MAJORITY RULE DAY
The 10th January 2025 was a national holiday throughout our country. The act creating the holiday was passed in the House of Assembly on 1 May 2013. The holiday marks the first time a majority black government ruled our country, since 1834 on the supposed abolition of slavery, which was really 1838.
From that time on, up to 1967, there was social apartheid, contractual apartheid, and legal apartheid in The Bahamas based on race.
Slowly black men and women, descendants of the former slaves chipped away at all of these restrictions, and on the 10th January 1967, there was the free and full expression by universal adult suffrage, by all over 21 years of age to elect a government which looked like most of us.
Lynden Pindling was the man who led the government and so popular was he that today, almost certainly anyone who is named Lynden, was born in and around 1967.
The struggle began as a revolt against slavery, then we jump to the Burma Road riots in 1942, the founding of the Citizens Committee in 1950 to stop the banning of the showing of the first film of Sidney Poitier in The Bahamas.
Then there was the creation of the PLP by H. M. Taylor, Cyril Stevenson and Bill Cartwright in 1953.
The PLP was elected as an opposition party in 1956, the general strike of 1958, the first vote by women in 1962, Black Tuesday when Lynden Pindling threw the Speaker’s mace out of the window in 1965, then the majority rule Government of 10th January 1967.
The fight was not over because you had to fight for racial equality in Grand Bahama in 1969. In 1969, the lowering of the voting age to 18. Then national independence in 1973.
Who led this fight for human dignity, freedom and equality: the Progressive Liberal Party.
Today, we give thanks to those freedom fighters and we declare that the struggle continues for justice and equality for all that there should be no discrimination of any kind on any basis in a liberal tolerant democratic society.
Number of hits for the week ending Saturday 11 January 2025 up to midnight: 543,817;
Number of hits for the month of January up to Saturday 11 January 2025 up to midnight: 824,808;
Number of hits for the year 2025 up to Saturday 11 January 2025 up to midnight: 824,808;