Ah Female Garifuna Prime Minister Soon

Ah sure dat ah wrote in my column years ago, about my school days in 1955, in Boys Grammar School, one of de three main schools of higher learning in SVG, de others being Girls High and Intermediate High.

How ah studied His-story from two books: “ A Short History of the British Common-wealth, and “A brief History of St Vincent.”

De book on SVG dealt buy-usly wid de original Indigenous people, de Caribs, Arrawaks, de Africans who came as slaves, and de East Indians as indentured workers, but dealt doubly buy-usly towards Columbus, de Europeans de British, French and Spanish.

Doh mark me too hard if ah writing Buy-us, ah was ah poor student, didn’t overs His-story and failed to pass. But ah not alone when ah say “A brief History of St Vincent” was warped, gave ah cock-eyed version of Sin-Vin-Sin’s His-tory. De Caribs, Garifunas and Africans were labelled as de bad people led by ah bad-john named Joseph Chatoyer who terrorized de White land owners, de Europeans. Slowly correct-shuns are being made, and today Chatoyer is our Na-shun- all Hero. None has since come close to him, long may dat be so.

According to what ah remember of de book, De indigenous, Garifuna people were enemies of de state, ah deadly threat to de ain-no-saint far-rain land lords, so de British had to send scores ah battle ships and armed soldiers to get rid ah dem (our four-fathers). Who didn’t get murdered were captured, or surrendered, kicked off dey own land. During dat X’ah-dust about five thousand Garifunas were dumped like wild animals on Balliceaux, ah 320 square miles island, widout food ,water or shelter. After five months in exile, half ah dem- 2412 men, women and children “ Suffer and Die” of starvation, disease etc on the barren island wid only “Grass, Sea, Water and Sand!” Today it’s still without water. Lie-Za say dat was like de Holocaust when Hitler banished 50, 000 Jews from Germany to de Baltic states to “Suffer and Die”also , who were not shot, were tortured, starved to death like our Garifuna relatives.

Interestingly ah does get ah clearer picture of de suffering of our Vincent- shun/Garifuna fore-parents on Balliceaux Island, when ah see live TV coverage of de genocides teking place in parts-a-de world like Gaza- Palestine de Jews; Ukrane and Russia, ain-no-saint people, not to men-shun thousands of Afrcians. Live mercy-less bombing, murdering men women and children world-wide. Ah pray to God for mercy.

So dis week ah feel releaved or con-sold when ah read de Searchlight News Story dat last Thursday March 6, 2025, was ah great day foh de people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, when de entire Par-liar-mint, yuh-mani-mustly and officially acquired the 320-acre island of Balliceaux, a site of historical significance for the Garifuna people, due to its importance as a place of exile in the 1700s.

And very fittingly dey were two Garifuna descendants, Minister Gumry Daniel and Senator Shove-on John officially, proudly and worthily seated in Par-liar-mint. God doh sleep.

Gradually and steadily we getting close to de day when ah Garifuna descendant, preferably ah female becomes Prime Minister! Wont it be ah Jay-oy or Jay-ohn when dat happens, and very soon! Ah Blessed Nah-shun-all Heroes Day to all. And and wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy.