ISLAND SCENE MAGAZINE

IslandsceneA Publication for The Islands of The Bahamas Vol.1 No.4

In Celebration of Bahamian Women

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contentsIslandscene / Vol. 1/4

2 Islandscene /Vol.1/4

24. Bahama Mamas -In Celebration of Bahamian Women.Magnificent women, hallelujahwomen. Phenomenal, ordinary,courageous, everyday women. Theyare all there – resplendently capturedat the Bahama Mamas’ Public TreasuryArt Program (PTAP) InauguralExhibition (Sept. 2011-Feb. 2012) at thePublic Treasury building, East St.

46. Islands of The Bahamas - Nassau & Paradise Island

8. News Lines

11. The Gullah/Geechee Connection

The character and personality of the Bahamian people owe much to theGullah and Geechee people who live

in South Carolina southern Georgiaand the coastal islands offshore

South Carolina and Georgia.

Welcome to Nassau & Paradise Island,each as unique as its name. You can danceto the beat of Bahamian nightlife, play in

the casinos or explore the unspoiledbeaches. From world-class golf, diving,

boating , fishing and sightseeing tointernational shopping, you’ll find it all on

Nassau/Paradise Island.

Cover art by: Latisha Knowles

53. 50TH Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage MovementFifty years ago the right to vote was a majorachievement for the women of The Baha-mas. Marion Bethel’s documentary chroni-cles the struggle to achieve that right andfeatures the women and men who stoodtogether and made a difference.

West Bay Street Road DiversionProject Completed.

IslandsceneIslandscene magazine is published quar-terly by Benchmark Publishing Co. Ltd.P.O. Box CB-12957, Nassau, Bahamas.Tel: 242.323.3398 - Fax: 242-326-2020. www.islandscenemagazine.com. andEmail: [email protected]

Publisher & Editor-In-ChiefAaron H. Knowles

Business EditorBerencia Isaacs

Art DirectorAaron H. Knowles

Features EditorAshley H. Knowles

Picture EditorAntoine Ferrier

ResearchIrwin McSweeneyTracey S. Knowles

ContributorsCordell ThompsonInderia SaundersMelissa KnowlesCharles Huggins

Gina Morley

CirculationKevin A. Knowles

All rights reserved. Contents copyrighted,2011 by Benchmark Publishing Co. Ltd.Nothing may be reproduced in whole orin part without written permission from thePublisher. Unless mutually specified allletters addressed to Islandscene, its Pub-lishers and Editors, are assumed intendedfor publication. Every effort is made toensure the accuracy of information and thePublisher is not responsible for errors oromissions that may occur. No responsibil-ity accepted for unsolicited material.

Islandscene /Vol. 1/4 3

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P.O. Box CB 12957, Nassau, Bahamas - Tel: 242.323.3398 - Fax: 242.326.2020www:islandscenemagazine.com / Email: [email protected]

4 Islandscene / Vol.1/4

welcomeABOARD

Every year, millions of individuals find it necessary to travel to The Bahamas or within

the country to visit friends or relatives, conduct business transactions or take that

dream vacation.

For many of these travelers, this experience begins with Bahamasair, our national

airline, where customer care is personal. From reservations to baggage collection, we

are driven by a personal desire to do everything to make

Bahamasair your preferred airline.

Bahamasair places steadfast focus on employee develop-

ment and customer care. In this regard, we are committed to

ensuring as far as possible that we consistently deliver an

enjoyable travel experience at a competitive rate from Florida

in the southern USA to Inagua in the southern Bahamas. If

however, at any time you feel that as a customer, we have

fallen short of our goal, we encourage you to take advantage of

our customer feedback programme. We also invite your spe-

cific ideas for product improvement or commendation when a

Bahamasair representative goes beyond the call of duty.

We thank you for choosing Bahamasair, and we look forward to serving you today

and in the future. Welcome aboard!

Sincerely,

The. Hon. Neko C. Grant, I, J.P., M.P.Minister of Public Works & Transport

Islandscene / Vol.1/4 5

newsLINES

Prime Minister, Hubert Ingraham, officially opened the

new diverted West Bay Street at the Baha Mar Resort

on Cable Beach on Friday 11th November.

The realignment of West Bay Street diverts traffic south

of the Baha Mar Resort, nowadays marketed as “Baha Mar:

The Bahamian Riviera,” to facilitate Baha Mar’s mega

development.

The new West Bay Street is being connected to JFK Drive

by a new connector road now under construction extending

from the new segment of West Bay Street to the intersection

of JFK Drive with Gladstone Road.

The connector road is a part of the original plan for the

New Providence Infrastructure Improvement Project which,

save for the Baha Mar Resort Development would have

connected Gladstone Road and JFK Drive to old West Bay

Street in the vicinity of the Cable Beach Police Station.

Prime Minister Ingraham said “The completion of the

connector road linking JFK Drive and West Bay Street will

further advance the Government’s plans to improve the north-

south flow of traffic on New Providence, linking the heavily

populated residential suburbs in southwestern New Providence

to principal work centres in Cable Beach and in downtown

Nassau.

“The existing portion of West Bay Street (from west of

Sulgrave Manor and Breezes Resort to the roundabout in front

of the Sheraton Hotel) will now be conveyed to Baha Mar by

West BayRoad Diversion

Project Completed

“In the great enterprise of transforming ourcapital island we are building on and securing thedreams of many Bahamians.” Prime Minister, Hubert Ingraham.

the Government for the construction of its 1,000 room casino

hotel, 700 room convention hotel, 100,000 sq. ft. casino and

150,000 sq. ft. convention centre and related amenities. West

Bay Street east of Sulgrave Manor will remain and shall be

accessible by the new round-a-bout west of Goodman’s Bay.”

Prime Minister Ingraham said that the newly realigned

portion of West Bay Street falls neatly within the greater New

Providence roadwork development program now progressing

to accommodate the most massive urbanization and community

Officials cheer as West Bay Street is officially opened. From left SarkisIzmirlian, Chairman and CEO of Baha Mar; Prime Minister the Rt.Hon. Hubert Ingraham; Public Works and Transport Minister the Hon.Neko Grant; and The Most Rev’d Patrick Pinder, Archbishop of theRoman Catholic Diocese of The Bahamas and the Turks and CaicosIslands. (BIS Photo/Letisha Henderson)

newsLINES


expansion that has ever occurred on the island. He said that

the very considerable movement of people to the farther

expanses of the island especially to the South, West and East

over the last four decades has now combined with the

development of massive commercial establishments in more

recent time to create an enormous imperative for addressing

the challenges to ground transportation that this presents.

“Projects of the size and scope of Atlantis and Baha Mar”

he continued, “enjoy an especially symbiotic and

complementary relationship with the Bahamian community.

The requirement for improved entry and exit between the

properties, the LPIA and places of interest around the island

and the need for an improved general infrastructure to

Prime Minister Ingraham said that both Bahamians and

visitors to New Providence are guaranteed to enjoy the much

improved and beautifully landscaped thoroughfare whether as

motorists or as pedestrians. “Certainly,” he continued, “those

who have for many years used the West Bay Street median

strip as a part of an exercise route or as the lush backdrop for

photographs of wedding parties or other special family

occasions will find that the replacement walking and jogging

paths and park gardens meet, indeed comfortably surpass, what

was offered in the old median park.

“I note, in a nod to history, that the deviation southward of

West Bay St at Cable Beach is not a new or recent idea. Indeed,

the earliest proposal to shift this principal roadway southward

accommodate the required interaction between these vast

properties and the Bahamian community naturally give

immediate priority to measures that benefit all residents.

“The need to improve and upgrade our road system in New

Providence, to vastly improve the value of publicly supplied

water and electricity, and to upgrade the physical and

organizational quality of the island’s airport and harbour are

without doubt driven by the immediate needs of large and

important investments in our principal economic sector.

Fortunately the success of that sector will enable these

considerable expenditures to be undertaken. That is to say this

huge expenditure is justified in both economic and social

terms.”

affording increased acreage for resort and convention room

development along Cable Beach dates to the early 1980s. So

imminent were those plans at the time that when the Hotel

Corporation constructed what became the Cecil Wallace-

Whitfield Centre, the main entrance to the building was placed

at the rear of the building fronting on what was then intended

to become the new deviated West Bay Street.”

Mr. Ingraham said his government has been involved during

most of the past four years in a planned upgrade and

enhancement of infrastructure on New Providence meant to

transform the island into a world-class destination. “Nassau

Harbour has been deepened permitting calls by the newest and

largest cruise ships”; he continued, “the expansion of Arawak

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham (third from left) chats with Sarkis Izmirlianchairman and CEO of Baha Mar Ltd. Pictured from left is Opposition Leader,Perry Christie, and Public Works and Transport Minister, Neko Grant. (BISPhoto/Letisha Henderson)

Prime Minister, Hubert Ingraham (centre) is pictured on a tour of the new WestBay Street with Sarkis Izmirlian, chairman and CEO of Baha Mar along with hiswife. (BIS Photo/Letisha Henderson)

Islandscene / Vol. 1/4 9

newsLINES

Cay is completed and the transfer of the commercial cargo

port from the city centre to Arawak Cay is underway. The

first phase of the redevelopment of the LPIA is completed

and phase 2 is progressing well.

“It is a wonderful reality that our infrastructural upgrade

is helping to spur economic development generally, to sustain

and create jobs in the important construction sector and

additionally, as in this case, to improve our tourism sector

widening hotel choices available to the very important stopover

visitor market.”

Prime Minister Ingraham said a year ago last month,

discussions between the Government and Baha Mar and its

financiers resulted in an increase in the value of contracts to

in particular in the construction and landscape of this new road

and the new Commercial Village. They have produced first

world quality work and they have completed their contracted

projects on time. Their success, I believe, bodes well for the

success of Bahamian companies bidding on components of the

core project.

“I was very pleased that Mr. Jimmy Mosko provided me

access to the work site during various stages of the road

construction. He was especially proud to point out his

supervisors working alongside the workmen on a Sunday

morning – all committed to getting the job done well and early.

I hope that he was able to win the bonus he was seeking to earn

for coming in ahead of schedule!

be awarded to Bahamian companies in the construction of the

core works of the new Baha Mar Resort from $200 million to

$400 million.

“Baha Mar’s new Commercial Village accommodates a

newly constructed and expanded Cable Beach Police Station

and three banking institutions previously located along old

West Bay Street: the Bank of Nova Scotia, Commonwealth

Bank and Fidelity Bank. And, the development of a new and

improved replacement straw market to be called Pompey’s

Village is taking shape at the entrance to the Village.

“I am especially proud of the first class workmanship

demonstrated by those Bahamian companies already engaged

in the construction of ancillary facilities for the project and

“I am pleased to acknowledge and recognize all those

Bahamian contractors who won substantial contracts in this

early phase of Baha Mar’s development:

· Road works and sidewalks - Bahamas Marine/ISD

Bahamas and Bahamas Hot Mix and Caribbean

Concrete.

· Electrical works by the PDEC Company.

· Commercial Village Construction.

. Commonwealth Bank - Osprey Developers Ltd.

. Police and Fire Station - CGT Contractors.

Pictured above is the Commercial Village where Commonwealth Bank, Fidelity Bank, Scotiabank and the Police and Fire Stations have been relocated. Pictured,above right, are the lighted jogging/footpath and lakefront boardwalks. IslandScene photos / Antoine Ferrier.


newsLINES

. Fidelity Bank - John F.Dunn, and Associates, and

. Scotiabank - Cavalier Construction

“And, I am told some $500,000 has been expended on the

construction of the temporary Pompey Village site

accommodating straw vendors, the daiquiri shack and a number

of kiosks.

“Landscaping has been carried out by Caribbean

Landscape, the Artistic Group, Enviroscape 2000, Creative

Design by Munroe and Oasis Landscape Ltd.

Prime Minister Ingraham also noted that the supervision

of the road works was provided by Reiss Engineering, a

Bahamian owned company based in Florida engaged by the

Bahamas Government.

Prime Minister Ingraham said “this planned mega

redevelopment underway by Baha Mar gives new meaning to

the word ambitious.“The Resort when completed will in

addition to the casino and convention hotels include:

· 200 room luxury hotel;

· 300 room lifestyle hotel;

· 100,000 sq.ft. casino;

· 150,000 sq.ft. standalone convention center;

· Timeshare offerings;

· 20 acre beach and pool grounds;

· 60,000 sq ft retail entertainment village and

· 18-hole signature golf course.

“With the opening of this road, Baha Mar will enjoy access

to a large single-space campus enabling it to bring to fruition

its dream of a Bahamian Riviera over the next three years.

Beyond enjoying the economic benefits arising from this

project, residents of New Providence will also enjoy a scenic,

aesthetically pleasing drive along one of the last remaining

areas of New Providence’s original wetland wilderness,

restored and made accessible for the first time to the

Bahamian public.

“The completion of this 1.25 mile realigned portion of

the West Bay Street,” he continued, “ includes the completion

of five (5) round-a-bouts, a lighted jogging/footpath and lake-

front boardwalks. The finished product conveys, I believe, a

sense of place because of the incorporation of indigenous

resources such as conch shells and native stone into the

landscape design.

“I join the Minister of Public Works & Transport in

expressing the appreciation of the Government of The

Bahamas to Baha Mar for the wonderful training and

employment opportunities being created for Bahamian

workers and for Bahamian business, and I congratulate the

Izmirlian family and very particularly Mr. Sarkis Izmirlian and

extend best wishes to him and his team here at Baha Mar for

the successful completion of this resort development. And,

Sarkis, now that we are opening the new deviated West Bay

Street I remind how much I am looking forward to the early

release of Frank and Phil to assist us with a more timely

completion of the New Providence Road Infrastructure

Improvement Programme. Not that you will need prodding.”

Prime Minister Ingraham expressed his thanks and

appreciation to the Government of the People’s Republic of

China for its role in supporting and facilitating the financing

of this mega development by the China Export Import Bank.

We are especially grateful for the confidence the

financing of this project demonstrates for the future strength

and growth of the economy of The Bahamas.

“I thank also the China State Construction Company and

in particular Mr. Tiger Wu and his team for the work they have

done to date toward the timely completion of the Baha Mar

project which we confidently expect will be structurally sound,

built with excellent quality materials and to the highest

standards.

“In the great enterprise of transforming our capital island

we are building on and securing the dreams of many

Bahamians. This new re-aligned West Bay Street has provided

opportunities for the use of ideas and talents of capable

Bahamian technicians and artists, environmentalists and

planners and construction professionals. We look forward to

more of this in the months and years ahead as the full Baha

Mar story is unveiled” Prime Minister Ingraham said in

closing.


THE GULLAH/GEECHEE

CONNECTIONBy Cordell Thompson

According to European history, The Bahamas

was the first landfall of the Italian explorer

Christopher Columbus on his voyage of

discovery on October 1492. The truth was

that when he arrived in this part of the world, the islands

were already inhabited by Arawak Indians who had

originally migrated from the South American mainland.

They shared a kinship with the Taino and Lucayan Indians

who inhabited Jamaica, Hispaniola and Cuba. In return

for their hospitality, Columbus changed their names, the

names of the places they lived, and he, and later the Spanish

adventurers wiped these gentle people from the human race.

Although considered part of the Caribbean, the islands

that make up The Bahamas are well out in the Atlantic,

stretching more than 650 miles from the eastern coast of

Florida to the south-eastern tip of Cuba. The Tropic of

Cancer runs through the island of Exuma, one of the few

Taino names still attached to the country.

bahamaIslanders

12 IslandScene / Vol.1/4

In 1647 during the time of the English Civil War, a

group of Puritan religious refugees from the royalist

colony of Bermuda, the Eleutheran Adventurers,

founded the first permanent European settlement in The

Bahamas and gave Eleuthera Island its name.

Similar groups of settlers formed governments in The

Bahamas, but the isolated cays sheltered pirates and

wreckers through the 17th century. In 1663, Charles II

granted the Bahamas to the Lord Proprietors of the

Carolinas, but the islands were left entirely to themselves.

After Charles Town (as New Providence was then called)

was destroyed by a joint French and Spanish fleet in 1703,

government issued land grants in Jamaica, Canada and the

Bahamas to a group of British Loyalists who chose the

wrong side in the war.

The sparse population of The Bahamas tripled in a

few years. In 1791, the population of the Bahamas was

2,000 Whites and 2,241 Blacks, but by 1786 it had trebled

to 6,009 Whites and 8,957 Blacks. The new arrivals had

to abandon fairly comfortable lifestyles on the American

mainland and thought to grow cotton and re-create their

plantations systems, but the limestone soil, the boll weevil

and chenille bug put an end to those dreams. After a few

years, the plantations failed and soon both the Black and

the local pirates proclaimed an anarchic “Privateers’

Republic” with Edward Teach better known as Blackbeard

for chief magistrate.

In 1718, the islands became a British Crown Colony,

and the first Royal Governor, a reformed pirate named

Woodes Rogers, expelled the buccaneers who had used

the islands as hideouts. During the American War of

Independence The Bahamas fell briefly to Spanish forces

under General Galvez in 1782.

The modern history of The Bahamas can truly be said

to have begun in the aftermath of the American War of

Independence or the Revolutionary War, when the British

White settlers turned to the sea for a new way of life.

The new arrivals however brought their food, culture,

folkways and most importantly, their language, and although

a British colony from 1670 to Independence in 1973,

culturally and linguistically, the character and personality

of the Bahamian people owe much to the Gullah and

Geechee people who live in South Carolina, southern

Georgia and the coastal islands offshore South Carolina

and Georgia.

Today, the English spoken by the average working class

Bahamian is so close to the Gullah dialect, that Bahamian

migrant workers who found their way to Charleston,


bahamaIslanders

Pictured left to right: Christopher Columbus, General James Edward Oglethorpe, Edward “Blackbeard” Teach and Woodes Rodgers.


bahamaIslanders

Savannah and many parts of Florida and Virginia during

and after the Second World War could easily melt into the

local population at the drop of a phrase. They could do

this because, “they could talk geechee good”. Idioms like

“day clean” for dawn, and “terectly” for “soon” or

“whenever” are still commonly used in both Charleston

and Nassau.

expression and expertise in basket weaving, cotton, indigo,

and rice cultivation, and the unique cuisine that drew on

the rich harvest of the coastal marshlands. She-crab soup,

fish and grits, peas and rice, fried mullet and conch are

still staples at fine eating establishments in Savannah,

Charleston and Buford, South Carolina.

The Gullahs and their mainland cousins, the Geechees

are direct descendants of Africans coming mostly from the

ethnic groups of West Africa and the Bantu of Central

Africa. “Gullah” is believed to be a shortened form or

corruption of N’gola (Angola). There is no difference in

the linguistic structure of Gullah and Sea Island Creole

and Geechee people, the descendants of slaves who have

stoutly maintained folkways, crafts, traditions – even a

language whose origins can be traced back over the centuries

to their homelands in West Africa.

The Gullah people and their traditions are a product

of the Atlantic Slave trade. In the seventy-five years from

the beginning of the 18th century to the declaration of

independence, more than forty percent of the Africans

arriving in the British North Americans Colonies were

quarantined and processed in coastal islands off Georgia

and South Carolina.

As they adapted to their new homes their culture found

than that spoken in the Caribbean and Africa.

The word Geechee is believed to have derived from

the plantations along the Oeechee River that flows through

southeast Georgia to the Atlantic. Although linguists claims

the Geechee dialect has antecedents in another Bantu

dialect, the term Geechee is most commonly used in

Charleston and Gullah is more widespread in Georgia on

the coastal plains and the offshore Sea Islands.

The Gullah/Geechee culture on the coastal islands

remained in almost total obscurity for more than 200 years,

and until fairly recently their communities had seen little

change. While many African traditions have been retained

T he true Gullah/Geechee culture is found in an

area that extends for several hundred miles from

Cape Fear in North Carolina, down to the St. Johns

River in North Florida, near Jacksonville. The area is home

to one of America’s most distinctive cultures, the Gullah

African King on horseback. North African King & advisors.


in the culture, change in the region is now widespread,

often overwhelming, and sometimes threatening this unique

culture.

New bridges and roads have opened the area to

intensive development and tourism, and sprawling resorts

like Hilton Head are sprouting everywhere. Family

cemeteries, archaeological sites and fishing grounds are

being paved over or put off-limits by new owners, and

familiar landmarks stores, churches, schools and houses

are being demolished or replaced with new structures.

However, many grass roots organizations and community

groups are collaborating with preservation societies and

the national trust to educate the public, raise funds and

secure technical assistance for protecting and preserving

structures, landscapes and archaeological sites.

For example, in one of his stories, “How the Alligator

Skin Got Wrinkled,” Harris used the word “Nyam” which

means, “to eat.” The word is still common in Jamaican

dialect and residents of Cat Island and Andros use it to

refer to a shoulder bag used for carrying food when going

to work in the fields. Other idioms, which occur in

Bahamian and Gullah dialect, include:

Tell him, say... Tell him

One man A man

Me one Me alone, only me

Mash up Break, hurt, destroy

The headway I make The speed I make

He rig a plan He made a plan

He jook a fish He speared a fish

Do, for God’s sake Intensification for any

verb

One day more than all One day particularly

He does tief He steals

The Gullah/Geechee language has been the subject

of much study by linguists and ethnographers and there is

even now a Bible in the Gullah/Geechee dialect, and it

reads and sounds Bahamian.

In 1807, the British Parliament passed the Abolition

of the Slave Trade Bill, which made it unlawful for any

British subject to transport slaves. British captains, who

were caught continuing the trade, were fined one hundred

pounds for every slave found on board. The British Navy

bahamaIslanders

The cultures of the Bahamian and The American

South also share a great story-telling tradition, and

many of the themes and motifs suggest a commonAfrican past. But what is remarkable is that researchers

have found one of the largest collections of folktales in the

hemisphere in The Bahamas, over three hundred or more,

and only in Africa are more folktales found and still told

today. These stories speak to an African origin, particularly

the Anansi stories, and show a commonality wherever

Africans were settled in the new world.

Traditionally, parents and grandparents in the Bahamas

draw on B’Booky and B’Rabby folktales to put children

to sleep. These folk-tales have much in common with the

Uncle Remus stories collected over a hundred years ago

by a white Southerner, Joel Chandler Harris.

The Bahamas however is recognized as having one of

the largest collections of folktales of all Africans in the

African Diaspora in the Americas, and their preservation

owes much to the work of Zora Neale Hurston, one of

the leading figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Hurston is

credited with documenting a wide collection of Bahamian

folktales, songs and chants that still enrich The Bahamas.


adopted the practice of intercepting slave traders of other

European nations and depositing their cargo at the nearest

British ports.

for Bahamians. Conch is eaten raw, scorched, or diced

and mixed with hot pepper, celery, tomatoes and onion in

a salad. It is also fried for cracked conch, or cooked with

tomatoes as steamed conch, or with vegetables in chowder.

It is also deep-fried in flour batter to make conch fritters

or “fitters.”

When dried for several months, it is soaked and revived

to make a conch and okra soup. Dried conch is also

“Hurricane Ham” because it can outlast any preserved meat

and is good for any emergency. Restaurants in Charleston

and Savannah serve stew conch with grits with breakfast

just like any respectable restaurant in the Bahamas but

bahamaIslanders

and folkways of the Gullah/Geechee people.

Bahamians like their cousins in Savannah and

Charleston, believe that they have one of the most varied

cuisines in the world which can hold its own against any

recognized regional cuisine.

Bahamians have a way with fish and in a country with

over 100,000 square miles of water, there is a lot of fish

and many ways to prepare it. Bahamians prefer their fish

fried, baked, steamed (with tomato gravy), stewed or

boiled. Popular species include grunts, snappers, groupers,

mackerels, porgy, turbots and sometimes barracudas.

Conchs thrive abundantly in Bahamian waters and this

gastropod has always been a favourite and versatile food

their conch is black from the mud they feed on.

At Hymans, a popular restaurant on Kings Street in

Charleston, one of the most popular items on the menu is

stew fish and grits, a Bahamian staple separated by a few

hundred miles and about the same number of years.

A few years ago, two friends and I drove down from

Atlanta to explore the Gullah/ Geechee country. We took

US 17 and drove through Augusta, (had to go see James

Brown’s statue) and then down to Savannah. It was one

of the most pleasurable excursions for anyone interested

in Southern history and culture and how the Bahamian

culture and history intertwines.

Savannah, is one of the prettiest cites in the Americas

I n the capital city of Nassau, the villages of Gambier,

Adelaide, Carmichael and Fox Hill were home to these

liberated Africans. In Andros, there is still a Congo

Town, and for years a popular basketball team in Fox Hill

went by the name, the Fox Hill Nangoes.

Queen Victoria, but by that time, all Bahamians of

African descent, whether they arrived with the Loyalists,

whether they preceded the Loyalists, or whether they

arrived by other means, were influenced by the culture

African Queen with royal assistants. Image above right: Celebration of the abolition of slavery in Washington, D.C., April 19th 1866. By F. Dielman.


built on a bluff of the Savannah River. The historic district

has 22 squares which vary in size and personalities, and

are lined with majestic magnolias, myrtle and oak trees.

The city was founded by General James Edward

Oglethorpe, a philanthropist and representative of King

George 11, who sent Oglethorpe to create a buffer south

of the Savannah River to protect the Carolinas from Spanish

Florida and French Louisiana.

The city is named after the Savannah River, a word

derived from the tropical grassland that abound in the region

and which the Spanish called Sabana. That word came

from the Taino word Zabana.

The links to Savannah and the Caribbean are strong,

and the city commemorates these connections with

monuments and plaques in many prominent places.

One monument is dedicated to a unit of Black Haitian

soldiers who volunteered for a campaign to capture

Savannah from the British in 1799. Another plaque notes

that in 1776, Prince Hall, an immigrant from Barbados and

14 associates were made Masons by a regular English Army

Lodge. In fact, much of the growth of Savannah was credited

to Barbadian sugar planters who maintained homes in

Savannah which in the 17th and 18th centuries was the major

port of entry for sugar and molasses from the Caribbean.

bahamaIslanders

Our visit to Savannah coincided with a playoff game

with Mychal Thompson and the Los Angeles Lakers

against the Boston Celtics so we had to find a place to

watch the game and we didn’t want to watch it in a hotel

lobby. I asked the Black doorman where would he go to

watch the game, and he mentioned the name of several

establishments in the historic district. I said: “No man, I

want to go where you does go.” He answered then that I

had to go to the Elks club or the VFW (Veterans of Foreign

Wars) club. I said: “now we talkin.” We arrived at the

VFW and ordered beers. There were three of us and the

waiter brought a bucket with a dozen bottles of beer on

ice. I told him we didn’t intend to drink that much. He

Historians say that after Civil War General William

Tecumseh Sherman captured the city of Atlanta

on November 15, 1864, he practicedpsychological warfare by marching his army across the

state to show the local population that the Union Army

had a power that the confederates could not resist. He

abandoned his supply lines and scorched and burnt the

country side from Atlanta to the Atlantic till he finally

captured Savannah on December 21st.

The terrified citizens went out to meet Sherman and asked

him if he had the heart to burn such a beautiful city. Sherman

reconsidered and wrote President Abraham Lincoln that he

was giving him the city as a New Year’s Day present.

Gullah/Geechees: Basket weaver Verra Manigault and C.C. Williams, wood carver and fisherman. Photos by Diedre Laird.


said you get a free bucket of shrimp with the order. I said

that this was my kind of place and by the end of the night

I believe we had two dozen beers and plenty more shrimp

and three free orders of fried catfish.

The atmosphere in the club was just like a regular

night in any club over the hill. Brothers arguing over the

game, nice looking ladies are having an after work cocktail

and waiting for a kind and inviting word from three good

looking guys. We were home, and here is a useful travel

trip, if you want a good time in any city in America, ask

for the VFW or the Elks club. They are mature, safe (You

check your handguns at the door and at the VFW they

have their own backup), and the food is always good and

the drinks cheap.

their descendants for ordinary household use, but which

now commands prices as high as $200 from collectors

who recognize them as works of art.

Our first stop was on St Helen’s Island and the Penn

Centre. This is the heart of Gullah Culture. The Centre

was built by Quakers from Pennsylvania at the end of the

Civil War and is the site of the first free school for freed

slaves. It is one of the most significant African American

historical and cultural institutions in existence today.

The centre supports a rich program of activities that

are designed to preserve the Gullah/Geechee culture and

they include a Land Use and Environment Educational

programs and displays of food, music and handicraft of

the Gullah people of the sea island.

On our visit a local church was having a “cookout”

and the menu was fried shark and okra in rice. We were

enjoying our meal and I asked a young lady her name and

she replied: “Pudding and Tane.” I said: “What?” She

repeated it. She asked if I was from the “Islands” and I

replied that I was. She told me that if I drove down the

road a little bit to another town, there were some people

who talked “bad” just like me. Everywhere we went in

the area, I heard the dialects of Acklins and Andros, and I

heard my father’s voice and the voices of my aunts and

uncles. We kept saying to ourselves: “we know these

people.”

We visited cemeteries where headstones had names

like Glover, Johnston, Murray, and even Malone. What

was interesting was that as we read the local newspapers

those names were associated with African American

businesses. I don’t think we have any Black Malones in

the Bahamas, something or somebody, got lost in the

migration.

I met a white man named Bill Forsythe who was doing

research on his family so I told him that he needed to look

up records at the Anglican Church on Long Island. Many

months later I got a note from him. He had actually gone

bahamaIslanders

Some nights, like on Thursdays at the Elks Club on

Sistrunk Boulevard in Ft. Lauderdale, the food is

free and you can buy a half pint of Dewars. Thebest cracked conch I ever had in my life was at the Elks

Club in Key West.

Savannah is home to one of the largest St. Patrick’s

Day parade in America after New York and Boston, and

for the past eight years, the organizers have invited the

Junkanoo group Barabbas and The Tribe to rock the five

mile route with the sounds of cowbells and goat skin drums.

It is also the largest container seaport on the east coast of

America.

As you drive out of the heart of Savannah, you cross

the Eugene Tallmadge Memorial Bridge which spans

the Savannah River, and you are immediately in the

state of South Carolina, in real country. Mile after mile

of marshes and wetlands, interspersed with abandoned

rice fields and thickly wooded landscapes.

Rice growing was a major industry in the slave period

in The Carolinas and was introduced by African slaves as

was the cultivation of indigo and basket weaving. At

frequent stops along the highway, vendors sell and display

sweetgrass baskets that were once crafted by slaves and

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to Long Island, checked the records and found the record

on that relative who started a family in Long Island but

who returned to The Carolinas and was promptly hung for

being a traitor to the new United Sates of America.This is

a part of the Loyalist migration that we lose sight of in

The Bahamas. The Loyalists were losers.

During the war for American independence many of

them informed on friends and neighbours who lost their

lives, so when their side lost, they had to leave. This was

not in many ways a voluntary migrant or pioneers seeking

a new land, their way of life was not comfortable, or safe,

at the end of the war.

Charleston is the oldest city in the United Sates and

the name is derived from Charles Towne after King Charles

11 of England, who granted the Carolina territory (and the

Bahamas) to eight of his loyal friends, the Lord Proprietors,

in 1663. By the mid 18th century, Charleston had become

a bustling port and commercial centre and the hub of the

Atlantic trade for the Southern colonies. By 1770, it was

the fourth largest port in the colonies after Boston, New

York, and Philadelphia, with a population of 110,000

mostly half of them slaves.

Africans were brought to Charleston through the

Middle Passage first as servants, then as slaves especially

the peoples from the Wolof, Yoruba, Fulani, Ibo and

Malinki tribes. These Africans brought their knowledge

of rice cultivation which plantation owners made into a

successful industry by the mid 1770’s. Slaves from the

Caribbean brought the knowledge of indigo cultivation, an

important dye which became a major export item to

Europe.

Trade between The Carolinas and the Caribbean was

primarily sugar, rum and molasses from Barbados, Cuba

and Jamaica, and seafood from the Bahamas. Up to the

mid 1770’s, one of the most important sources of protein

in the American colonies was turtle, and the waters around

the Bahamas thrived with this food source. The Bahamas

once hosted healthy seal and whale stocks, one of the

reason we have so many islands and cays named after

these two marine species.

The Gullah/Geechee presence in Charleston is

pronounced, evident, and well accepted. The historic slave

market is now a thriving flea market, but pride of place is

reserved for the sweet-grass products. All the stalls at the

main entrances are reserved for these vendors and they

make a good dollar selling baskets, hats, trays and other

quality items that sell for over $150 a pop.

The similarities between Charleston and Nassau are

also fascinating, and why not, we were once owned by the

bahamaIslanders

We visited Beaufort, South Carolina. I like

Beaufort because it’s the home of Joe Frazier

and if you listen to him speak, he is a real

Geechee. Like Savannah, Beaufort is rich in African

American history and produced many Black elected officials

in the period after the Civil War referred to as the

Reconstruction period.

We met Marquetta Goodwine or Queen Quet, the

head of state of the Gullah/Geechee nation. Queen Quet,

a young energetic woman is the driving force of a

movement to keep the Gullah/Geechee language and

culture alive. She was entranced with our dialect and in

several conversations and “lessons” we were able to

improve her delivery of many words and idioms.

Beaufort has a population of just over 200,000 people

which must also mean that Bahamians are one of the largest

Gullah speaking societies in the world.

Every Memorial May the Gullah/Geechee culture is

celebrated in Beaufort at a huge festival now in its 24th year

and considered one of the largest of its kind in the U.S.

Eighty miles up the road from Beaufort is the city of

Charleston celebrated in music and history. Everyone

should know George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” and

Nina Simone’s rendition of “I love you Porgy”. This is

the city that inspired it all.


same people. Charleston’s main street

is Bay Street, and they have a Duke

Street , a Queen Street, a King

Street, a Princess Street, an East

Street, a West Street and of course a

Market Street.

We went to Hymans restaurant on

King Street, and on the menu they had

steamed snapper, fried turbot, conch

soup, she-crab soup and stew fish and

grits. I told the waiter I wanted a tasteof all and he was happy to comply, returning with several

saucers filed with my order.

When I tasted the stew fish I said to my fellow

travellers and confederates: “this is my grandmother’s

food.” There was no difference in the texture and taste

from what I remembered as a child, all they added was a

sprig of parsley on top. One of my companions had the

she-crab soup and when he was

finished, the bowl did not have to

be washed, it was clean.

I had to speak to the owner, the

experience was so overwhelming.

He introduced himself, he was

Jewish, what else, Hyman? I said:

“you didn’t cook this, this is

Bahamian food.” He said “no” to

both questions and invited me to

meet the chefs. I went into a huge kitchen and there were

six young Black men having a good time throwing down

over the pots and cauldrons. I was proud for them, for

me and for all the people of Gullah ancestry.

I left saying to myself, this culture is not going to die

out anytime soon.

bahamaIslanders

Photo by Diedre Laird.


According to Dr. Gail Saunders, in her Foreword tosaid Exhibition, “Women are not only painting, they arepotters, graphic artists and have been described by PatriciaGlinton Meicholas as “among the committed to the conceptof the artists as teacher, as an agent of change in society andas preservationist in terms of culture.”

It is that theme that is embroidered in this exceptional,extraordinary exhibition that encapsulates the awe, magnitudeand diversity of the ‘Bahama Mama.’ “This year we areportraying works from artists, photographers, designers andwriters from a diverse group of women living in TheBahamas, said Eugenia Cartwright, Treasurer of the

BahamaIn Celebration of Bahamian Women

Next to God, we are indebted to Women, first for life

Art by Lowree Tynes.Currently on display at the PTAP Exhibition

Magnificent women, hallelujah women.phenomenal, ordinary, courageous, everydaywomen. They are all there – resplendently

captured at the Bahama Mamas’ Public Treasury Art Program(PTAP) Inaugural Exhibition (September 2011-February2012) at the Public Treasury building, East St.

Women hold up half of the world. Especially in theBahamas where they constitute about 60 % of its populace.Indeed, internationally, they are being recognized among the6 billion that comprise our planet, as having ‘pride of place.’In fact, 3 women were recently awarded the Nobel PeacePrize for their achievements. However, here the walk in theart world was not a smooth one. Women were excluded inthe 2008 “Artists of the Bahamas” and Bahamian Art 1492-1992.

Lowree Tynes“I feel my art is driven mostly by

emotions and my passion to abstract

female figures. Painting is an outlet

for my joys and frustrations. Every

brushstroke is healing to my soul.”


itself and then for making it worth having. Bovee.

by Gina Morley

Commonwealth of The Bahamas. From such humblebeginnings, PTAP presents Bahama Mama celebrating ournative women, representative of the kaleidoscopic Bahamas.‘Keisha Oliver (also an artist), came up with the theme andwe went along with it,” explained PTAP’s Administrator,Laroma Seifert.` The participants are all female, aged 22-29 in the visualarts category and older in the poetry. One photographer,Sacha Hadland, could have been speaking for all artisans,“I like people...trying to capture (the) realness and everyday

Mamas

stories – things we drive past and don’t actually see.” Herpieces are in black and white, colour and depict OlympianAlana Dillette in Vogue mode. Hadland also exploresrepression/ oppression and windows being pathways to thesoul.

Historical in educating its viewers about thecontributions of Bahamian women’s unsung heroines, weare subtly reminded in word, art and mixed media collages.

This treasure throve of collector’s artworks is atestament to the “untrammeled power” inherent in our

women. Intangibles of life, love, reverence, angst,weariness are amplified in colours, textures and tones.Her quintessential pathos is magnified. We see through

these artisans’ eyes the women who do hold up half the sky.

Their calls for parity, diversity, equality are laid bare by the

ubiquitous hallmark of ‘hard work.’

Poets affirm that theme. In Beatify Her, Meicholas

writes, “…beatify her and place the golden crown of her

sainthood on the now silvery head…give rather, the constant

rain of your love and praise and plant fragrant flowers of

honour to perfume the quotient of her well-deserved days.

And, when she lays her blessed head to rest, write. Lest we

forget the history of her deeds, inscribe her name in the book

of our remembrance.”

That same tone and resonance is evident in these classic

snippets from the contributors: Yasmin Glinton , in

Bahamian Woman Lullaby -“...She was tucked away in a

nursing home of her own making. Built on sacrifice missed

opportunities.”

Maelyn Seymour –Major’s Bahamian Woman Long

Island Roses -“…a grand mother the island bleat of sheep

an afternoon of sun Bahamian Woman Long Island Roses

has tissue paper skin makes wind chimes of sea shells bakes

bread…”

Lyn Sweeting’s The Impossible Garden -“…you are

surviving in a place...where everybody know its

impossible…making home in between truth and a hard

place…”

“I am a Bahama Mama because I am a Bahamian

woman who embraces my culture. Bahama Mamas of

the new school represent what Bahamian women are

today... strong, beautful and wise.” Ashley Powell

26 IslandScene / Vol.1/4

Bahama Mamas In Celebration of Bahamian Women

Ashley Powell

Keisha Ellis’ -3 stories about Bahamian women is

telling social commentary… - “(ll) Twenty five. No children.

No boyfriend.. Lesbian? (lV) “I do,” despite your other

women. (Vl) Sons give her Father’s Day cards. (VII) 10

mouths. Five dollars. Miracle worker (VIII) Bank Lane –

‘Not my good boy.” (XIII) Bahamian women strike. Bahamian

economy collapses.”

There is Ashli Fox’s Her Soul speaks of

Islands,“…She is a societal stronghold. Pulling the fabric

of the Bahamian lifestyle. Even with all its rips and dry rot

she manages to sew us all back together…”

Asha Rahming’s Woman’s Work, “We cannot stop/

restoring the fragments/painting the rawness of slit psyche/

guitaring grief into melody…” and from “She Saves

Herself” by the same author, “…she is gasping a new story.”

Unemployment is part of that new story. In Emerging,

the hairstyle could be the problem. Says Leah Eneas, “This

crochet wall hanging is a representation of my current

situation. With no business savvy, I am an actress, I’m an

artist and I am jobless. I consider myself a modern Bahamian

Woman and I wear my hair in Natural Locs. This has resulted

in my inability to get a job in many places of business. I’ve

still got my talent though!!”

Each artist has placed a caption next to their work. It is

helpful.

PTAP’s Bahama Mama’s exhibition is authentic and

Ashely Powell is an artist in every sense of the word.

With her extreme knack for color and vibrancy, she is not one

to exclude any one color from her palette. She enjoys incor-

porating colors that would not generally be used together in

order to express otherwise realistic themes.

She graduated from Queen’s College in 2007 and entered

the Art Program at the College of The Bahamas where she

studied for two years under the tutelage of Sue-Bennet Will-

iams, Heino Schmid, John Cox and Katrina Cartwright. Ashley

is presently studying BA Graphic Design at The Art Institute

of Atlanta and is slated to graduate in the Spring of 2012.

Her current body of work delves into the feminine as it

relates to spirituality and being born with gifts and talents from

above. These talents can’t help but be expressed and it is al-

most as if it is dripping off of us and growing out of our hands.


Continued on page 29.



Carla“We modernBahama Mamasare intrinsicallyconnected to ourcountry and mustnavigate throughits passagewayswhile we balancethe future genera-tion. And on agood day, we areelevated to iconicstatus and hon-oured throughcelebrations ofmotherhoodthrough song,poetry and art.”

Carla Campbell received her BFA in Paintingwith cum laude honours from the University ofMassachusettes in 2005. Campbell has hadseveral solo exhibits and participated in numer-ous group shows since 1998.

Her work can be found in the collections ofnoted Bahamian art patrons such as the lateVincent D’Aguliar.

She is an Art Teacher at the CR WalkerSenior High School in Nassau, Bahamas whereshe has been nspiring the youth of The Bahamasfor the past ten years.Carla says she is also a loving daughter, caringsister, dedicated mother and loyal friend.

She is currently working on several piecesfor an upcoming show.

Campbell


audacious. We see her everywhere ‘mirroring’ us. These

artisans are trailblazers in visual arts, photography, poetry

and mixed media art forms. Bahama Mamas rise like the

eponymous phoenix out of their ashes of drudgery, hard work

and oppression. Mother and child images are prevalent as are

explosions of colour vitality and temperance. Recycled glass,

yarn acrylic and mixed textiles are some of the materials used.

Life – the celebration of it is a theme that dominates.

That fervor is perhaps best captured in Ashley Powell’s

Elation. She explained, “Elation speaks to my expression of

freedom and vindication after a battlefield in my mind over

who I am now and who I’m trying to become.”

Dede Brown’s piece, Ms. Nicey Bernice Elizabeth Brown

that was selected as the feature artwork for PTAP’s

promotional material expresses the same concept. “There are

no limits, there are no rules to my art, and I merely seek to

evoke some sort of response from my viewers, good or bad.”

An exposition in ink and graphite on paper, Ms. Nicey is

a Mastic Point Androsian, born in 1925. She has 10 children

– grand and great grandchildren – she epitomizes the definition

of a true Bahamian woman who currently lives and still works

in Nassau.

Her story which is OUR story, the original Bahama Mama

is a salute to our rich ancestry that is woven together in the

assemblage of the 25 extraordinary artists. They remind us

of the repository of our untapped talents, which are awaiting

an awakening literally and metaphorically. The women are

drenched in history - black woman prototype - big breasts,

lips and hips, profound and compelling .

Part of what makes this exhibition and its images (visual,

graphic and poetic) so enthralling is that it captures the essence

of the everyday ordinary Bahamian. She is laid bare.

Recognizable. Whether in batik, acrylic, yarn or words. She

is present. Relevant. Revered. No art form overpowers the

other. It delivers.

Thea Rutherford sums her up eloquently in Bahamian

Woman:

“If I seem rowdy it’s only cause

I have my family in my fist

and the world on my back

if I flinch

The whole thing falls.

Continued from page 27



Dede Brown“It is very en-

couraging that the

Public Treasury has

decided to establish

an Art Program. I

am honoured and

thrilled to be par-

ticipating.

No doubt this

program will serve

to encourage and

support artists, male

and female, budding

and professional in

our ever growing

arts community.”

Dede was born in Freeport, Grand Bahama in1984. She lived and grew up in Nassau on NewProvidence Island. After graduating from HighSchool Dede enrolled at the Savannah College ofArt & Design in Savannah Georgia where sheearned her BFA in Interior Design with a minor inPhotography.

Returning to Nassau in late 2005 she beganworking as an Interior Designer at a local architec-ture and design firm. In April 2008 Dede joinedPopop studios International Centre for the VisualArts, formerly Dillet’s Guest House where John Coxserves as a Director.

She shares studio space at Popops with herpartner and fellow artist Dylon Rapillard.


After three succesful art exhibi-tions, several frelance art projectsand blossoming career in weddingand portraiture photography, shemade the life-changing decision tobecoming a self-employed, designerand photographer.

Ms. Nicey Bernice Elizabeth Brown



“Bahama Mama

represents all Baha-

mian women that are

strong and indepen-

dent and who know

how to hold their

own.

She is a motiva-

tor; innovator and

self generator.

She spreads her

wisdom and knows

where she come from

and God keeps her

strong.”

~

Latisha Knowles was first introduced to

art at the age of fourteen when she attended

the FINCO Summer Art Program with

Mr. Antonius Roberts. She says “The

experience opened a whole new world for

me.”

Latisha has participated in several of

the Finco Art Exhibitions and Central Bank

of The Bahamas competitions where she

has received many awards and referrals for

new work.

“Everything I have obtained in my adult

life is because of my artistic talent. I am

trying to pass on the legacy to my daughters

Latisha Knowles


who love painting. I know that later on in life, art will help them evolve as women who appreciate art in

every form, because art can make one see in a special way that touches one’s soul.”



Kachelle Knowles

Kachelle Knowles is a 21 year old aspiring

artist based in Nassau, Bahamas. She com-

pleted her Associates of Arts degree at the

College of The Bahamas in June of 2011.

Kachelle will enter Pacific Northwest

College of Art, in Portland, Oregon during the

Spring of 2012 where she will major in Illus-

tration. She is currently engaged as an intern

at the Popop Studio Center for the Visual Arts.

“The Public

Treasury Art

Program is a

Godsend to the

Bahamian art

community. The

country will

never be too

small to open

its arms to

another organ-

ization bent on

the advance-

ment of art,

no matter

what form.”




Keisha OliverKeisha Oliver was born in Nassau, in 1983, where

she lived until moving to London in 1997. She later

pursued her studies at the University for the Creative

Arts where she earned both a Foundation Degree in Art

& Design and a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design.

She went on to complete her Master’s Degree in Graphic

Design at the University of The Arts, London, in 2009.

Apart from her commissioned work she sees herself

as a graphic design author who is passionate about

“making the complex clear” through her editorial designs

where most of her recent work is underpinned by

historical and educational contexts.

As an artist she often uses experimental approaches

which marry text and image. Her recent work embraces

concepts which visualize her interpretations of Bahamian

history and culture.

She currently works as a freelance designer and

My practice is not

tied to a specific

medium. Many

artists identify

themselves by the

primary methods

they work with, but

I see myself as an

artist who adapts

to whatever form

of expression suits

my concept.”


artist with projects in Europe, Africa and The Caribbean. She recently moved

back to The Bahamas to commence work on her sculpture commissioned by

NAD for phase two of the new terminal at the Lynden Pindling International

Airport in Nassau.



Leanne RussellLeanne Russell was born in 1982 and grew up on the small island of

Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos.After obtaining a BA degree in Commerce from St. Mary’s University

in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she returned home in 2002 and went to work inthe hospitality industry.

Driven by the urge to create and the encouragement of her family andco-workers, Leanne took a 2-year sabbatical in 2009 to focus on her craft.

The self-taught painter works in watercolor and acrylic on canvas orreclaimed materials such as recycled antique clapboard shutters.

“Creating an aesthetically-pleasing painting will always be importantto me, but I also strive to be an artist that does not simply conform tomaking marketable art.”


“Elements in mypainting for this exhi-bition bring into play

the beauty, mystery,promise and simulta-

neously the regret,superstition, and

stereotype that beinga Bahama Mama

encompasses.”



Tiffany Barrett

“The Bahama Mama has always been the backbone ofthe Bahamian family. She is strong yet gentle, beautfulyet modest and always unwavering in her faith.”

Tiff (Tiffany) was born in Nassau, and wasintroduced to the art of Batik at the age of eightwhile attending St. Andrews School where sheobtained her early education.

Tiff has always possessed an unparalled lovefor nature and the outdoors. She was one of thefounders of East End Adventures, and was twicenominated for the prestigious Casique Award forher work in Nature/Eco Tourism.

Her creations have been exhibited in artgalleries in Harbour Island, Lyford Cay, ParadiseIsland and the United States.

Mardia Powell While Mardia may appear shy and quiet,her artwork speaks volumes. She has man-aged to capture sharp and tight expressionsof images using fabric.

After a lull in trying to find a muse and adrive to produce artwork, Mardia did muchresearch and as a result, was inspired to doaway with acrylics and watercolor for amuch more tactile medium.

Her recent work expounds on a woman’sbasic need to produce and emotionallyexpress herself.

“My pieces depict the many beautiesin The Bahamas in all their splendourand vibrancies.”




Lyndah Wells With her unique style Lyndah’s workcaptures the beauty of The Islands of theBahamas.

“I explore photography fully. What may seemugly and uninteresting to some reveals itself tome with inherent beauty.

Captivating warm lifestyle stories that holdon to time for the subject. It is my goal to createimages that are memorable and deliver except-ional photography with every press of the shutter.

Photography makes me happy, it allows meto reveal myself and express my creativity. I seethe beauty of light, and that is what photographyis about, light that allows me to capture the mostbeautiful of stories.”




Lillian BladesBlades’ mixed media assemblages, which

often bear an aesthetic kinship to African andAmerican traditional quilting, are her trade-mark. She opts for the challenge of findingnew items from everyday life to use as a med-ium with which to work, rather than implyingimagery with paint.

She feels that the implication and associat-ions of meaning are stronger with actual objectsand their juxtapositions with or on one another.

The process of gathering objects that carryconnotations also stimulate her creative processas she is able to take note of the relationships thatare formed and used as the theme of the quiltedassemblage.

Shorlette FrancisShorlette’s work involves recycling

used glass bottles and jars and processingthem into terrazzo, counter-tops, and art.

“My work is an expression of artisticbeauty, created from discarded andforgotten garbage. Materials that weredestined for destruction and the citydump, are recreated into everlastingprecious pieces.”


46 IslandScene Vol.1/4

I n the heart of New Providence lies the capital of our country.

Welcome to Nassau, bustling hub of The Bahamas since the

shipwrecking days of the legendary pirate Blackbeard.

Prized for its sheltered harbour, history was made and

beautifully preserved here in Victorian mansions, cathedrals, 18th-

century fortresses and a Queen’s Staircase, whose 66 steps lead to a

not-to-be missed view.

Bordering the harbour is Bay Street, Nassau’s oldest thoroughfare

lined with cosmopolitan restaurants and shops. Here, you can buy

goods, from around the world, duty-free, or in our famous Straw

Market, handicrafts you won’t find anywhere else.

Pick your favourite straw hat and explore the rest of the island.

There are botanical gardens to visit, glass-bottom boats to ride and

beaches to bask upon. Then, head to the Cable Beach strip or Paradise

Island, where the nightlife is nonstop, from the glittering casinos to the

stars in the island sky, marking the end of another near-perfect day.

There’s so much to do and see in New Providence, the best place to

start is with an overview of all the plush resorts, colonial forts, local

clubs and international shops found throughout this nonstop island.

The gateway to Nassau is Rawson Square, where you’ll find the

Ministry Of Tourism Information Centre with plenty of brochures,

maps and helpful suggestions. It’s the place to start a free guided

walking tour along the shady streets of Old Nassau or to engage a

horse-drawn surrey for a pleasant excursion around town Just a short

walk from Rawson Square you’ll find Prince George Wharf, the bus-

tling waterfront where cruise ships dock and glass-bottom boats depart

for sea-garden tours.

Nassau & Paradise Island

Islandscene Vol.1/4 47Photography by Antoine Ferrier

Parliament Square in downtown Nassau is the traditionalcentre of the Bahamian Government. Here, picturesquepastel buildings built in the early 1800s by Loyalists

include the Houses of Parliament, the old Colonial Secretary’sOffice, the Supreme Court and marble statue of QueenVictoria.

Each January, April, July and October, the stately SupremeCourt Opening Ceremonies are held, filling the square withpomp and pageantry.

If you were sentenced to a jail term in the early 19thcentury, you probably would have ended up in the octagonalbuilding nearby. The former jail is now the Nassau PublicLibrary, and it houses one of the finest Bahamian bookcollections, fascinating old prints, maps, photos and Arawakartifacts.

In contrast to Old Nassau, Bay Street is very much up-to-the-minute with its cosmopolitan restaurants and shops.Here you can find British woollens, French perfumes, Japanesecameras, Swiss clocks, English china, Italian leather, South

American gems and many more goods from around the world,at duty-free prices.

For original Bahamian handicrafts, our colourful StrawMarket is the place to go where you strike your own bargainon mats, hats, baskets, handbags, jewellery and wood carvings.One block west of the Straw Market is Pompey Museum,home of Bahamian art.

Just a short walk from downtown you’ll find Fort Fincastle,built in 1789 in the shape of a paddle-wheel steamer. Thenearby Water Tower is the highest point on the island, givinga stunning panoramic view from over 200 feet above sea level.

Getting to both is easy .Just climb the Queen’s Staircase,66 steps carved from the limestone hill overlooking Nassauand the harbour.

You’ll likely recognize the Government House even ifyou’ve never been to Nassau. Built in 1801, the elegant pinkand white neoclassical mansion is one of The Bahamas mostphotographed landmarks.

The statue of a proud Columbus on the front steps com-


48 Islandscene Vol.1/4

Parliament Square, downtown, Nassau.

memorates his first landfall in the New World in 1492 on theshores of San Salvador. A change of the Guard ceremonytakes place here at 10 a.m. every other Saturday morning.

Farther west of downtown stands one of Nassau’s mostimpressive forts. Fort Charlotte was built in 1788, completewith a moat, open battlements and dungeons. For all its impos-ing fortifications, it never fired a shot in anger.

One of The Bahamas’ first marching birds is one block west: the famous, flamboyant marching flamingos of

the Ardastra Gardens and Zoo. The tropical gardensand exotic animals here also put on quite a show.

Nearby, the Nassau Botanical Gardens have an extensivecollection of plants native to The Bahamas, as well as lilypools, tropical fish, cactus gardens and a quarry stone grotto.

Arawak Cay, located on West Bay Street across the streetfrom historic Fort Charlotte, is a nice spot for a quick, localstyle lunch. Known to the Nassau residents as “The Fish Fry.”Arawak Cay is one of the best places to chat with locals.

Heading farther west, you’ll notice you’ve left the quickpace of Nassau behind. Indeed, the winding section of WestBay Street that leads to Cable Beach is nicknamed “Go SlowBend,” as people frequently stop to view the luxurious resorts,restaurants, shops and beautiful beaches.

Beyond Cable Beach, the road curves along the coastthrough a series of small villages and quiet beaches, revealingstunning views of the ocean around each bend.

The Caves, carved out of limestone by the waves, aresaid to have sheltered Arawak Indians long ago. Just beyondthe historic hilltop of Gambier Village is Love Beach, said tobe the prettiest stretch of sand on New Providence. Theunderwater view rivals that of the scenery above water withits acres of sea gardens and colorful coral reefs.

The road continues along the southwest coast of the island,then winds its way past the Clifton Heritage Park then eastpast the historic villages of Adelaide and Carmichael and apine forest dotted with palmetto palms.

On the eastern part of New Providence you’ll find The

Islandscene Vol.1/4 49

Fort Montagu.


Retreat, the headquarters for our national parks, with one ofthe largest private collections of exotic palms in the world.

Both New Providence’s oldest fort and The Bahamas’oldest church are nearby. Fort Montagu was built in 1741,and unlike Fort Charlotte and Fort Fincastle, saw action whenit was seized for one day by the Americans during theRevolutionary War.

St. Matthews Church, noted by its unusual tower andsteeple, opened for service in 1802 and still retains its originalstained-glass window.

Next is the bridge to Paradise. But before you walk,cycle or drive over it, be sure to visit the lively fruitand vegetable market and Bahamian food vendors on

Potter’s Cay.The bustling market here at Potter’s Cay is where fish-

ermen bring their fresh catch of the day and where farmersship their fresh fruit and vegetables. The pace is alwayspleasantly busy from the locals cracking conch to the mailboatshauling their goods from The Islands.

Once over on Paradise Island, the winding street is linedwith plush resorts, fine shops and gourmet restaurants.

The lush, peaceful Versailles Gardens are on the easternpart of the island with statues, fountains and elegant terracesthat lead to the French Cloisters, stately columns that overlookthe Nassau Harbour. Built in the 14th century by Augustinianmonks, the Cloisters were shipped here 600 years later.

The lovely Paradise Island beach is a perfect place torelax. It’s also one of the many places to delve into NewProvidence’s many sports.

You can dive, windsurf or waterski almost everywhere inNassau and Paradise Island, and learn to parasail at majorNassau and Paradise Island Hotels.

New Providence has excellent dive sites. There are shallowreefs, deep blue holes, old shipwrecks, caves, drarnatic drop-offs and colourful sea gardens surrounding the island.

Two James Bond thrillers were filmed in these waters:Thunderball, shot in the shallow Thunderball Reef and NeverSay Never Again, filmed on location in one of The Bahamas’most spectacular shipwrecks.

Boats of any size can be chartered for hours or days at atime, from marinas along the north eastern shore of NewProvidence. Big game fishing, reef fishing and tackle fishingare also popular, fully equipped boats are available for half-and full-day charters. Various tournaments are held throughoutthe year.

One of the inviting things about New Providence is thatyou can enjoy both water and land-based sports in the samevacation.

The Bahamas is an official golf destination of the PGATour and PGA of America. You can play a round of golf inNassau, Cable Beach or Paradise Island on your choice oftwo top-rated courses: Cable Beach Golf Course (7,040 yds.and The Paradise Island Golf Club (6,770 yds., par-72).



Paradise Island Bridges. Photography by Antoine Ferrier. The Cloisters, Paradise Island.

Tennis buffs have no fewer than 100 courts from whichto choose at hotels and resorts throughout Nassau, Cable Beachand Paradise Island. Many courts are lighted for evening play.Instruction in daily clinics and private lessons are also standardat most large resorts. Tennis tournaments are part ofthe year’s calendar of events.

Celebrations

Our country is known for its variety of exciting festivalsand we’d love to have you join in the fun.

On December 26, we celebrate our most famous festivalof all, Junkanoo. Rest up: the festivities don’t even begin until3 a.m. For this thrilling African-borne festival, thousands ofrevellers parade through downtown Nassau in spectacularcostumes and masks, setting the night ablaze with colour. Thepulsating rhythm of cowbells, horns and whistles, and goatskindrums can be heard for miles as the dancers compete forprizes awarded to the best costumes, music and performances.

On New Year’s Day, the entire entourage comes back fora stunning repeat performance.

There is an intense rivalry between groups to create themost colourful, imaginative costumes. In fact, many groupsbegin creating their costumes as early as August, thoughcostume themes are a closely guarded secret until the actualevent.

Discovery Day, October 12 commemorates Columbus’landing on San Salvador in 1492.

July 10 marks the anniversary of the independence ofThe Bahama Islands with parades and fireworks throughoutthe week.

Emancipation Day, the first Monday in August,commemorates the liberation of slaves in 1834. Fox Hill Dayis celebrated the following Tuesday with a variety of culturalevents.

Dining

All this activity is bound to make you hungry. New Provi-dence offers many choices in the way of dining: European,American, Chinese, Greek, Polynesian but our Bahamian faretops the list.

Bahamians have depended on conch and fish for centuries,and have learned a wizardry with the foods of the sea that willdelight and tingle the palate.

Everyone who visits the Bahama Islands should try ournative specialities at least once. Conch fritters, grouper fingers,peas’n rice, boiled fish, johnnycake and guava duff are just afew of our tasty dishes, all of which go nicely with our famoustropical drinks.

Dining can mean anything from informal beach barbecuesto casual cafes to romantic gourmet restaurants withbreathtaking views. You decide.

Nightlife

There aren’t enough hours in a day to experience all thenightlife New Providence has to offer .

In Nassau and Paradise Island, you can choose frombistros, nightclubs, discos and two of the most spectacularcasinos that are to be found anywhere.

There are bands that play everything from Jazz toCalypso music to our own “Rake ‘n Scrape” and “Junkanoo.”

The two casinos, one on Paradise Island and the otherlocated on Nassau offer slot machines and a complete select-ion of games, including blackjack, roulette and baccarat. Theywill also teach you how to play if it’s your first try. Guestsover 18 may gamble.

The Dundas Centre, Nassau’s performing arts theatre,stages plays and performances by local troupes and out-of-town artists throughout the year.

Getting Around

So now that you know the places to go, how do you getaround? There are taxi-cabs at the airport, downtown Nassauand major hotels; rental cars at the airport and various loca-tions (please remember, we drive on the left side of the road);motor scooters at hotels and in downtown Nassau (helmetsare compulsory); rental bicycles at various locations and jit-neys that run throughout the island from 6:00 a.m. to 6:30p.m. If you’re not in a big hurry (you’re on vacation, afterall) try some of our more scenic ways of getting about NewProvidence.

We have day cruises to nearby islands where you cansun, swim and snorkel; catamaran sightseeing tours and ro-mantic dinner cruises through the Nassau Harbour.




Bahamian Women’sSuffrage Movement

50th

Anniversaryof the

On Thursday, 24th November, 2011, a group of200-plus women galvanized their supportbehind the Women’s Forum organized by the

Zonta Club of Nassau and the National Women’sAdvisory Council (NWAC), topreview the upcoming doc-umentary of “The Women’sSuffrage Movement in TheBahamas,” by Attorney, acc-laimed poet, Writer andProducer Marion Bethel.

The two groups alsohosted a fundraising luncheonthe following day highlightingthe Bahamian perspectives onthe 2011 Global Women’sProgress Report.

Said Bethel, “I am com-mitted to the upliftment ofwomen…this documentaryabout the women’s suffragemovement has been anextraordinary experience sofar, it has taken me into thehearts and homes of thesewomen. I’ve interviewed people who have let me intotheir homes and shared with me what life was likeduring that period – a very honest account – and wehave covered a swath of Bahamian women.”

“It is fair to say that the women’s suffragemovement came out of an emerging black middle classbecause you had women like Georgiana Symonettewho was a shopkeeper, Mabel Walker, social worker

and Dr. Doris Johnson. Itwas supported by a popularmovement of working classwomen.”

“All of these womenbelonged to a lodge. Lodgeswere training grounds forwomen’s leadership andmany of them travelled withthe Elks and were exposed toCaribbean and black Amer-ican women who also influ-enced them.”

“This documentary hasbeen with me for a while. Istarted in 2001. It was inhibernation for lots ofdifferent reasons. That wasjust as well – nothing beforeits time – in fact, it wouldhave been a very different

product if we had pushed it through then. I amdetermined to make this documentary a very multi-layered and high quality one.”

2012 will mark the 50th anniversary of the

By: Gina Morley


women’s suffrage movement in theBahamas, so in a collective effort,Bahamian women, far and wide havepledged their support to Bethel’s efforts toproduce this documentary in honour of MaryIngraham, Eugenia Lockhart, GeorgianaSymonette, Mabel Walker and Dr. DorisJohnson, the leaders of the movement andtheir views, the focus of the documentary.

The documentary also features the womenwho stood among them: Dr. Willamae

Saunders, Ethel Kemp, Gladys Bailey,Mildred Moxey, Madge Brown, MotherMildred Donaldson and Althea Mortimer.

Interviews with family and close friendsof the aforementioned five, along withviewpoints from both male and femalepoliticians, religious and social personalitiesare all featured in the sixty hours of footage.

Bethel says she needs to raise anadditional $90,000 to produce and completethe documentary, hence the presentation ofa sample of its content to the women whomade their contribution and came out tofurther show their support.

A point often missed in history is thefact that it was the ‘ordinary people whobrought about ‘the quiet revolution’ that Dr.Doris Johnson wrote about, not the ‘highfalutin tea party’ type women but ordinaryhousewives who had harnessed theircollective power to make a stand forthemselves and make a difference.

Archivist, Kim Outten Stubbs says, “50years ago, the right to vote was a majorachievement. Especially in light of slaveryand at a time when both men and women inthe country did not have the right to vote.”

Even though women were fighting to

vote, it was important for black men whodid not own property - and property was themeans by which you were allowed to vote –to also have that right. There was propertyin many islands – so for a poor black manwho had no property - he could never voteuntil 1959. He remained disenfranchised,she clarified.

With respect to the Movement, sheexplained that these were people in ourcountry who fought against the situation thatthey were in. These women had no rights sothe first reported period was just prior to theperiod that the documentary is focusing on(1952).

The lodges were the base from whichthe women started the movement – inparticular, the Order of the ImprovementBenevolent Society (the Elks) – that is whereMable Walker and Mary Ingraham came outfrom – there were 430 others.

A lot was happening in the world and athome. In fact, the late Sylvia Laramore-Crawford, in 1954 in a letter written to SirEtienne Dupuch, editor of The Tribune,posed a question to Bahamian women -“how long would it take – what are we,women waiting for?” Sir Etienne respondedand she shot back - “we need to do it now.”

Why did the women come out?According to Mrs. Stubbs, “The women

came out because they knew that theyneeded to be among the women working inthis direction. Many of the women that Ispoke to talked about how they cookedmeals, so that they could raise monies to helpsupport the movement. So there was anactive movement developing in thiscountry.”

At the time Sir Randolph Fawkes

identified some of the issues for the women: the lack ofeducation and training and guidance in the schools;labour issues and the lack of child care facilities.

By 1958, Dr. Doris Johnson came on the scene.She was well educated and became a ‘natural leader’ ofthe movement and the ladies rallied around her and shewas able to steer their actions.

By late 1958, the women were constantly petitioningthe House of Assembly and had gotten about 2,000

signatures behind their efforts.In 1959, Doris Johnson made her keynote speech.

She addressed members of the House of Assembly in aMagistrates’ court as she was not allowed in theAssembly. Women were finally afforded the right to votein February of 1961 and Ruby Ann Darling was the firstwoman to register. In November, 1962 the women ofThe Bahamas voted for the first time.

“Nevertheless,” Outten Stubbs concluded, “thelevel at which we function today, we are still not beingaccepted in accordance with the Fullness of our rights.”.

The documentary embroiders the myriadpersonalities who played a pivotal role in theenfranchisement of women in Bahamian politics. Itbrings the Movement and the suffragists’ front andcentre into the minds and psyche of all promulgating anew layer of history in the development of the Bahamianpeople.

Usually in oral traditions, the history of a people is‘lost in translation’ or upon the death of the elders. Notso here. While some personalities have vacated thepolitical landscape, some have remained via theirdescendants to tell the story and give it a voice.


Documents

ISLAND SCENE MAGAZINE