Dear Editor,
In their 1986 article on Bahamian labor migration, Klaus de Albuquerque and Jerome L. McElroy argue that the significant national task from 1901 to 1963 was the Bahamianization of migrants to The Bahamas.
This was particularly important in the 1960s as foreigners migrated to work in the growing financial and tourist sectors.
Independence in 1973 allowed for a more concerted effort to promote Bahamian identity and national pride. But what about the Bahamians who left the islands?
Where did they fit into the national imagination? How did the state and the local population view their Bahamian-ness?
In the 50th-year celebration of Bahamian independence, it is worth considering the role of the diaspora in the homeland.
Diaspora scholars such as Kim Butler and Stephane Dufoix have shown that many migrants in multiple counties maintain various ties with their homeland over several generations.
Some cultivate new relationships, while others may develop antagonistic attitudes with the state depending on the political party in power.
Regardless of their political positions, however, migrants in the diaspora carry their home and national culture with them abroad. In doing so, they become official or unofficial ambassadors of the homeland. While the government might have traditionally focused on integrating new Bahamians, only recently has it begun to pay attention to Bahamians living outside of The Bahamas as a source of strength.
Many Bahamians left the islands before and during the period of Bahamianization. Alan Glaisyer-Minnis is a 19th century case in point.
Minnis, who represents a type of elite migration, was born on Inagua. He migrated to London in the 1870s. As far as we know, he became the first person of African descent to become a mayor in Britain (1904-1906).
Bahamians have also supplied workers for global projects. In 1908, for example, Bahamian laborers left for Mexico to work on the railways at the port of Tampico.
During World War I, the United Kingdom staged a campaign to recruit Bahamian men to fight on the western front. Some of them remained abroad. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, many more Bahamians left to work in places such as Charleston, South Carolina; and Miami, Florida.
In the same year as the 50th anniversary celebration of Bahamian independence, the wider Caribbean diaspora in the United Kingdom commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Windrush generation, so named after the S.S. Windrush.
This vessel first took West Indian subjects to the United Kingdom to meet the demand for labor. Scholars of The Bahamas have yet to study the Bahamians who might have been a part of that migration.
Throughout the first half of the 20th century, many more men left to work in places such as Toronto, Canada; Charleston, South Carolina; and Miami, Florida. In fact, Bahamians played a critical role in the foundation of Miami in 1896.
For many seeking higher education, moving out of The Bahamas was necessary before the creation of University of The Bahamas.
As with other groups, while abroad, Bahamians create new links, associations, and opportunities, which often tie them to their new residence. But they do not necessarily lose their connections, psychologically or otherwise.
Bahamian signposts abroad
Bahamian transnational presence and influence represent Bahamian globalization. To paraphrase Benedict Anderson, those markers abroad also demonstrate that The Bahamas as an '"imagined community" reaches far beyond the geographical space in the North Atlantic.
Public intellectual and expert on the Bahamian presence in Miami, Sandra Carey, has studied Bahamian legacies in Miami and the Keys. The Bahamian influence on the Miami landscape includes the Bahamian cemetery in Coconut Grove and The Miami Times newspaper.
It also includes the magnificent sculpture of the Bahamian Mariah Brown and the first black resident of Coconut Grove by Bahamian artist Antonius Roberts.
In her novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God", Zora Neal Hurston describes a scene of Bahamian musicians performing in Florida in her famous book. There are many more cultural signposts.
Bahamians have left their mark on global music, cinema, TV, literature, and other cultural areas.
One only needs to consider the pioneering work of Bert Williams in the silent age. Add to that Sidney Poitier, Calvin Lockhart in Hollywood, and Ester Rolle and Roxie Roker on television.
Oprah Winfrey and the German-French channel ART have released documentaries on Poitier highlighting the Bahamian's contribution to the global Bahamas.
Lenny Kravitz, who recently applied for Bahamian citizenship, always declared his love for the Commonwealth and his mother's family. Kravitz's house in Brazil contains a larger-than-life portrait of his Bahamian cousin Janelle hanging in his living room.
The idea of a Bahamian object in Brazil, a Portuguese-speaking country of 215 million, is a testament to the reach of a people who number less than half a million. If we could create an official census of the diaspora, we would find that the Bahamian diaspora is extensive and diverse.
The diaspora includes Toronto-based Pastor Godfrey Adderley, marine scientist Dr. Krista Danielle Sherman, and celebrated writer David Santos Donaldson.
These Bahamians join many other writers, artists, manual workers, professors, and psychologists. All have taken pieces and fragments of The Bahamas abroad.
They illustrate what the website nassauparadiseisland.com boasts: "The Bahamas is full of vibrant colors with our turquoise waters, pink buildings, and the infectious spirit of our people."
We fill the globe with that goodness during this Golden Jubilee.
We "lift our heads to the rising sun" and "see how the world marks the manner of your bearing" wherever we live.
We do well to remember the words from the coat of arms of another Caribbean nation: "l'union fait la force". (Union creates strength.)
— Dr. Darién J. Davis
Paris, France
The post March on Bahamaland: signposts of the Bahamian diaspora and 50 years of independence appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.The post March on Bahamaland: signposts of the Bahamian diaspora and 50 years of independence appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
