By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 22, 2023 — Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper, who is also Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation, today posted a collection of photos on his Team Cooper Facebook page that I absolutely had to share with readers of my online publication, BAHAMAS CHRONICLE, which has a huge following among the Bahamian diaspora across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom as well as in The Bahamas and the wider Caribbean.
Deputy Prime Minister Cooper posted these photos with the following narrative:
I invited Bahamas and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO Jamaal Rolle, otherwise known as the Celebrity Artist, to my office today for a copy of my memoir, “Fishinin’ on the Rocks”.
Turns out he had a gift for me as well. It was a marvelous surprise to be presented with a portrait of myself reading my memoir.
Jamaal told me that when he was a kid, he never imagined his gifts would take him this far. It was humbling to be thanked for my contributions to the creative industries.
He’s an example that God gives us all gifts and it is when we harness them and capitalize on them that we soar.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Jamaal Rolle is indeed extremely gifted and talented. I have a black and white portrait of myself prominently displayed on the wall of my living room that was drawn by Jamaal several years ago when I was in Nassau for Christmas. I was clean-shaven back then, but now that I have a “new look” with a beard, I must get a full-colour portrait done on my next visit to Nassau, which hopefully will be sometime next year, depending on the results of the medical treatment I am receiving for my mobility problem.
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