Tribune Features Editor Noelle Nicolls penned a poignant review of the fiery presentation that Patricia Glinton-Meicholas delivered at the inaugural Keva M. Bethel Distinguished Lecture at the College of the Bahamas.
The presentation at the Harry C. Moore Library and Information Centre was called “A Modest Proposal towards a Truer Emancipation and a Truer Independence”.
Nicolls says there “was nothing remotely modest” about the presentation, rather, it was “bold, self-assured and unabashed. It was complex and comprehensive, exhaustive even. It was contentious and provoking. And it surely singed the hairs on everyones skin.”
Indeed, it mirrored the sentiments an did justice to the legacy of Dr Bethel, a distinguished educator and scholar who was known for the kind of divergent thinking that makes people uncomfortable.
“In 1993, Dr Bethel published a blueprint for the advancement of education in the Bahamas whch contained ideas that even today would be considered revolutionary.
“Dr Bethel believed school programmes should be adaptable to the needs of the community; she believed the curriculum should have flexibility. Why not have the formal summer break during crawfish season in fishing communities like Abaco, so students could learn the fishing trade without having to miss school?” Nicolls wrote.
Many Bahamians came to believe with dangerous zealotry that we have a specialness which can protect us from all the contretemps of life; that our constitution, or certificate of entitlement, was good for interest free credit and endless drawdowns of privilege with no payback required, said Mrs Glinton-Meicholas.
Nicolls says, “It was not more than five minutes into her presentation and Mrs Glinton-Meicholas had already side-swiped several sacred cows: independence, the constitution, Majority Rule, democracy, the clergy.
“Yes we beat the drums of democracy and parity as the western world dictates, but powerful is the Bahamian desire to create aristocracy, separation of classes, dynastic power and separatist wealth in the colonial mold. Majority Rule has not promoted more freedom but has underwritten new plantations. We have simply recast the tragedy of oppression, new players same script, declared Mrs Glinton-Meicholas.”
So true. The white oligarchy that ruled The Bahamas has been replaced by a group of selfish, criminally-minded black “businessmen”, who are no better, in fact they are worse, than the Bay Street Boys. At least the Bay Street Boys kept the country running. These new black plantation masters are sending this country to hell in a handbag.
“There is no doubt in my mind,” Nicolls says, “that much thought was given by Mrs Glinton-Meicholas into the just way to use the platform of the Keva M. Bethel Distinguished Lecture to speak about education in the Bahamas and the development of the nation.”
“I have every expectation that her formidable paper will go the way of Dr Bethel’s “blueprint for the advancement of education in the Bahamas”. Let us just say, it is still sitting on a shelf. We are simply too enslaved as a society, the article states.
“However, with a little luck, it just might spark a revolution in the minds of a few, who will go forward to champion the cause of freedom and create meaningful change, Nicolls adds. A nice thought, but the revolution of the minds has been going on for several years and has been ignored by both the general public and the powers that be.
Follow the link below to read Noelle’s complete article.
