Ms. Rosalie Fawkes with Mrs. Papodoupul and her grade 4 class.
Schools all across the country, including Eleuthera, used their morning assemblies on Thursday, January 10th 2013, to celebrate the 46th anniversary of “Majority Rule” day.
It was as a result of elections held on this date in 1967, that the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) with the support of two pivotal men, was heralded into power. The two men were Randol Fawkes the only elected representative of the Labour Party and Alvin Braynen an elected Independent representative from the Current in North Eleuthera.
Fawkes, a black Bahamian, was the first of the two to lend his support to the Lynden Pindling led PLP, breaking the 18 seat UBP : 18 PLP tie. With Braynen’s (a white Bahamian) support, the country had its first black led Government, a precursor, to Independence and the removal of the many barriers associated with the institutional racism that existed for centuries prior.
Rosalie Fawkes grew up as the daughter of a man, who was later knighted for his immeasurable contribution to the majority ruled nation of 46 years. Ms. Fawkes took the time to be a special guest speaker with students at the Spanish Wells All Age School during their ‘Majority Rule’ day assembly.
About her visit to the island, she commented, “I think it’s symbolic, my coming here to Spanish Wells, because of their history… Coming here shows me that times have changed, people have changed, attitudes have changed, so I hope Sir Randol can see today what took place here in Spanish Wells. It’s what he fought for – the black and the white mingling and mixing freely. So it’s very symbolic that I am here in Spanish Wells, and I’m glad that God permitted me to come and join in the celebrations.”
Her speech, to the children of Spanish Wells spoke to passions her father had, and some of his character that enabled him to leave the mark he did in his life.
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SPEECH notes by Rosalie Fawkes presented to the Spanish Wells All Age Assembly on January 10th, 2013.
(In the photo below: (L-R) Teacher Mrs. Papodoupul, visiting speaker Rosalie Kawkes and Principal Daisry Higgs)
A pleasant good morning to Madam Principal, Mrs. Daisry Higgs, administration, staff and students. It is indeed a pleasure to be here with you today in Spanish Wells. The last time that I was here on your beautiful island was in 1977 – over 36 years ago. I am so happy to be back.
I was ever so surprised when I received a telephone call from Mrs. Papodoupul on Sunday evening inviting me to be here with you this morning. My father, Sir Randol loved visiting schools and addressing the students and so today if he can see anything from the heavens above, I know that he is looking down and smiling upon us gathered here.
The last time that Sir Randol visited Spanish Wells was also in 1977 when family members were the house guests of the late Mr. George Thompson who was then a member of parliament. And while staying in Hatchet Bay, we visited Bogue, the Current and also took the ferry and went on a day trip to Spanish Wells. I remember being met at the dock by a Mr. Pinder who proceeded to give us a guided tour of the island.
At this time I won’t say all there is to say about Sir Randol as this afternoon, I will be addressing the older students and giving a more detailed presentation. Right now, though, I would like to take a few minutes in this assembly to tell you about one of Sir Randol’s greatest passions in life. Now I say one of his passions because he had several. For those of you who are interested, I would like to tell you what some of them were: politics for a start, trade unionism, swimming and music. The one passion that I would like to highlight at this time though is reading.
A singular memory that family members would still have of Sir Randol is that of a figure sitting at a table or a desk reading, studying and writing. While people will talk at length about his contributions to the labour movement, they don’t realize how much of his life was devoted to reading… He loved going into book stores and he spent vast sums of money purchasing reading materials. He had a library in his home and he kept the door to the library locked because he wanted to ensure that none of his books went missing. After Sir Randol died and we were able to unlock the door to his library, we found that there was no space on the floor to walk because books were on the shelves, on top of the shelves, under the shelves and boxes of books covered every inch of floor space.
When Sir Randol graduated from high school, the old Government High School, his parents did not have enough money to send him away to college and so he remained in Nassau and became a law student in the chambers of a local practicing attorney, Mr. T.A. Toote. Sir Randol complained that Mr. Toote made him do all the work and never gave him a red cent… In fact he said that Mr. Toote never even gave him a Christmas card but the one favorable thing that he mentioned about Mr. Toote was that he had a vast library and that all of the books in the library were put at his disposal. A quote from ‘The Faith That Moved the Mountain’ reads, “Mr. Toote’s well stocked library was like a palace to me and I took full advantage of it.”
This quest for reading and studying remained with Sir Randol his entire life. In the evenings he would watch the local news on television and then go to asleep. At 2:00a.m. every morning, he would awaken and go to the library and read until daylight. What kinds of books did Sir Randol read you may ask? He was not given to trifling literature. He read the literary masterpieces, the great books of the Western world, biographies and autobiographies of people like Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill and Marcus Garvey, history books, books about the civil rights movement in America and always and at all times, the Holy Bible. Reading conditioned Sir Randol’s mind and his thoughts and it was because of this kind of intellectual exposure that he was able to make such a valuable contribution to the nation.
If Sir Randol were here with you today, I know that he would tell you young people to stay in school and get a good liberal arts education. That is exactly what he told his own children. In 1967, when Sir Randol was the Minister of Labour and Commerce, he received an invitation from the Chamber of Commerce to address their members at a luncheon held at the Sheraton British Colonial Hotel.
Sir Randol asked the Chamber of Commerce members to launch a “Stay in School Campaign” aimed at deterring youngsters from succumbing to the power of the almighty dollar and a campaign that would help them to realize the value of obtaining at least a good secondary school education. On this day January 10th, 2013, 46 years later after Majority Rule was ushered into the country, I pause and I give God thanks for the part that He allowed Sir Randol Fawkes to play in helping to usher in Majority Rule into the governance of the country. Sir Randol was the lone labour candidate in that election; who would have thought that God would have orchestrated the events of that year so that one man would be given the privilege of having a pivotal role to play in the destiny of his country.
It is important that on this day we remember and celebrate the men and women who took a stand against injustice. Their sacrifices and struggles should not be forgotten. Who we are today and what we have today is a direct result of what persons did yesterday.
In closing boys and girls, I would like to say that the key to understanding this significant event in Bahamian history is to be found in one of Sir Randol’s favorite verses of scripture “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to the mountain, Move hence to yonder place, and it shall be removed and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Matthew 17:20.
Thank you for your attention and may you be blessed in this New Year.
A special assembly of students at the Spanish Wells All Age School in celebration of ‘Majority Rule’ day. Special guest speaker, Ms. Rosalie Fawkes seated in front (in pink).
Principal Daisry Higgs addressing the special assembly at SWAA on ‘Majority Rule’ day.
