BY OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 5, 2020 – I had the wonderful pleasure this morning of watching a live broadcast on Facebook of Junkanoo 242 hosted by my “Little Sister” Arlene Nash-Ferguson in honour of Labour Day, which is a holiday in my native Bahamas. If you have never seen Junkanoo, it is one of The Bahamas’ major cultural events – a carnival-styled parade held annually on Boxing Day (December 26) and New Year’s Day in downtown Nassau. It is truly a unique experience, around which many visitors to The Bahamas — one of the world’s leading tourist destinations — plan their annual vacation.
Because of the havoc that the COVID-19 pandemic is currently wreaking in countries around the world, there is a lingering concern in The Bahamas that the disastrous impact of COVID-19 on the country’s tourism industry will still be prevalent around the end of the year when this year’s junkanoo parades are scheduled. However, the good news is that the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation earlier this week announced a “phased approach” for re-opening the country’s borders and tourism sector, including the resumption of international commercial travel starting July 1. This certainly augurs well for the likelihood that tourism travel to The Bahamas will be “back to normal” by December and the pulsating and rhythmic cadence of cowbells, goatskin drums and horns will reverberate along Bay Street on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
Undoubtedly, as one of The Bahamas’ foremost proponents of Junkanoo, Arlene Nash-Ferguson will be a participant in one way or the other. A former educator, she turned her family homestead where she grew up on West Hill Street in Nassau into Educulture Junkanoo Museum and Resource Centre, ostensibly as “an experiential educational platform that celebrates the spirit of The Bahamas through history and the artistry of Junkanoo,” according to an article written by Bahamian journalist Hadassah Hall-Deleveaux in November of 2018 that was published in BAHAMAS CHRONICLE.
Here is an extended excerpt from Mrs. Hall-Deleveaux’s article:
Arlene Nash-Ferguson grew up on top of the hill – not over the hill. Yet, this proud Bahamian has a strong pull towards the history of this heritage community and her love for the nation’s culture runs deeply in her veins.
So what is the difference between the top of the hill and over the hill?
“I was born Delancey Street, but grew up through West Street. The area was formerly known as Delancey Town – established by freed African slaves. It was not technically over the hill, but it was one of the three townships – including Grants Town and Bain Town – that surrounded Old Nassau,” she explained.
The northern boundary of over the hill is reported to begin on School Lane. While many persons born in the historically rich area bordering over the hill have sold those houses and moved into the suburbs, Arlene decided to turn the family homestead on West Street into Educulture Junkanoo Museum and Resource Centre, an experiential educational platform that celebrates the spirit of The Bahamas through history and the artistry of Junkanoo.
The two-storey structure was built in 1959 just two doors south of the house her grandfather, Frederick Bosfield, built for his bride in 1900. She clearly has a lot of connectivity to the area.
“When I was growing up here, who would have thought this would have become such a prime location. There’s Gracycliff Restaurant, The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, John Watlings and lots of foot traffic,” she said.
The avid proponent of Bahamian history spoke proudly of some of the movers and shakers of the country who were also born in Delancey Town.
“You can go house by house in Delancey Town and all you can find are nation builders who were born here. Former Member of Parliament (MP) and mortician, Dr. Marcus Bethel; former MP, A. F. Adderley and his son’s Paul and Francis; the first Bahamian Bishop of the Anglican Diocese, Michael Eldon and his sister Dr. Keva Bethel, who was the first President of the College of The Bahamas, and the suffragettes like Mary Ingraham; also, Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield, who became leader of the Free National Movement, lived at the end of our street. The area is so rich,” she said excitedly.
Meanwhile, Arlene has very strong views as to present-day over the hill and what she considers to be the denigration of the area.
“I am extremely disappointed when I hear people refer to our heritage communities as the ghetto and the inner cities. They are misnomers we have borrowed from the United States. Communities will live down to what you call them. You use derogatory terms, yet you’re trying to lift them up?” she questioned.
Further, Arlene believes some people in the area do not have a connection to its rich, historical roots.
“The properties have been sold or rented and some people who occupy them now, they do not have the same pride. Nobody has the love for these areas like the people who once lived here. If change will happen, it begins with us,” she concluded.
Arlene’s initial plans were to turn the two-storey yellow structure where she grew up into apartments; instead, Educulture provides tours of the museum to cruise ship personnel, guided Ride and Learn school tours, and Junkanoo workshops which include a history lesson of the festival, the viewing of artifacts and the making of hats, ending with a rush out.
On a personal note, Hadassah Hall-Deleveaux, author of this wonderfully written article, was one of the young reporters who worked with me when I was Editor of the Nassau Guardian (1998 -2002).
On another personal note, I refer to Arlene Nash-Ferguson as my “Little Sister” because her older brother, Garth H.O. Nash, has been one of my very best friends from my teenage years when he and I were both members of a young men’s club called THE FRATERNITY. Back then, I used to spend a lot of time on West Hill Street because FRATERNITY meetings were held at the home of the late Charles “Chuck” Virgill, who was brutally murdered in February of 1997 when he was a Cabinet Minister in the then Free National Movement (FNM) government.
(NOTE: I started writing this just to provide sufficient information to introduce the link below to Arlene’s Junkanoo 242 Facebook post, so I decided to do a little research to properly introduce my “Little Sister” when I found Hadassah Hall-Deleveaux’s article and decided to do a more extensive article. And by the way, I have been a die-hard SAXONS SUPERSTARS Junkanoo supporter from my boyhood years.)
Here’s a link to Junkanoo 242 in honour of Labour Day, duringnwhich the significance of the Labour Day holiday is explained. https://www.facebook.com/Junkanoo242/videos/774453656708713/
