The 56th anniversary of Black Tuesday is approaching.

Though important in the march toward Majority Rule, the date April 27, 1965 is rarely discussed or acknowledged by the masses these days.

Today, we are far removed from those times when great men and women displayed a level of courage that is unmatched by anyone currently on the national political stage.

Perhaps the times demanded this kind of fearlessness from ordinary people who shared a vision for a better Bahamas.

The date bears remembering.

We should not allow it to fade from our collective consciousness.

We should tell our children and their children about the day that Opposition Leader Lynden Pindling tossed the mace – the symbol of the speaker’s authority – through a window of the House of Assembly.

We should tell them what this meant, and we, ourselves, should pay homage to those who went before; those who bravely fought against a cruel system of injustice and oppression in these islands.

Many who witnessed the historic moment are no longer with us.

Some nation builders who are on in age remember that day now only in dim flashes.

Others, like former Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes, are able to recall Black Tuesday with great detail and clarity – as if it were yesterday.

At 36, he was editor of the Bahamian Times newspaper, and was sitting at the press table as the contentious debate over constituency boundaries took place.

The opposition Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) took grave exception to how those boundaries were being drawn.

A demonstration had been organized to protest against the United Bahamian Party’s (UBP) Boundaries Commission Report, which was issued on February 4, 1965.

The Nassau Guardian reported on April 28, 1965 that tension mounted throughout New Providence on April 27 “as leaders of the opposition party touched off one of the biggest demonstrations since the 1942 riot”.

“We always argued that the boundaries were unfairly drawn,” recalled Sir Arthur in a 2014  interview with National Review.

Dramatic

The PLP had decided that something dramatic had to be done – something beyond demonstrating.

“They kept calling the people out from time to time and demonstrating and nothing happened,” Sir Arthur said.

“We thought that something had to be done. It was decided that Pindling would throw the mace out of the window. It was decided that the party would boycott the House if the UBP didn’t agree to change it (the unfair electoral system) and, also, the third thing was that a mission would be undertaken to the United Nations to address the committee of 24 … the committee on decolonization.

“All three things were done.”

The Nassau Guardian reported that the atmosphere inside the House was tense at around 10:30 a.m. on April 27 when members began to take their places.

The gallery was packed as the customary prayers were said.

A motion was made that the House resolve itself into a committee of the whole to continue the discussion.

After amendments proposed by the opposition were defeated, Lynden Pindling rose.

As he spoke, he lifted up the mace from the two pegs upon which it rested before the speaker.

“This,” he said, “is the symbol of authority – and the authority on this island belongs to the people, and the people are outside.”

He motioned to the people in the crowd outside, who had been singing and shouting throughout the three hours of sitting.

“The people are outside,” Pindling continued, “and so this mace belongs outside too.”

Pindling then flung the mace through the open window behind him.

Both windows behind the PLP members had been opened.

As Pindling dramatically flung the yard-long golden mace through the window, PLP MP Milo Butler threw out the four quarter-hour glasses which he had snatched from the speaker’s desk. The glasses are used for timing speakers.

“The reaction of the House was one of astonished silence,” The Nassau Guardian reported the following day.

“Mr. Pindling and the rest of his party walked out of the House in a group. Persons in the public gallery followed with cries of PLP, PLP!”

As the speaker attempted to restore order to the House and continue business, Randol Fawkes, the labor leader, shouted, “You cannot legally continue business without the mace”.

The MP continued to shout similar statements while clerks of the House attempted to recover the mace.

Two policemen then arrived at the chamber’s door with the top half of the mace – the globe and crown – in their hands.

It had been broken into two pieces by the fall to the square and was badly dented.

The halves were placed before the speaker, who then ordered the House into a committee of the whole. Deputy Speaker A. R. Braynen took the chair.

The premier, Sir Roland Symonette, moved a resolution that the draft order that had fueled the contention be agreed to. The resolution was approved by the members of the House.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian