"the gubment dem lousy"
"foreigners get treated better than Bahamians"
"the young Bahamians lazy"
"older Bahamians think they know everything"
Should we shift the spotlight?
The list literally goes on and on. The outcry in The Bahamas is at an all time high and there seems to be no end in sight. We take to social media to voice our opinions on everything and everyone. While I used to be like this, a couple years ago I had to stop. The injustice in The Bahamas started to really bother me—and I'm not talking vent/rant to someone or on social media and move on— I'm talking passionate, heart wrenching, angry sobbing. Waking up in the middle of the night crying, "how I gonna help Bahamians?"
Well, it started to get out of hand. I had to cut that out because the government will always be lousy, foreigners will always get treated better, young Bahamians will always be lazy and older Bahamians will always think they know everything. (Or so we've been conditioned to think because of this cycle we're on as a country doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results. iisabahamianbey is going to change that but, that's for a different story.) So I became numb to and stopped internalizing everything that was going on in The Bahamas. Because I didn't have the means to do what I thought would help.
Fast forward and now we got iisabahamianbey...
A place, a community, a platform that we can literally do whatever we want with! And invite other people in that also share the same principles. While I can use this platform to fuel that fire and speak out on the injustice, complain and make noise every time our government makes poor decision, tell the foreigners to push out, start a riot and convince people that we need to start a revolution, I have a better idea.
What if we created a space for Bahamians creatives and intellects alike. A space for us to voice our opinions, tell the gubment dem they lousy but, also come up with solutions. A platform to feature those Bahamians making big strides. Where we can both learn from the past and teach the present to build a better future. Also a time to play, some Bahamian themed entertainment, games and fun hey?
I mean we all know the changes that needs to be made in The Bahamas... but do you know about the infamous Prince Charles Loaf in Savannah Sound, Eleuthera? What about Ashley Saunders who's been building the Dolphin House since 1993? What about the Bahamian poet Susan J. Wallace?
One of Susan J. Wallace books "Bahamian Scene"
There are too many amazing Bahamians, doing amazing things that are not being given the spotlight.
Don't get me wrong, I'll definitely use this platform to fight for the greater good and call out a few people but, I also want to use this platform to shout out the thousands of Bahamian people and spotlight their stories.
Thank you to those that have been on this journey, just joined this journey and those to come! Looking forward to embarking on a new chapter with you.
With Love,
Kaché Knowles