National Pride

So Friday was National Pride Day, and individuals and groups around cyberspace hailed the wearing of Bahamian colours and the celebration of all things Bahamian.I'm glad. It's a start. Maybe it's more than a start; maybe it's a step or two towards understanding ourselves and our country, the fact that we the people made the choice to celebrate our nationality and took matters into our own hands.Because not even ten years ago such a day didn't exist. It came into being in 2004, when the Independence Committee headed by Winston Saunders (who had spearheaded the celebratory 29th Independence revelry, celebratory because many Bahamians then believed in help and hope, and the even larger Thirtieth Anniversary celebrations, when it became fashionable and possible to enjoy Independence), noted around the table that even in the midst of the thirtieth anniversary celebrations several very disappointing things had taken place. The first was that many stores and businesses throughout the country had had t shirt days recognizing American independence, decorating their storefronts and windows in red, white and blue, but far fewer were celebrating Bahamian independence in the same way. The second was that people had begun to recognize a need to celebrate being Bahamian but few people really knew how; few people stood still and proud when the National Anthem was being played, many slouching and talking, and many allowing their children to frolic and disturb others; merchants were investing in flags and other paraphernalia but the colours were all too often wrong, more Bajan than Bahamian; and several people in their zeal to celebrate the nation were unintentionally disrespecting it, transgressing the laws governing the national symbols, combining crests with flags, turning flags into clothing or umbrellas, and the like.And then there was the story of the young woman--a girl, really, who had been sent to represent The Bahamas on a broadcast programme in Britain and who, when invited to sing the national anthem, warbled: "O, say, can you see ..."The committee--on which I was sitting for the first time in my capacity as Director of Culture, moved by the overwhelming public embrace of the two independence celebrations of 2002 and 2003--decided that it was time, time, long overdue time to start educating the Bahamian public about the nation, about Independence, about national colours, about the national symbols. So National Pride Day was established. The first one was held the Friday before Independence! And Rawson Square in Nassau was turned into a place of celebration of all things Bahamian.The fact that Friday seemed to be the first time it really took off, replicated itself without the specific and concerted effort of the government, indicates how governments can (and should) plant seeds, water them, and then watch them grow. All too often we underplay, misunderstand, or misrepresent the role of governments in the creation of social and national coherence. For some, the role of government should be invisible; for others it should be omnipotent. The one leads to chaos, leads to vacuums and nature's abhorrence of them, nature's filling of them with all sorts of nonsense like the redefinition of black and white in the Bahamas, like the rewriting of history, the re-enacting of falsehoods. The other leads to rigidity, inflexibility, marginalization, and the dreaded victimization of people and things that don't fit the paradigm.What has happened with National Pride Day is evidence of how governments can work best.So. A step in the right direction, indeed. But it's only a step, and we need a quick march. So let's celebrate the celebration and work on moving on. Or, perhaps more appropriately for this time of year, moving forward, onward, upward, and together.

Reading: Mintz, Three Ancient Colonies

First of all, thanks to Nicholas Laughlin and the Caribbean Review of Books for asking me to review this book.I've long been a fan of Sidney Mintz. His study of the impact of sugar on the creation of modernity, which I read first in the 1979 article “Time, sugar and sweetness,” (Marxist Perspectives 2 (4): 56-73) and then more fully in his book Sweetness and Power, shifted the way in which I thought about the Caribbean, the world, and my place in it. I've fallen out of touch with his work. Our research interests diverge somewhat. But this new book of his, which grew out of three W. E. B. Du Bois lectures (2003), has brought me back.Won't say much here. After all, I'm supposed to do that for CRB, and I will. Let me jsut say that thanks to Mintz, I'm remembering the excitement of rediscovering our region (even though he repeats the not-so-wise wisdom of excluding the Bahamas from the historical Caribbean), and, most importantly, of the place of history in our realities.For those of you who think that colonialism is dead, that there is no point in "resurrecting" the past (I put the word in quotes because that past has not yet died within us), understand this: without colonialism there would be no us. The Americas in general as we know them, populated and shaped largely by an extension of a Europe  that conquered, subordinated and coerced other groups of people in the process are the specific creation of colonialism. As long as we exist, it can never be dead; we are our past, as the past created us. Until we get that through our heads, until we understand that process, until we know who we are and give up the myths and wishes that fool us into thinking we are "free", we will never inhabit complete societies. For, as Mintz observes:

The history of the Caribbean region ... embodies the real beginnings of European overseas imperial rule ... the modern world's first colonies are to be found mainly in the Caribbean region. ... Not only did most of the islands become colonial early, most of them also stayed colonial late. ... People in erstwhile colonial areas besides North America may be slow to grasp how anciently colonial the Caribbean region is. The Indian subcontinent is usually thought to have become a colonial possession, mostly of Great Britain, when Clive defeated the nawab of Bengal at the battle of Plassey in 1757. Yet by 1757 the Antilles had been colonial for more than 250 years ... Once it can be acknowledged that Caribbean colonialism is truly ancient, its history can help to give additional nuance to the term "postcolonial".

In other words, globally, we cannot understand colonialism or independence or postcolonialism without first understanding the Caribbean -- without understanding ourselves. Mintz and others (Eric Williams, for one, C. L. R. James for another) have argued that we cannot truly understand modern western civilization without understanding the Caribbean either, and each time I reread the argument I'm reconvinced. But more on this later. For now, I'm reminded. The significance of our region is far more than we comprehend ourselves. We must know our history, and the history of the world, to understand this. "The world in a basin" is not simply a romantic term; it's more real than we can understand ourselves.

Bahamas Folklore « Bahamas Gullah-Geechee Connection

Go 'head, Cordell -- ca'yin on!

According to European history, the Bahamas was the first landfall of the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus on his voyage of discovery on October 1492. The truth was that when he arrived in this part of the world, the islands were already inhabited by Arawak Indians who had originally migrated from the South American mainland. They shared a kinship with the Taino and Lucayan Indians who inhabited Jamaica, Hispaniola and Cuba.In return for their hospitality, Columbus changed their names, the names of the places they lived, and he, and later Spanish adventurers , wiped these gentle people from the face of the earth.via Bahamas Folklore « Bahamas Gullah-Geechee Connection.

Bahama Pundit: An Enduring Revolution – Part 1

Over at Bahama Pundit, "Simon" responds to this Guardian editorial.

This many years after the attainment of majority rule and independence, such revisionism was bound to happen. For example, whatever his accomplishments, to claim, as some are now doing, that Sir Stafford Sands was not a racist is a blatant attempt to whitewash history.With regard to last week’s editorial, one would expect an editorialist for a leading newspaper to distinguish between commentary and editorializing and between historical accuracy and rewriting history to lay the foundations for a dubious argument.via Bahama Pundit: An Enduring Revolution – Part 1.

Hear, hear, Simon. Writers of The Bahamas, unite. The fact that we are so ignorant of our own relatively recent past (my students were gob-smacked the other day to learn that there was once a time when Arthur Hanna, Hubert Ingraham and Perry Christie shared a political movement all their own, and were even more shattered to learn that their own grandparents had to endure the ignominy of very real and very Bahamian segregation. That it was a surprise to them reveals not how far we have come but how far we have allowed collective amnesia to anaesthetize us to ourselves) allows idiocy and skewed vision to flourish. There's little better that we can do than to write our story down so that people can make up their minds for themselves.Thank you, Simon, for doing it. Thank you, Larry for Bahama Pundit to allow it.

O O Christian Bahamas, where's the Christ in us?

I hardly know how to write about the Haitian earthquake. The situation is worse than any possible imagining. And what is worst for me is this: our Caribbean brethren in Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago are demonstrating far more compassion than we seem to be doing.Before I go on, let me say that I'm not talking about ordinary people here. The first Bahamian responses I read were on Facebook and Twitter, and they were all one could hope for: expressions of horror and disbelief,  compassion and love, desires and movements to help.But among the comments are others -- the headlines of our foremost newspapers, for instance, which, rather than forcing us Bahamians to shake our deep, deep prejudices against our closest neighbours, against our cousins and brothers and sisters to the south, instead reinforce our prejudices and our fears. "PANIC, LOOTING AND TRIAGE AFTER MAJOR HAITI QUAKE", screams the Tribune; the Guardian warns, "GOVT BRACES FOR HAITIAN INFLUX".I don't wish to be crude, but WTF? I mean, what TF?? The Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding is preparing to fly into Haiti along with the leader of the opposition Portia Simpson-Miller, but the messages being given to our public are messages that reinforce our ideas that the citizens of Haiti are degenerate and lawless, helpless people who come and tief the wealth of others (=Bahamians), and messages that we need to brace for an influx of more of these people that we don't want or need. And these messages are having their effect. The natural responses of ordinary Bahamians grow mixed. Some of us express sorrow for the tragedy while worrying about our safety, concerned that we will have to house more refugees.Wake up, Bahamas. Ours is a country that has been built -- for the last thirty years literally, but for all our history in many many ways -- on the strength, sweat and hard work of our Haitian brethren. Many of us are descended from immigrants, recent or old, from Haiti, even though we may neither know nor admit it. We share our stories with Haiti -- our B'Bookie is called Bouki in Haiti, and his partner in Haiti is Compère Lapin (B'Rabbie here). We are not separate or better; we are neighbours, brothers and sisters. We share ancestors. We look the same.And we oppress our neighbours with our words, with our fear, with our hate. We think with our bellies -- witness the results of the Tribune poll -- but we masters of hospitality will not open our home to those who need hospitality most.And we call ourselves a "Christian" nation. How many of us are truly committed to following the words of Christ? Or does our Christianity line up with this?

The Rev. Pat Robertson is offering his own absurd explanation for why a quake hit Haiti: Many years ago, the island's people "swore a pact to the devil.""Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it," the controversial televangelist said during an interview Wednesday on the Christian Broadcasting Network."They were under the heel of the French...and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you'll get us free from the French.'"Robertson continued: "True story. And so the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' They kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got themselves free. Ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other."via Rev. Pat Robertson says ancient Haitians' 'pact with the devil' caused earthquake.

Maybe we "Christians" secretly think that Jesus Christ was a wuss. After all, he said that we should turn the other cheek when people oppress us, that if we have two cloaks we should take one and give it to the poor, that if we visit prisoners, house the homeless, feed the hungry and clothe the naked we are visiting, housing, feeding and clothing Him. This does not normally line up with our theologies, which generally focus on measuring God's blessing in the stockpiling of material wealth, and which often spout the kind of hate that Pat Robertson so blithely shared with the world yesterday.But Robertson isn't one of the gods that I recognize. No. Thanks to my paternal grandmother, I spent plenty of time with the Bible, reading it for myself, not accepting the half-chewed rantings of self-styled demagogues. And there, even in the Old Testament, I read this:

²¹"^(A)You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 22:21, and repeated again and again in Exodus 23:9; Leviticus 19:33, 34; 25:35; Deuteronomy 1:16; 10:19; 27:19; Zechariah 7:10)

Perhaps it's time we take our profession of Christianity a little more seriously, turn away from our evil and hate, begin to obey the word of the Lord we say we serve, and open our hearts and our home to our neighbours in this time of their unimaginable, unbelievable suffering.

On Stilton Cheese & Culture Change (a little anthropology for Christmas)

I want you to check this out.

The history of Stilton can be traced back to the early 18th century and although it is clear that the recipe used has changed quite dramatically over the years it remains one of the world's best known and much loved cheeses.Quintessentially English, Stilton has its own Certification Trade Mark and is an EU Protected Food Name.This means that:- it can only be produced in the three Counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire- it must be made from locally produced milk that has been pasteurised before use- it can only be made in a cylindrical shape- it must be allowed to form its own coat or crust- it must never be pressed and- it must have the magical blue veins radiating from the centre of the cheese

Stilton Cheese - Welcome to the home of Stilton Cheese - Britain's historic blue cheese and Britain's favourite blue cheese

Now you don't have to be a fan of Stilton cheese to get where I'm going with this. Stilton cheese is one of the things that the British use to mark their Britishness, and the way it's made is very carefully monitored. What this means is that

a) someone had to study how Stilton was made and decide what was unique about the process;

b) someone had to regulate that uniqueness;

c) someone had to enforce that regulation.

There are three steps to the process: research and analysis, standardization, and enforcement.

Now I'm going to argue here (as I've done before) that culture does not just happen. Well, it does, but when people who (like the British) are really mongrels, hybrid groups of people living in geographical spaces where the original cultures and inhabitants have been effectively destroyed and/or replaced, it needs a little help to keep reproducing itself. Culture changes, and can change really rapidly, in the blink of an eye -- like what is happening I write to the indigenous Junkanoo beat (which is being swallowed up by a hip-hop rhythm that is being played by too many drummers who have no real grounding or training in authentic Bahamian rhythms, owing in large part to the fact that we mistakenly believe that our culture is genetically encoded and will always reproduce itself). Europeans, who have been self-conscious for centuries, know this better than most people (the Chinese know it best), and so don't worry about the sort of nonsense that suggests that culture will take care of itself; they know quite well that it won't -- that Anglo-Saxon culture will be swallowed up by Norman culture and disappear before you now it, or that languages will die if they're not carefully watched and preserved.

So for all of those of you who believe, as too damn many of our government officials and politicians believe, that culture is a luxury that we don't need, that it is something that big people grow out of and that is really only good for keeping children from getting restless (of course we believe this, otherwise we wouldn't keep linking our cultural administration with Youth, Sports or Education), thanks very much. Because of you, because of your stubborn refusal to recognize what is important about us and define who we are, you can be sure that what plenty of what we believe to be "Bahamian" is very soon going to disappear, going to change beyond all recognition.

And no, not all change is evolution; and not all change is good. Sometimes change is colonization, assimilation, ethnocide.

Think about it when you're watching your Junkanoo this year and ask yourself whether there is anything in it that someone from 50 years ago will even recognize about our parades. Then go back and check out the definition of Stilton.

Cheers.

On what Independence is supposed to be

from Geoffrey Philp's Blog Spot

I came of age during the birth of Reggae under the government of Michael Manley. As one of the oldest schools in the Caribbean, Jamaica College, like many schools in the region, was caught flatfooted after the island gained independence.Many of the teachers, masters as they were called, had not thought through the implications of independence in education. For independence is not merely the lowering of one flag and raising another. It is supposed to bring about a change of entire systems and assumptions--the way that the American revolution led to an American form of democracy or even Webster's dictionary: the realization that there was a distinctive American character and worldview. Instead, the masters at Jamaica College continued the same system of education that had been designed to keep the brightest minds in "mental slavery" and to hold the population under the domination of the British Empire.

Geoffrey's right, and we would do well to heed and consider this.

Hard Choices and a New Age

Text - Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address - NYTimes.comWhat the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control —and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

The world has changed. Of course, it changed some time ago. Our communications systems changed, and the internet transformed society in ways we could not have imagined, and did not imagine, it would have. It made prophets out of people whose theories were both controversial and visionary — Marshall McLuhan comes to mind.This is why I don't accept arguments about "society" or "economy" or "the world" that don't recognize that the ground has shifted under our feet, that draw upon theories that were influential in the twentieth century, some of whose roots were in the nineteenth century, that ignores the contributions made by all sorts of thinkers of all ideological stripes.That the 44th President of the USA is African-American is important, revolutionary, seminal, historic. Yes. But that he is also the first president born after 1960 — the date accepted as the end of imperialism — after the change that began to change the world, after empires died and the formerly oppressed — we must not forget — were able once more to forge their own destinies for better or for worse, is equally significant. That he is the first president whose administration really appears to understand the change that has come in the world is something that is liable to change the world perhaps as profoundly as the skin he wears will do. It's possible to argue, and I'm going to, that the election of Barack Obama as an African-American marks the end of a change that began with Gandhi, continued through the struggle for self-determination and national independence throughout the European empires between 1919 and 1960, and came home to the English-language Americas with Martin Luther King. But what Obama's election also signifies is the beginning of another change — a change in society that has to do with changes in technology. The old ideas that were forced upon us by governments whose philosophies were the residue of 19th century industrialism are passing away, and a new world is beginning.But back to the speech:

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

Amen.

Are we all criminals?

Got this from zotz, aka Drew Roberts, who is a passionate proponent of creative commons licensing, of a rethinking of the copyright laws of the twentieth century:http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&file=http%3A//blip.tv/rss/flash/730724&autostart=false

Download media

 I wanted to post it, and link to the page it came from, because I agree with it, 95%.  My reservation comes when I'm thinking about our local creative work.  Creative commons is all very well when it's applied to corporations versus individuals -- the very issues that are being discussed above.  But what happens when corporations lay claim to the intellectual property of countries, cultures, groups?  What recourse do the creators have then?  I am still a supporter of copyright law when it applies to those peoples and cultures who did not get to benefit from the turning of knowledge into capital that occurred in the twentieth century; I believe that without the fundamental comprehension that what we imagine and make is worth cash we in the Americas will continue to do what we were established to do by Europe and its successors in North America -- provide the raw material for others to refine, market, sell, and profit from.But check out the video.  It's still something worth discussing.  Good food for thought.

R.I.P. Norman Stafford Solomon 1929-2008

"He was the most industrious person I've ever known, and very meticulous and always checked details. He never seemed to get flustered. He could multi-task better than anybody I know. And he was a workaholic," long-time friend and former politician Michael Lightbourn told The Tribune .... Mr Lightbourn was a member of the short-lived Social Democratic Party (SDP), which was organised and led by Mr Solomon in 1979. The SDP served as opposition to the Pindling administration until 1981. Mr Lightbourn last spoke with Mr Solomon two weeks ago when his "fading" health was evident. "They were hoping to bring him back, but he was in such ill health, they were nervous about whether he could handle the travel and they got him out in Naples, Florida just before the hurricane (Ike) threatened," said Mr Lightbourn, adding that Mr Solomon s health was going "downhill" for "quite some time." Sir Arthur Foulkes, former Bahamas high commissioner to London, described his counterpart as a "great Bahamian." "I've observed Parliament for more than half a century now, from outside and from inside, and Mr Solomon was a formidable parliamentary debater and I can think of no parliamentarian who went to Parliament more meticulously prepared for a debate than Norman Solomon." Dubbed "Stormin' Norman" by the press, the one time leader of the opposition is also known for the courageous stance he took in the House of Assembly during the early 80s when he revealed drug lord Carlos "Joe" Lehder's illicit trade on Norman's Cay. Said former Tribune news editor Athena Damianos: "While others were engaged in a massive cover-up that put the country on its present path of lawlessness, Norman told Parliament that Norman's Cay was the site of one of the largest drug smuggling operations in this part of the world." His home and car were later fire-bombed. He founded the Nassau Tourism Development Board (NTDB) in 1994 and served as co-chairman until his flailing health forced him to step down in February, 2007. He remained an honorary chairman of NTDB until his death. "The Bahamas has lost one of its true patriots. Mr Norman Solomon was the founding Chairman of the Nassau Tourism and Development Board in 1994. In life and in passing, he has remained our conscience, our motivator, a steady and guiding hand, and a visionary for what we, and in particular his beloved historic city of Nassau, could be. His outstanding contributions to the nation's development as a businessman, journalist, politician and activist must be celebrated. Our sympathies go out to his family in this time of sorrow," Charles Klonaris, NTDB Chairman said ....

Bahamas B2B.com

Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham's tribute

Race/Colour in Barbados « Eemanee

Race/Colour in Barbados « what crazy looks likeEemanee blogs about race and colour, and throws out the following thoughts:

Even when we remind ourselves of just how fluid and contested race is we fail to reveal that race is in itself a fiction.When we refuse to see the difference between historical racial privilege and racial slurs we foreclose on any opportunity to dismantle the fiction of race.And when we recognise race as constructed we refuse to see its construction does not make it any less real.

Grief Overload; Different Maps

I have been dreaming about the dead for a month now, about all those who died, in our opinions, before their time. Whatever that means. Today we remember another one: Winston Saunders, who died a year ago today in Jamaica.And just for today, I'm posting something completely different. This is from the website Strange Maps, which I visit from time to time, and which never disappoints, though sometimes stuff posted there is more interesting to other people than to me.Here's a map called "North America, the Balkans Version". Laying aside the various chauvinisms in the title (which I'm not ascribing to the creator of Strange Maps, by the way) -- the exclusion of Mexico and Central America from the continent, the non-recognition of any islands but ours (The Bahamas) and those already part of the US and Canada, and the north-west European use of "Balkans", it's a very interesting concept, orginated by Matthew White, and well worth exploring and thinking about.I offer it for your ponderation.

Race, prejudice, and other things

Over on Weblog Bahamas, Rick Lowe has joined the dialogue in a formal way. He's posted an essay of his that was published in The Bahama Journal some 10 years ago for consideration. I suggest you go read it, and remember there are always many sides to the same story. He provides one white Bahamian's perspective on the issue.He also has some pretty cool links attached to it. One of the coolest is this one, which is about Thomas Clarkson and his struggle to end the transatlantic slave trade.This is what dialogue leads to: perspectives you haven't really ever considered because you haven't ever asked to hear them. It's damn easy to assume stuff about the world, history, other people. What is hard to do -- and to accept -- is listen to other people's realities. But unless and until we force ourselves to face other people's realities, we will never go beyond our own.OK -- UWC-inspired platitudes over. Carry on.

Amazing Grace: Corresponding with the distributors

Not wishing to wait for Galleria Cinemas to get back to us, the National Commission on Cultural Development (of which I'm the Deputy Chair) contacted the distributors for the film Amazing Grace to see what the story is on the release of the film to the Caribbean.Now. Let me make my position clear here, lest people get sidetracked by the politics of the whole thing. I tend to agree with Frances-Anne about the reasons behind the abolition of the slave trade and of slavery itself, although I would go further and say that I believe that the abolitionist movement sprang from a genuine crisis of conscience. The fact that this gained political mileage when it did had plenty to do with power-struggles and economics, and the fact that the industrialists and factory owners who were gaining economic strength in Britain wanted to break the backs of their powerful predecessors, the land-owning aristocracy and the planters overseas. I don't, however, discount the question of conscience.The problem is that conscience is often compromised by prejudices and bigotry, which are often so unconscious that they are invisible to those who practise them. The release of the film Amazing Grace provides a fascinating study in the juncture of bigotry and conscience -- if indeed there are no plans to release it in the Caribbean.This is one fact I'm still investigating.So here is the email sent by me on behalf of the Cultural Commission to the distributors:

Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2007 3:04 PMSubject: Amazing Grace - Limited Release?I am writing from Nassau, Bahamas, to inquire about the release of the film Amazing Grace in The Bahamas.I currently serve as the Deputy Chair of the National Commission on Cultural Development, a government-appointed group whose purpose is to monitor and oversee cultural activity and development for The Commonwealth of The Bahamas. One of our main foci in 2007 is the Commemoration of the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Countries throughout the former British West Indies are observing this Bicentenary, which has fundamental significance for our populations and for our nations.As part of our commemorative activities, we wish to urge all Bahamians to view the film. However, it is not currently screening here. Inquiries of the Galleria Cinemas, the only distributor of mainstream movies in the nation, revealed that the film is in limited release and is not available to The Bahamas for showing.Given that the Abolition Act championed by William Wilberforce and his Abolitionists directly affected the British West Indian colonies, of which The Bahamas is one, we find the unavailability of this film, which provides an account of his struggle, beyond our comprehension.The National Commission on Cultural Development for The Government of The Bahamas wishes to invite a response from the distributors of the film regarding the screening of Amazing Grace in The Bahamas, and would be grateful for any light you might shed on this matter.Sincerely,Nicolette BethelDeputy Chair, National Commission on Cultural DevelopmentNassau, Bahamas

I received the following response from Roadside Attractions, one of the distributors (there are two - Samuel Goldwyn's the other):

Unfortunately, we don't hold the international rights to the film. Any inquiries about the Bahamas should go to the film's producers Bristol Bay Productions. They can be reached here: www.bristolbayproductions.com.

Amazing Grace Update

I just got off the telephone from Galleria Cinemas.

Several inquiries were received by the Cinemas about the movie Amazing Grace.  Accordingly, I was told the following:

• Although the film is showing in the USA at the moment, and will open in the UK and Ireland tomorrow (March 23, 2007), it is in limited release. Galleria's distributors will let the cinemas know when it is available to be shown in The Bahamas.
• I expressed the concern -- shared, clearly, by the National Cultural Commission -- that the anniversary of the signing of the Act is on Sunday, and that the only film currently available about the event is not showing in The Bahamas, a country fundamentally affected by the Act.

If the film is not intended to be released in the Caribbean at the time of the Bicentenary of the Abolition, then that is a significant lapse of judgement of the filmmakers and the studio. There is really very little to be gained, either for history or for Christianity itself, to show the film in the homes of the people who perpetrated the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, and not to do so in the homes of the societies that were created by that very trade.

Something is askew.

edit: It seems as though the film was indeed initially in limited release. Since then, however, the distributors have increased its availability. Whether that availability extends beyond the USA or the North American continent remains to be seen; I am emailing the distributors to find out for myself.

Still More - Amazing Grace

Letter sent by National Commission on Cultural Development to Galleria Cinemas re: Amazing Grace:

ManagerGalleria CinemasNassau BahamasDear [Sir]:

Re: Commemoration of the Bicentenary of the Abolitionof the Trans-Atlantic Slave Tradeandthe Film Amazing GraceAs you are no doubt aware, 2007 marks the Bicentenary of the Abolition by the British Parliament of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.In 1807, following a decades-long struggle in Britain on the part of the Abolitionists, led principally by William Wilberforce, the British Parliament agreed to outlaw the capture and enslavement of Africans and their transportation across the Atlantic to the colonies of the Americas. The Act in question was signed on 25th March, 1807.It was with some interest and excitement that the members of the National Commission on Cultural Development noted that a film had been made, inspired by the life and work of William Wilberforce and the activities of the Abolitionist Movement in Britain at the turn of the Nineteenth Century. Even more than that, Amazing Grace examines the role of the Protestant and Evangelical churches in this movement. Given the strong Christian sensibilities that prevail among Bahamians, the Commission looks forward to promoting the film as an official activity of the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.Amazing Grace opened in the USA on February 23, 2007. It is set to open in the UK on March 23, 2007. The official date set by the United Nations for the observance of the Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade is March 25, 2007. However, to date, Amazing Grace is nowhere to be found in The Bahamas. We wish to inquire when your cinemas plan to bring the film to The Commonwealth, and invite you to join with us in commemorating this awesome milestone in the struggle of our ancestors towards Emancipation.We look forward to your response.Sincerely, etcTHE NATIONAL CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION

More on Amazing Grace

This review, from the Daily Telegraph online, prepares for the release of Amazing Grace in Great Britain this Friday.