STEVIE AND SHAUNAE THE OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS: The Golden Twins in Tokyo. It was Steven Gardiner's turn on 5 August 2021 to win gold in the 400 metres at the Olympics. The next day 6 August 2021 day belonged to Shaunae Miller Uibo. Gold again for The Bahamas in the 400 metres. We predict one day she will be our Minister of Sports. CONGRATULATIONS and well done. 6 August 2021. OUR PHOTO OF THE WEEK. They celebrated each other in the stands.
Down in Exuma, the southern island in The Bahamas, the Bahamian flag fluttered in the breeze at Regatta Park as it rose just before midnight on 10 July 2025. This was the date 52 years ago that Lynden Pindling and his colleagues chose to lead the new nation the Commonwealth of The Bahamas into independence. The ceremony in Georgetown, Exuma was replicated around the country, even though the rain threatened to spoil it in Nassau.
It is an emotional moment for most Bahamian citizens. On that morning and during the day, flags were flying throughout the country. Bahamian music was being played exclusively on the radio stations. People gathered in their homes dressed in national colours and everyone spoke Bahamian.
It was like time out from the divisions of other parochial matters.
On 11 July though, we get back to realty pretty quickly. The fact is that our neighbours to the north are acting in ways that we find quite odd and contrary. We are a majority black nation and as we watch things unfold, we are not quite sure that we as black people or even white Bahamians are welcomed into a land called America that we helped to build. Today many of our citizens and their descendants of our citizens have lent their intellectual talent to the building up of that country. But it appears they have now descended into the madness of anti-immigrant fervour that catches both legal and illegal.
To show the tenor of the times: white farmers who helped to maintain the racist state of apartheid South Africa are being welcomed into the US as victims while Haitians whose society has descended into chaos, largely because of American made weapons, and are legitimate refugees, are being sent back home.
Independence is an emotional step. It is also a legal step. We have the right legally to decide what we want but the practical reality is that most of our choices are dictated by the real politic. We depend on the neighbour next door for our food, for our medicine, for our psychological well-being. So we are in a strange positon practically speaking. What does keep us alive though is that emotional legacy bequeathed to us by our founders that we are a free an independent people and we will use what we have to maintain that freedom.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 12 July 2025 up to midnight: 1,378,286;
Number of hits for the month of July up to Saturday 12 Julye 2025 up to midnight: 2,133,841;
Number of hits for the year 2o25 up to Saturday 12 July 2025 up to midnight: 10,767,267;
1 a.m. 8 July 2025, the session just broke up and Jamaica’s PM Holeness demanded a selfie form left: Fred Mitchell of The Bahamas, PM Holeness, John Biceno of Belize, Philip Davis of The Bahamas, Irfaan Ali Of Guyana and Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines.
After dinner with T’anna Riley, godchild, in front of the Henry Moore statue in the Intercontinental Lobby in Miami on my way to Georgetown, Exuma. She is 3 years old. Nice evening.
My farewell photo from exuma with Maryann Rolle, the owner of Kermit’s Lounge at the Exuma International Airport. Independence 52 is in the history books. And then I was joined a few minutes later by Elvis, her husband and co-owner of the business, and son of the founder Kermit Rolle whose picture you see in the photo above us.
I was honoured to witness in Nassau the ordination of my friend Tristan Lockhart to the priesthood at Christ Church Cathedral along with his colleague Rev Anatol Ferguson. I wish them both God’s richest blessings. Tristan: many nights in Freeport we sat at Mario’s table talking about your ambition to be a priest. Now it’s done. Sorry Mario and Al departed this life before they could see it happen but they look from above. Bless you. From Brian, Kevin, Fr O J, Magistrate Laquay, Rev Keith. All of us are proud of you.
There was a small ceremony in the wee hours of Independence morning 52nd edition at police h q in Exuma to say farewell to Chief Superintendent James Moss upon his retirement from the Royal Bahamas Police Force. I joined Deputy Prime Minister and Mrs. Cooper to say salud.
It’s a long story but he is one of the youngsters who took the picture with me at the Junkanoo shack last Christmas in Exuma. He and his friends. The photo was enhanced and framed by Ambassador Jamaal Rolle. I wish Kaiden Burrows well. He came by to say thanks. I presented them each with the framed copy of the photo and a gift certificate to show my appreciation for their civility and sociability. I hope 50 years from now he remembers what he used to look like. Today’s photo was taken independence morning 2025 on Regatta Park in Georgetown, Exuma
The late professor of the University of the West Indies Rex Nettleford used to call them “ladies of quality”. These are black and mulatto upper and middle class women in CARICOM societies that feel they are the cat’s whiskers and could pronounce with harsh judgments their social policies upon the world. They have strong opinions. These ladies of quality these days together with some rogues are engaged in a vile and nasty campaign against Haitians in The Bahamas that is led by prejudice. Every day there is some screed on line about how Haitians are taking over The Bahamas. They are not. Every day there is some cry that Haitians should be thrown out of The Bahamas. They glory in what is being done in the United States next door to us where short shrift is being made of legal processes and people willy-nilly are being picked up and abused and sent back to their home countries, countries to whom they no longer have any connection. The language is most vile in Harbour Island. The claim is that young Bahamians cannot get work in that island because of Haitians. The facts show that the population of The Bahamas declined by rate of natural increase over the last ten years. Bahamians are not having enough babies. We are therefore not able to sustain a workforce. The facts also show that the work ethic of those who are available in the Bahamian pool leave a lot to be desired. They just don’t show up to work. Ask any contractor if they can find Bahamian labour and the answer is no. Yet the call for getting rid of Haitians persists. The Bahamas will not be the only country in the world where immigrants outnumber natives. We need the Haitian labour. It’s as simple as that or the economy of the country, the very wealth that supports the ladies of quality will evaporate otherwise.
Congratulations to Health Minister Michael Darville and Prime Minister Philip Davis for getting the 200 million U S dollar loan from the Chinese across the line to get the new hospital in New Providence built. This was a signature promise of the last campaign and we are in the midst of the next campaign. Not a moment too soon. The loan was signed over the objections of the United States who were first asked to provide the money but could not. The structure is to be built by Chinese money but the equipment it appears may be financed by the Americans. We shall see. Let’s hope that shovels are in the ground sooner rather than later, and the hospital is a reality as soon as possible. The signing took place on Friday 11 July 2025 at the office of the Prime Minister.
Before the Prime Minister of The Bahamas looked to China to get the money by loan to build a new hospital in Nassau, he asked the foreign ministry to look to the United States to provide the 300 million dollars that the country needed. The United States considered it then came back and said they could not provide the loan. Now the loan agreement is signed with the Chinese who will provide 200 million dollars to build the structure. The U S objected privately and have been on a campaign throughout our country to prevent the country from buying Chinese equipment and taking Chinese money. It is quite sad that things have come to this. Money knows no colour. We need the hospital and we need to get it as quickly as funding will allow.
There is an odious media commentator by the name of Ann Coulter on Fox Television in the United States who said in a social media post that in America they just didn’t kill enough of the Indians. She was referring by Indians to the native Americans who were displaced by Europeans when they landed without an invitation in what is now the United States of America. The irony is that the democracy that they founded did not consider all men equal. They had black slaves who worked for free. Women could not vote. They killed the aboriginal populations at will and removed them from their lands without regard to legal provisions. This is what people of colour face in the US today. You do not know who is going to jump out at a black person or brown person and kill them on the streets of America. All nations black and white have warned their citizens that people are being removed from the US and sent back home without regard to legal provisions that prevent abuse and protect the rights of individuals. It is a very difficult time. The Bahamas government has warned its own citizens to exercise extreme caution when in the United States.
The CARICOM Heads of Government meeting wrapped up its 49th session in Montego Bay, Jamaica on Tuesday 8 July 2025. The conference was headed by Prime Minister Andrew Holeness of Jamaica. While much of the conference focused on internal CARICOM matters, the conference was most concerned about events in Gaza where killing and genocide of Palestinians continues apace without any let or hindrance. The conference called for an end to hostilities and asked that peace be restored to the region within a two state solution where Palestine would have the right to its independence and sovereignty.
Now declared a National Hero, Pompey Rolle of Steventon, Exuma
Government House has announced the names of those honoured in this year’s National Honours announced on Independence Day each year. Heading the list is Pompey the slave who led the revolt in 1830 from Steventon, Exuma who is now declared a national hero of The Bahamas. The entire list follows:
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR GENERAL
GOVERNMENT HOUSE, MOUNT FITZWILLIAM
BAILLOU ROAD AND DUKE STREET
NASSAU, BAHAMAS
PRESS RELEASE:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In accordance with the provisions of the National Honours Act, Her Excellency, the Governor-General, The Most Honourable Dame Cynthia Pratt, O.N., G.C.M.G., Chancellor of the Societies of Honour, is pleased to announce the 2025 conferral of awards under the National Honours Act to Citizens of The Bahamas.
Order of National Hero
Pompey Rolle
Pompey’s Revolt
In 1830, 77 Slaves on Lord Rolle’s plantation in Steventon, Exuma, were given only one week’s notice that they were going to be relocated from Exuma to Cat Island. The Response was a rebellion initiated by a 32 year old slave name Pompey. The enslaved African men and women fled to the bush rather than be moved before they could harvest their crops. When provisions ran out, 44 of them returned and seized Lord Rolle’s salt boat. With Pompey at the helm, they headed for Nassau, hoping to appeal to anti-slavery Governor, Carmichael Smith. Apprehended en route, they were thrown into the Nassau workhouse, tried, and found guilty.
Being appalled by the harsh treatment the slaves were receiving, and learning that the move had been illegal in the first place, the Governor had Pompey and his followers returned to Exuma where they were greeted with mass celebration. Further disruptions by the slaves led to the Government making an example of Pompey and publicly giving him 39 lashes.
Today, only a few walls of the jailhouse remain as a reminder of those dark days at Steventon, Exuma.
Order of The Bahamas
COMPANION
Dr. Anthony Farrington
Bishop Delton Dewitt Fernander, CMG
Earl Deveaux
Pastor Francis M. Carey
Jackson Burnside
Leslie Osbourne Miller
Moses Allec Johnson
Neko Grant
Percy Francis
Peter John Bernard Bethell
Stan Burnside
Theresa Moxey-Ingraham
Winston Cooper
Order of Excellence
Ernest Rumer
Sandra Buckner
Order of Distinction
COMPANION
Andrew Alan Strachan
Abraham Lincoln Butler
Agatha Katrina Marcelle
Allworth Rolle
Dr. Andrée Garnell Hanna
Ann Crosby Bootle
Anthony Rolle Seymour (Posthumously)
Antoinette Thompson (Posthumously)
Archie Nairn
Austin Alexander Mills (Posthumously)
Barbara Gertrude Thompson
The Rev’d Canon Basil L. Tynes
Bradley Lester Armbrister (Posthumously)
Camille Lady Elaine Liverpool-Barnett
Carla Delice Nerina Rodgers, B.Ed., M.Sc
Carlon Antwan Bethell
Dr. Carlos Gregory Reid
Carolyn Patricia Rolle
Cecil Jeffrey Thompson
Charles A.P Smith
Charles Turnquest
Charles Tindley Moxey (Posthumously)
Chavano Rainer Hield
Reverend Christopher King
Clara Jane McPhee
Claudette Allens
Cora Esterlyn Bain-Colebrooke
Cynthia Donaldson
Daniel Strachan
Darrin Merv Woods
David R. Davis
David Frederick Bowe
Deandre Ayton
Deanza Alexander Cunningham
Donald Maury McCartney
Donella Carolyn Bodie
Ellison Thompson
Erskin Alster Wells
Eugene Nelson Bonamy
Eugene Michael Poitier
Evangeline Louise Wood (Posthumously)
Reverend Everette Hart, JP
Felamease Ettamae Sawyer
Felix Nathaniel Stubbs, MBE
Commodore Floyd Paul Moxey
Frances Ledee
Franklin McArthur Ferguson
Franklyn Leroy Stuart
Garth Hilbert King
Gene Pandora McKinney-Smith
Genetha Marissa Young-Curry
Gurth Archer
Harcourt Turnquest
Harriet Louise Pratt
Hartley Eugene Thompson
Helen Lauretta Adderley- Ebong
Hezekiah Nemore John Dean
Iris Jane Dean
Ivan Ranfurly Brown
J. Maria Doris Thompson
Jack Albert Thompson
Jacqueline Carey-Knowles
James Shearer
James Alexander Clarke
James Alexander Carey
Jazz Chisholm
John Clayton Stuart
Johnnie Leon Butler
Jonquel Jones
Julia Patricia Wilson-Bain
Kendrick Livingstone Williams
Kirkwood Ellsworth Taylor
Laurene Athena Clarke
Lenora Jane Black
Reverend Lenox Edward Green
Leon Randolph Williams
Lois Marie Symonette
Lucy Alfine Adderley
Madge Antonio Wood Guilaume (Posthumously)
Margaret R. Guilaume (Posthumously)
Mary Elizabeth Russell
Mildred Roberts
Mildred Rowena Turner
Myrton Eloise King
Captain Natasha Deborah Miller
Newton Raymond McDonald
Pamula Emily Mills
Patrice Arnette Thompson-Major
Patrick James Seymour
Paul Eugene Turnquest
Paula Aretha Pratt-Mortimer
Philip Anthony Turner
Raymond Livingston Winder
Rhoda Mae Grant
Ricardo Davis
Richard Howard Pinder
Roland Joshua Smith
Roosevelt Butler
Dr. Ruth Louise Sumner
Samuel Rupert Williams
Commissioner of Police Shanta Emily Knowles
Sharon Diana Cartwright
Sherril Paulette Woods
Sherry Dianne Brown-Benjamin
Captain Shonedel Michael Pinder
Simon Wilson
Sonny Johnson (Posthumously)
Captain Stephen Marcelles Russell
Steven Gardiner
Ulric Hughwillard Ferguson, JP
Vernita Johnson
Veta Febrenda Brown
Victoria Elthreda Wallace-Wright
Winston McFarlane Campbell
Yvonne Loretta Ward
OFFICER
Ashley Anthony Rolle
Reverend Father Berkley John Smith
Bloneva Patricia Adderley-Rolle
Boisie Oral Rolle
Carlton Wright
Constance Hinee Miller
Ernest Barr
Evelyn Major
Fonswit Alexander Stubbs
Karen Gladys Isabel Rigby
Kirkwood Andrews
Maxwell Butler
Paula May McGregor
Sharon L. Poitier
Warren Seymour
MEMBER
Charles William Major Jr
Diane Ellen Phillips
Simeon Outten
Valeria Debbie McKay-Seymour
Order of Merit
COMPANION
Anthony Arthur Hanna
Benjamin Edward Ferguson
Chapell Navado Whyms
Clyde Warren Sawyer
Edison Van Gifford Deleveaux
Emily Maybelline Osadebay
Erin Edwina Brown
Eugene Davis
Fredrick Brown
Fredricka Sharmaine King
Glenn Edward McPhee
Gregory Roland Brown
Helen Louise Hutchinson
Henry Wellington Daxon
Idamae Rowena Hanna
Ivan Ferguson
Jeremy Lockhart MacVean
Jerome Leon Knowles
Dr. John Carey
Katherine Elizabeth Beneby
Kelly Burrows
Majorie Elizabeth Knowles-Coleby
Michael Delroy Simmons
Michael Lionel Hanna
Patricia Winiefred Moxey
Paul Clayton Bevans
Phillip Charles Clarke
Quincy Pratt
Sandra Veronica Hutcheson-Neville
Shawn Lyden Dwight Adderley
Sonia Natasha Miller
OFFICER
Assistant Commissioner of Police Advardo Livingstone Dames
