The One Family Junkanoo and Community Organization congratulates the Shell Saxon Superstars on their Boxing Day 2011 victory. We also extend congratulations to all groups and participants who made the annual parade a wonderful experience for all.
In One Family, our unofficial motto is ‘Warriors don’t cry, and we don’t die’. We therefore have no intention of launching a formal protest regarding the Boxing Day parade results. That does not, however, prevent us from publicly voicing our opinion on the matter.
Jackson Burnside, our late chairman emeritus, always drilled into us that we should win on East Street as well as Bay Street. By this we believe he meant that we must win in the community, that we must use the powerful tool of Junkanoo in the social and economic development of our young people. We have sought to do this sincerely in the entire 18 years of our exciting existence.
We believe that one area of youth development involves sending the clear message to our young people that excel- lence, creativity and ingenuity are to be not only encouraged but rewarded. We believe that our country should be based on a system of merit – if you are the best in anything, then you should be recognized as such, no matter who you are, who your competitors are, or how long you have been in the competition. This is the message that we constantly send our members, that we are ‘Warriors for Excellence’, that we are to challenge ourselves not to be ‘normal’ but to be fearless in pushing the boundaries of creativity and original thinking.
Based on all reports and congratulations that have been pouring in to our group from all sectors of the Junkanoo community and the wider public, we are totally satisfied that our presentation on Bay Street Monday morning was without rival. Tongue in cheek before each parade, we ask ourselves what the powers that be will find as their ‘excuse’ to have us not win this time. If we perform, then our costumes are not up to par. If our costumes are without rival, then our music wasn’t quite up to par. And if all else fails and everything is flawless, then there is some penalty – a penalty that usually should not have impacted the raw score if the raw score was what it should have been in the first place.
It is always some ‘good’ reason why we lost. We are convinced that it will take a superhuman effort for any ‘younger’ group to win in the present judging system. In the hands of the ‘favorite children’ on Bay Street, we are certain that our presentation would have been rewarded with a 200 point victory margin at the very least!
Presently, recycled themes,
old designs and mediocrity appear to reign on Bay Street. If the same old thinking is what it takes to win, then One Family will indeed never win. We refuse to ‘dumb down’ Junkanoo thinking. Our themes and presentations will continue to be new, exciting and different, with execution of theme on the parade, to match.
We therefore assure the general public that regardless of results on Bay Street, One Family will continue to be the original and outstanding group that we know we are. Our commitment to culture goes far beyond what happens on Bay Street. We will show our young people that you keep coming back, and show better than you can tell. This we believe, strengthens the moral fiber of our country, which is so badly needed. And we are grateful that even though the decisions on Bay Street do not go in our favor (this is the second Boxing Day in a row that this has happened), every year more and more people join our group. We invite anyone who is determined to stand for justice and fair play for all of our young Ba- hamians in Junkanoo to join us.
Having said that, over the past few years, there has been speculation that the noticeable decline in participants at the Joe Billy Festival Junkanoo parade and the Fox Hill Emanci- pation Day parade has happened as a result of consistently skewed judging. Let us not let this happen on Bay Street. And in the face of many comments from the general public following the announcement of the results that “it makes no sense to go to see Junkanoo if this is what happens” we further encourage the general public to please continue to support the Junkanoo Corporation New Providence (JCNP) and purchase bleacher tickets, as they work to effect a system that is fair to all.
We thank the general public for your overwhelming endorsement and support. One Family remains committed to the cause of building a better Bahamas through Junkanoo. Warriors for Excellence; indeed we are.
Steering Team, One Family Junkanoo and Community Organization
