roaring crowd. That was a sight for the ages. In 1955, after returning to Barbados in 1950, he was elected to the Barbados Parliament in 1951 as a member of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP). Feeling the fever of anti-colonialism he had inculcated during his student days in London, and displayed during his debates broadcasted on Rediffussion, he quickly became dissatisfied by the incremental approach to change advocated by the party stalwarts (Grantley Adams et al). He founded the Democratic Labour Party as a progressive alternative to the BLP. He became its leader in 1958 and the party won parliamentary elections in 1961 within his constituency of St. John. He served as Premier of Barbados from 1961 until 1966 when, after leading the country to independence from Great Britain, he became Prime Minister. He served continuously in that capacity as well as stints as Minister of Finance, and Minister of Foreign Affairs for the next ten years. Additionally, Premier and Prime Minister E. W. Barrow was a dedicated proponent of regional integration, spearheading the foundation of the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) in 1965. Eight years later CARIFTA evolved into the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), when Prime Minister Barrow, together with Forbes Burnham of Guyana, Dr. Eric Williams of Trinidad & Tobago and Michael Manley of Jamaica enacted the Treaty of Chaguaramas to bolster political and economic relations between the English-speaking Caribbean territories. Remember the Ships Federal Palm and Federal Maple that resulted from the CARIFTA agreements? We as choir members of “The Choir For The Animation Of The Sick And Incapacitated” under the directorship of Harold Rock M.B.E., sailed on those ships when the Choir toured, St Vincent, Dominica, St Lucia, etc. Like I said before, we were a part of the Tourist movement. Beverley Fields vision and comment in her post below is apropos; “I know our country is not in a good place right now as we celebrate 48 years of Independence but things can only get better if everyone put aside their political and personal differences and help to get our country back to be the Gem of the Caribbean.” I challenge each of you to take the action necessary that starts us moving to that space “Gem of The Caribbean”. Let us all agree that in two years, God’s will be done for our 50th year half centaury celebration, we are again once and for all time “Gem Of The Caribbean.” This is my contribution. WaveTenInternational.TheEntrepreneursEmporium/ Al Lashley. Lovingly Divine. Think Globally. Dream Universally. Samurai XV. Festina Lente.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 03:01:03 +0000
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