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The Color On The Bahamas Now is not Just for show check for other links by clicking on various colors for interesting facts and where you may purchase items. 

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Articles and Blogs from various writer's and sources

The Nassau Guardian

Forbes

5 Ways To Stop Giving Negative People Too Much Power In Your Life By Amy Morin 

It's been said that one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch and often, that applies to the business environment. It's usually easy to identify that Negative Nancy or Debbie Downer who wreak havoc on morale. Their bad attitudes, catastrophic thinking, and fatalistic outlooks can infiltrate the ranks and spread like an epidemic.

The Color On Tha Bahamas Now is not Just for show check for other links by clicking on various colors for interesting facts and where you may purchase items

Securing a Bahamian future

While we may be small in size we must remain big in heart, we cannot allow the Bahamas to be treated and raped of its resources like how numerous foreign countries have and continue to with Africa. There is a greed that has infected this country, outsiders are being allowed to take our natural resources until there is no value left in the country. My biggest pet peeve with the average Bahamian citizen is that we wait until it’s too late to act. Foreigners’ are being allowed to take away our precious resources, our given blessings and make it their own and sell it back to us at a trumped up price. Aragonite for example is estimated to be worth billions so why aren’t Bahamians receiving the lion share of OUR OWN RESOURCE. Our greatest resource is our waters, these capitalistic swine’s will drill in our waters with no concern for the ecosystem when they make mistakes it is us who will suffer the consequences they don’t live here so they can go back home after they make a mess with a clear conscious. These foreign agents will receive fatter pockets while destroying and stealing our gift. If you don’t understand by now, the environment we live in and share with each other, helps us live better, feel better and grow better. Stand up Bahamians our greatest gift is the natural environment that we were blessed with lets defend her for all that she has provided to us.

Anti-corruption Commission

 

Corruption is prone to all walks of life. People, animals and machines become corrupt for numerous different reasons. The theory of Evolution brought to light the need for improvement or the continued progress of our world. The Bahamas is a beautiful country with a proud, rich, and storied history. The formation and development of our government has brought about much needed changes and advancements to our society. Though it has started one way as with all things corruption is imminent and without proper governance and support from its citizens our society is destined to fall apart. Power, money, need, greed and want will always open the door to corruption. The power structure in the Bahamas is typically a two party system with a throw in here and there. It should be proposed that an anti-corruption commission be established in the Bahamas to regulate our governing bodies as they Fight to be the leaders of our country. The implementation of an Anti-corruption commission should be put in place to prevent these political parties from destroying their own true purpose the continued development of the Bahamas and the protection and service of all its citizens. Corruption is a global problem “Member states of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) hold a conference once every two years to deliberate and resolute on key issues about the convention.”(http://www.eacc.go.ke/whatsnew.asp?id=696 ). Given the condition that our government is still in its infancy which is emphasized by the fact that we have only had three Prime ministers to date the implementation of an Anti-Corruption commission if properly instituted would strengthen our countries development.  In 2012 an anti-corruption community held a meeting in Jakarta to establish a set of standards and principles on what makes a good anti-corruption commission or agency. They proposed that an anti-corruption commission should have a broad and clear mandate to tackle corruption through prevention, education, awareness raising, investigation and prosecution. It was also proposed that an anti-corruption commission should have a legally guaranteed permanence. Whereas Anti-corruption commissions ought to be established by a proper and stable legal framework, such as a constitution or a special law, to ensure the permanence of the institution. (http://www.transparency.org/news/feature/fighting_corruption_the_role_of_the_anti_corruption_commission). Together let’s build a better Bahamas.

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Right to Marry

By Kwame Hanna

While I’m a man of little accomplishments and starting my career where others like myself are forced to hide in a country and world where it is illegal to marry who you love. It is frustrating to live and want to defend an island nation that is still stuck on old slave mentalities and controlling personalities who try to dominate Life.  I must first acknowledge a sense of responsibility, for those I may influence. Once you are placed in a position where your actions may influence another’s a sense of responsibility must take precedent. It is not my place to make your decisions for you that is your responsibility. It is my place however; to defend who I love, who I have come to befriend, and my basic human rights.  We are living in a world with many different opinions on how we should live and conduct ourselves. Sexual orientation is a big factor in our lives, I said ours because even a personal decision can affect everyone around you. I am a Bisexual man and support a straight view, a gay view and a Lesbian stance in life. I see the importance in straight relationships as naturally it is the relationship that produces offspring. I also respect the institution of marriage as I see it symbolizes unity. I find flaw with the heterosexual argument when it suggests it is the only form that should be allowed to raise a family. It is that point of contention where I support the right of any two human beings who fall in love to marry and start a family. If Love exists then why is it denied when it is gay or lesbian?  If consenting adults make a clear minded decision about the future of their lives why is this a problem? When you marry someone it is for the rest of your lives together; if it stands the test of time. A society is built of a group of individuals that cohabit a space. Each individual is born with their own opinion on how to conduct their life. Some choose religion others don’t. But in order for the society to effectively function, we must all learn to come to terms with our differences. In life, Respect is paramount, and when you deny people their basic human right, you treat them with no respect. Gay and Lesbian couples are human beings who bleed and feel the same emotions that straight people feel. Marriage is a decision where individuals commit to each other for better or worse. It should not matter if they are of the same sex. May love always win!

The LGBT debate: A historic perspective

Former Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell had come under fire over comments he made in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, The Bahamas has a long history of legislatively supporting all people, regardless of race, creed or sexual orientation.

Rev. Jevon O. Neely is a Bahamian who studied at Williams Baptist College in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, where in 2001 he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Christian Ministries and a minor in Psychology.  In 2003, Rev. Neely enrolled at Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia; where in 2006, he graduated with a Master of Divinity with a Certificate in Black Church Studies.

Rev. Neely’s theological foundation is in the Bahamian Baptist tradition.  He was ordained at Bethel Baptist Church on July 18th, 2004. In 2010, Rev. Neely joined the Bahamas Conference of the Methodist Church (BCMC).  He currently serves as Chaplain at Queen’s College School and also as a Lecturer in the conference’s Center for Leadership, Education and Training (C-LET). 

Rev. Neely is married to Mrs. Sandena O. Neely (nee Mortimer) and they have two children.  In his spare time he enjoys his family life, gardening, painting, reading and writing.

Saartjie (Sara) Baartman

 

We Owe It To Saartjie

The crisis of being woman in The Bahamas demands a truth and a call for spiritual healing and social renewal.  I submit the story of Saartjie Baartman as a contribution of and to truth.

Saartjie (Sara) Baartman was born Khoisan (indigenous first people), in colonial South Africa in 1789 near the Great Fish River in Eastern Cape.  Before she left her homeland in South Africa in 1810 (at the age of 21) she worked as a slave for Dutch farmers.  The Khoisans were negatively labeled Hottentots (primitive form of humanity) by European settlers.

Hendrick Cezar, the brother of Baartman’s employer and Alexander Dunlop, a physician on a British Navy Ship took Baartman to London where the primary source of revenue for her owner was Baartman’s bear anatomy.  She was promised a share of the monies and thus a way to better her life (this is the same general manipulation of the female found in pornographic and strip-club industries today).  She was advertised as human oddity and she was placed on display for the eyes of European Elites (1810-1816).  This was the beginning of the reprehensible showing of her body in night-clubs, circuses, colleges, and medical laboratories. Saartjie’s body was used to satisfy sexual fascinations about African women. 

In 1814 she was relocated to Paris, France where Henry Taylor exhibited her before passing her on to various owners including a zoo keeper.  Baartman died on January 1, 1816, miserable and six thousand miles away from her homeland.

After her death, Georges Cuvier performed the autopsy on her body.  Her dissected body parts, including her genitals and anus were placed in formaldehyde containers and were kept on display at Musee de l’Homme until 1976. 

Numerous futile attempts were made to have Baartman’s remains brought back home to South Africa. It was Nelson Mandela, the President of a new and democratic South Africa (1994-1999) who reengaged the diplomatic conversations that led to the repatriation of Baartman’s remains to South Africa.  Baartman was finally buried and granted eternal rest on August 9, 2002. This was 186 years after her death.

I decided to retell the story of Saartjie Baartman for three reasons: firstly it informs of the history of the Female Body, especially the Black Female Body as it was held to be inferior and thus dominated by the wealthy and powerful of that time.  Secondly, the story provides a suitable entry to compare the contemporary Bahamian woman to Baartman. That comparison is our culture’s fixation with sex, the Female Body and the disrespect of the sanctity of femininity.  Thirdly, this story can serve as a reminder of where we came from.  Baartman was subjected to this horrid lifestyle against her will, but nowadays there are young women willfully engaging in similar lifestyles and doing so with pride. Hopefully the story of Baartman will give us the power to make positive decisions, because she was not allowed to make one for herself. There is no prestige in dressing scantily, sexing for money and being a “Tip-Drill” (that is having dollar bills (tips) place in a G-String while dancing on a stage or a pole).

Women will remain dehumanized and sexualized when men are the sole and conclusive authority in church and state.  The social identity of women is rudely redefined when damning vocabulary (bitch, hoe, slut and “cutta”) is used and made normal.  I must note that this language is accepted by some females, and accepted without resistance.  That is a problem. Then there is the abuse of love, women and adultery toward women.  In some male and female minds it is normal for women to be beaten on and cheated on.  There are some women who decide (or feel like there is no other choice but) to engage in promiscuity, chronic monogamous promiscuity, and even acts of prostitution as a means of survival and economic empowerment.  These and other forms of women-hatred need to seriously be rethought and reenacted. 

Finally, the freedom of the woman must start with women. Women must organize themselves to assist and rear the young in our communities.  On the journey toward this freedom men must apologize for the years of bad treatment inflicted on women.  Further to that, brothers willing to be advocates must stand in with our sisters. We are one human family, woman and man, men and women.  We are all involved in the process of female liberation and the creation of a more equal society. We owe it to Saartjie and the many others who have given their lives for our freedom.

For the Sacred Ancestors,

Jevon O. Neely

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Self Empowerment
By Dennis Fountain

I have pondered relentlessly as to what I could possibly say. Something of substance. After countless hours of searching my mind I keep getting back to where I started… which is where I shall begin.  I mean you may as well start at the beginning. Well I feel, felt and will always believe that the only way to achieve true satisfaction is through self empowerment! We can choose to be either followers or leaders. All the ingredients are out there, if…and only…if, you realize them.  It may involve getting into a field that you never imagined being associated with until you haphazardly stumble across it.

We live in a world of domination. We must  follow its rules (that conveniently don’t apply to the rulers); enter its’ workforce and succeed to our burial as we enter our destinations. To me that is B.S. The system has failed through generational mismanagement! The system is bigger than us but consider for a moment the story of David and Goliath or the US hockey team made up of college players beating the USSR, both examples of tremendous triumph even though the odds seemed insurmountable. The moral being that there are Ways and means to overcome adversity, even though the world is as it has always been.

Now technology has entered the picture. Knowledge is no longer the elusive benefit of the rich and powerful. We need to open our minds to improve our lives. Take hold of available opportunities to start ventures.  Even to a point of backyard farming. The point is, we need to be less dependent on commodities and can do so when we can provide for ourselves. In future articles I will get into specific avenues one can take, but for now, Think about it!

The Color On Tha Bahamas Now is not Just for show check for other links by clicking on various colors for interesting facts and where you may purchase items