December 3, 2021
We were trolling Facebook and we came across a stream of extremely salty Jamaicans, vex to ratid that Barbados took the plunge and kicked HE Queen Elizabeth II to the curb. I was trying to understand why they would be so upset on the Facebooks? But then I remember it is Facebook where everyone with a pet peeve gets a chance to vent their gripes as if someone cares. It is only until you see it start to trend on your feed do you take it seriously.
The tone we got from the Jamaican folks was that they are more upset with their own political elites for not making their country a Republic sooner and before Barbados or any other Caribbean country. You see, they are the land of Bob Marley and Dexta Daps and all that and when you say the Caribbean to a foreigner they automatically put on their cheesy Jamaican accent.
But more than Bob Marley and Dexta Daps does a Republic make. You need something of the now, you need Rihanna- who also was honoured as a national hero on the night Barbados was able to be a country without adult supervision.
I don’t even know why any other Caribbean people would care that much about that other than to celebrate Barbados and wish them well? It’s not as if this was not on their to-do-list for the past 20 plus years now. Just that Prime Minister Mia Mottley wants a bit more for her legacy and this was it, because God knows everything else in Barbados leaves very little to be desired.
Sure, she got rid of the hapless Freundel Stuart and the Democratic Labour Party that had Barbadians swimming in septic water- Yes, literally septic water. Read up on the great sewage crisis of Barbados in 2018. But Ms Mottley has not delivered on much of anything aside from a public relations tour of herself from the United Nations to the International Monetary Fund and all else, and this crowning achievement of turning Barbados to a republic is one of them. I don’t see her as anything other than a typical politician, just so happens she is of a different gender- all respect given to her.
Also, moving to a Republic has some notable Barbadians left questioning the move. One notable icon was former cricket legend, Garfield Sobers, who said he will miss the Queen and that he wasn’t sure why the Barbadian government wanted to do this at this time. Some may dismiss him as an uncle tom, which they have and it is unfair to him because he has his opinion.
The few Barbadians I met are humble, decent people. They don’t kick up much of a fuss. They are more laid back than a sleepy, well fed Grampy with his pipe and tumbler of rum on a cool Sunday afternoon. But that doesn’t mean that they won’t kick Ms Mottley out in one term if they don’t like the way things are going either, they have a chance at the polls to do just that. And if this COVID-19 pandemic still lingers on by the time Barbados has another election, and people are still out of work watching their family members die due to incompetence and grandstanding, to hell with a Republic.
But don’t be salty Jamaican brethren. Be happy. This is something we all should celebrate and not because Ms Mottley is the flavour of the month, but because the Caribbean needed this boost of confidence. We wish them well!