They came, they listened, they applauded, and applauded again and again, so loudly you couldn’t hear past the thunder of 200 hands. The clapping exploded from an audience of accomplished women, members of the Corona Society, who had gathered for their annual meeting October 20 in a decorated banquet hall of the British Colonial Hilton, expecting light lunch and hearty camaraderie.
What they got was a whole lot more.
They got a powerful woman delivering a powerful message, telling them to ignore the negative noise around them that could take them down with it, decide who they wanted to be, what they wanted to stand for and begin to shape the future that was in their hands. What was past was past, said Suzanne Black.
“The best is yet to come.”
“In these challenging times, we need to reflect on who we say we are, what we say we want and why we do what we do,” said Black, who has held executive and leadership positions in banking, management, insurance and real estate and earned accolades, admiration, official and private sector recognition, including an honorary doctorate in letters and a medal during the country’s Silver Jubilee. How, she asked the audience, “can I say the best is yet to come” when challenges seem greater than ever before?
“Because so much of what we see, hear and read tends to reflect what is negative that we often tend to overlook what is positive…Getting to the better begins within each of us…The challenge is to choose what you wish to think about and what you say. In other words, do you think with words that will build and effect positive change or do you think with words that portray no light at the end of the tunnel? Our choices are demonstrated through the words we say that reflect the thoughts in our minds.”
Choosing, she said, is not a one-shot deal. “It’s a Monday to Sunday every day deal and it requires that we act with the courage of our words.”
Paraphrasing and crediting Dr. Joseph Murphy’s famous line, “To change our mind is to change our world,” she encouraged the women from bank executives to supermoms to think of change as a ride on a seesaw, fear pulling you down, faith helping you to rise up. Fear of change stops change in its tracks, dooms it, faith in the positive leads to positive words, thoughts, encourages positive thinking people to gather round you. She might have added that if the path to doom is paved with gloom, the path to change is an open field planted with positive seeds.
“No one can make us feel inferior without our permission. No one can make us feel that we cannot achieve desired objectives without our permission,” said the sought-after speaker, a frequent panelist.
“Earlier this year I was interviewed by Dr. Keith Wisdom for his television show Portraits. When asked by Dr. Wisdom about the future of The Bahamas I said that I believed that The Bahamas could become not only a better country but one of the best countries in the world.”
Though Black has a record of about as many firsts as any living Bahamian – first Bahamian to head an offshore bank, first (and only) woman president of the Lyford Cay Club, founder of the Bahamas Women’s Forum, among other achievements, she challenged the audience to action because if the best is yet to come, it has to start with a belief in change. It begins with one person who believes, but grows with conviction and courage and teamwork.
“You are fund-raisers, organizers, professionals, you manage relationships, home and your own lives. I believe there is enough skills power in this room to not only change The Bahamas, but to help change the world, to grow towards the best that is yet to come.”
During the thunderous applause, a clinical psychologist to the writer’s left leaned over and mouthed the words, “Wow, I’ve never seen this room so quiet. These women took in every word. Maybe the best IS yet to come.”
