The Junkanoo Commandos, “a traditional Junkanoo performance troop” from Nassau, Bahamas, was the “headliner” for the Newport News, Virginia, World Arts Celebration on August 4, 2018
By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C. — With all the controversy surrounding whether or not the Government should or should not buy the Grand Lucayan Hotel in Freeport to jump-start Grand Bahama’s ailing economy, the Ministry of Tourism should take steps to replicate a promotional event currently being staged by the Newport News Tourism Development Office and it would not have to import a “headliner.”
With a population of more than 180,000, Newport News, Virginia’s fifth-most populous city, is described as “the heart of Coastal Virginia, where great things are happening.”
Among those “great things” is the World Arts Celebration currently being held August 4 – 8, during which “thirty cultures from around the world” are being showcased from 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. around the fountain at City Center at Oyster Point, 735 Town Center Drive.
“A stroll around the fountain will transport you through a curated world tour of hands-on exhibits, art demonstrations, entertainment and culinary delights to tantalize your senses,” Newport News boasted on its Facebook page. “This year’s headliner is the Junkanoo Commandos, a traditional Junkanoo performance troop, flying straight from Nassau, Bahamas, for a riveting and colorful performance at 7:00 p.m. You can pick up free bells and whistles to join with the performance and you can try on authentic festival headpieces.”
The promotional spiel added: “Throughout the afternoon, visit exhibits from a variety of countries including Taiwan, South Africa, Germany, China, Japan, France, Mali, Egypt, West Indian Islands, Mexico, Greece, Vietnam, Polynesia, America and Cambodia. Free children’s activities include face painting, henna designs, and international ‘make and take’ crafts. Families can take photos with artistic props representing a variety of countries from around the world. Free necklaces, mini totes and Chinese fans will be given away while supplies last. Vendors will sell artwork and crafts from Ecuador, Kenya, Nepal, Uganda, Bangladesh, the Philippines, South Africa, the Bahamas and America.
“Folkdance, music, and martial arts performances will fill three stages. The World Stage features the ACT Dance Theatre at 4:30 p.m., the Peninsula Chinese American Association (Tai-chi Team) at 5:00 p.m., Jow Ga Kung Fu Association’s Lion Dance at 6:00 p.m., and the Junkanoo Commandos at 7:00 p.m.”
I have always been baffled by the inability of those at the helm of The Bahamas’ tourism promotion ship to not fully appreciate the importance of taking advantage of the immense local talent and creativity of our artisans in seeking to encourage potential tourists to choose The Bahamas as their vacation destination.
Under the leadership of former Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe, this shortsightedness was also compounded by a blatant disregard for the importance of keeping promises made to organizations that are highly regarded among African-Americans, who spend sizable amounts of their disposable income on vacations.
When the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) held its annual convention in Nassau in 2015, Minister Wilchcombe was the keynote speaker at one of its events and he made a “solemn promise” to include some African-American newspapers in The Bahamas’ tourism advertising budget.
Mr. Wilchcombe, of course, did not keep that promise, and I was reminded about this when I attended an event at the NNPA annual Convention in June of 2017 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
The NNPA represents more than 200 African-American-owned newspapers across the United States. During my previous stay in Washington, D.C., for 21 years prior to returning to The Bahamas “permanently” in 1996, I was News Editor of the Washington Informer, an award-winning African-American newspaper that is the sponsor of the District of Columbia National Spelling Bee, through which a D.C. spelling champion is selected to participate in the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee.
When I was New Editor of The Informer, I attended my first Scripps Spelling Bee in 1984 and I was so impressed that I made up my mind to do whatever I could to introduce it in The Bahamas, which I did in 1998 when I was Editor of the Nassau Guardian. I was invited to attend the NNPA convention event in June of 2017 by Denise Rolark Barnes, current publisher of The Informer, who at the time was Chairman of the NNPA. Denise’s late father Dr. Calvin W. Rolark hired met to work at The Informer in 1982 when she took time off from her duties at The Informer to study for her D.C. Bar examination shortly after she graduated from Howard University Law School.
Because I still consider her to be my “sister,” I was extremely pleased when NNPA chose Nassau to hold its 2015 convention and I personally spoke with Tourism Minister Wilchcombe about the importance of the NNPA and the benefits The Bahamas can derive from advertising its tourism product in selected African-American newspapers. So to say that I was disappointed by Mr. Wilchcombe’s decision not to live up to the promise he made to the African-American publishers is an understatement.
The current Chairman of the NNPA, Dorothy R. Leavell, longtime publisher of the Chicago Crusader and the Gary (Indiana) Crusader, is still reportedly perplexed by Mr. Wilchcombe’s demonstration of an obvious character flaw in not keeping his promise. Hopefully, the current Minister of Tourism, Dionisio D’Aguilar, will correct this long-standing policy of the Ministry of Tourism to not advertise in African-American owned newspapers.
But let’s get back to World Arts Celebration currently being held in Newport News, Virginia, during which “thirty cultures from around the world” are being showcased. Surely, this concept could be used as a template for a similar event to stimulate Grand Bahama’s economy in tandem with a committed effort to reopen the Grand Lucayan Hotel.
Rather than focus on “thirty cultures from around the world,” why not invite each of the “sister islands” in The Bahamas to display their unique cultural expression and artifacts during a weekend of activities at the Port Lucaya Marketplace, with Junkanoo being the connecting thread? Supportive events could be staged at other venues in Freeport during the weekend, which can be strongly promoted not only in The Bahamas, but in the United States as well.
This is just the core of an idea that could be tweaked and developed by professionals who are more skilled in organizing events of this nature, but once it has been established it can be an annual weekend that can be used to lure visitors to Grand Bahama in huge numbers annually. To plagiarize a favourite statement by my friend D. Paul Riley, “Think about it.”
