BARBADOS' FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY celebrations come and gone and nobody ain’t say yuh cat, yuh dog, ’bout we. Sometimes yuh have to wonder if we is Bajan, too. Gabby had to tell Jack dat the beach belong to he, but it is time that we tell we story. These fields and skies ’bout here belong to we! We father get we here. We mother hatch we here. And here belongs to we.
This thing ain’t now start. Back in sixty-six, when we was getting ready for Independence, we understood that they were designing a coat of arms and they wanted to include a bird. Now, in a predominantly black country, at a time when people all over de world was fighting for civil rights, we did not see that place going to de dove, de sparrow or the egret. If dey celebrating sugar cane and the fishing industry, dey can’t forget we! It would have to be a blackbird. And so we waited. Lo and behold, when the news broke, they chose a pelican. A peli what? Ninety-eight percent of Bajans never see or hear ’bout a pelican. The poor Bajan children would have to go to the museum or the Internet to see wuh one o’ dem look like. On de odder hand, the smallest child now learning to talk know about the blackbird. We were so hurted that we felt like flying away and leaving Bim to the pelicans. It took years to get over what we own black people do to we.
You woulda tink that after fifty years my people woulda come to duh senses. Big fiftieth anniversary celebrations planned, and we waited and waited. They count down till they could not count down anymore, but not a single word about we. We hear that they were planning to erect a monument at the Garrison, we home turf. Well, now surely….
We ain’t try to fly in nobody face. But every day leading up to the big day we practising. We had we own parade on the Garrison Savannah; untouchable in immaculate black suits, putting on airshow after airshow with precision, dexterity and poise. And we waited. But not a soul ain’t mention we, the pride of this country. You know that dey left we out again? Look, had not for the UWI sports program we would never hear that word Blackbird on the local TV.
What more we got to do to prove that we are loyal citizens in this country? We embrace the motto Pride and Industry. You ever see one a we dirty yet? Never. Ever so often, we does flex we wings and brush we suits; always black and always immaculate. We work hard, but we can chuckle, chirrup and sing. We can do that all day long, turning any gloomy, rainy day into a time of celebration.
We are industrious, working and building nests. We understand recycling and keeping the environment clean, using rubbish to make nests. Many years ago we tried to share our nest-building skills with the doves, but they refused and said that they already know. You know that up to today a dove can’t build a proper nest. But we tried. We eat healthy and never filth. We eat fruits and use our expert knowledge to tell humans when it is time to harvest. With discretion: we peck at one, two or more but never all. A lesson we tried to teach monkeys, but they just wouldn’t listen. Dem too vindictive. Their heads too small for their bodies. But we tried. You know how it feel to know that the tiefing Green Monkey get more national recognition than we?
Look, some people say that God is a Bajan. We don’t hold to that view, but we recognize that there’s a God. Early in the morning, we lift our chirrups to Him. Look at how we does descend on a newly cut lawn, a freshly plowed field or newly harvested sugar cane; we appreciate God's providential care.
We love the brotherhood, or should I say the birdhood? The way we cry and lament over a fallen comrade sends a clear message that we’re all one. Like true Bajans, we really care for one another. We does share and allow others to participate when we discover a bounty. We even allow the doves to take a bite or two. These are Bajan values that we hold to dearly. In our world, there are scrapes and disagreements, but we understand conflict resolution. Destroying each other is not what we do. You never hear about a cowboy blackbird. Life is too precious. This is a lesson we wish we could teach the young men of the nation.
We do not take our Bajan pride lightly. A point our leaders never understood. RPB put it right, “We ain’t going nowhere, it is here we intend to stay.” We ain’t like the flying fish that migrate to Trinidad or some of the politicians that does fly ’way when things hard or when things look better on the other side.
A word to the political leaders: How about a blackbird statue outside the Central Bank, where all the other birds could fly round we; or pon top the Public Building clock? It is time we stop the long talk about Nelson, take he down and put up one of we. One of my neighbours from Trinidad come and whisper a little word, that we should be Barbados, Land of the Blackbird. Maybe Pelican Village would be more prosperous if it did name after we. The people and the craft down there is as Bajan as a blackbird.
Sorry, pelicans, we are here to stay. You may be on the coat of arms, but we are in the hearts and souls of Bajans. You can’t have pins and needles wid we.
