COMMENTARY: BY OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 15, 2019 – ATTENTION PERCY “VOLA” FRANCIS AND ARLENE NASH-FERGUSON: As two of the foremost exponents and promoters of The Bahamas’ Number One cultural expression, JUNKANOO, the annul Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Parade is a wonderful opportunity to once again expose residents of the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States, to the exciting, pulsating sounds and performance of Junkanoo.
My “sister” Denise Rolark Barnes, Publisher of The Washington Informer, is one of the principal organizers of the Annual D.C. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade and I am almost certain that she and the other organizers will welcome the participation of a Junkanoo contingent from The Bahamas, even if it is only a group of around 20 members. This is something that I think I can arrange, with the support of Chris Gardiner, a Bahamian who owns a successful accounting firm here in D.C. and is very well connected politically.
This unquestionably a marvelous opportunity to promote The Bahamas and let potential visitors to our country know that THE BAHAMAS IS STILL OPEN FOR BUSINESS in the aftermath of the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian in September.
Although it is bit late to start organizing such a trip, with benevolent support from people like R.H. Culmer, owner of CHANCES webshops, with headquarters in Freeport, and the owners of other webshop enterprisers – especially Adrian Fox of island Luck, who reportedly expended thousands and thousands of dollars supporting Jamaican reggae artists Buju Banton’s concert in Nassau earlier this year – raising the necessary funds to cover the trip should not be that difficult.
What’s more, I think Minister of Tourism and Aviation Dionisio D’Aguilar and his executive management team at the Ministry — including Director General of Tourism Joy Jibrilu and Deputy Director Ellison “Tommy” Turnquest, who recently led a delegation from The Bahamas on a successful tourism-promotion blitz of Canada selling the fact that The Bahamas is Still Open for Business – will recognize the value of having a Junkanoo contingent from The Bahamas reinforce this promotional theme to potential visitors to The Bahamas living in the Washington Metropolitan area.
I can very well recall the excitement a Junkanoo group from The Bahamas used to generate several years ago in the DC Caribbean Carnival, an annual DC Extravaganza that used to extend on Georgia Avenue in Northwest Washington beginning at Georgia and Missouri Avenues and culminating at Banneker Park, across from Howard University.
Especially during the tenure of Ambassador Joshua Sears (2000-2006), The Bahamas was a major participant in the D.C. Caribbean Carnival primarily because of the involvement of his daughter, Khandra Sears, who used to literally transform the basement of the Ambassador’s official residence into a “junkanoo shack,” where she and members of her committee and other Bahamian students in the D.C. area used to “build” their costumes to participate in the Carnival Parade.
For about two or three years, Percy “Vola” Francis, leader of the Saxons, brought a contingent from The Bahamas, and when they were combined with the “local D.C. group” organized by Khandra Sears, The Bahamas had a powerful presence in the parade.
Dr. Khandra Sears, PhD, who is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Maryland (Baltimore) School of Medicine Center for Vaccine Development, is still very active in organizing and promoting Bahamian activities in the D.C. area. Should the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation decide to take advantage of the tremendous opportunity to promote The Bahamas that is inherent in participation in the Annual D.C. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade, Director General Jibrilu can find out how to contact Dr. Sears by placing a call to her father, former Ambassador Joshua Sears, who is currently a Senior Policy Adviser to Prime Minister the Most Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis.
Hopefully, Minister of Tourism D’Aguilar and Director General Jibrilu will not hesitate to embrace this “golden opportunity” to reinforce the message that The Bahamas is Still Open for Business to residents of the D.C. Metropolitan Area. See BAHAMAS CHRONICLE for more information on the Annual D.C. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade at https://bahamaschronicle.com/get-connected-support-the-annual-d-c-martin-luther-king-jr-holiday-parade/
