COMMENTARY: BY OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., February 17, 2021 – Since she began her responsibilities as the new Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in The Bahamas on New Year’s Day, 2021, Usha E. Pitts has unquestionably demonstrated that the new administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris made an excellent choice in appointing her as the current top U.S. diplomat in The Bahamas.
This is not meant to suggest that her predecessors in that important diplomatic post in the country that’s the United States’ closest neighbour in the Caribbean region did not do a good job. Indeed, The Bahamas has had a series of exceptional Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy over the years, and Ms. Pitts’ immediate predecessor in that position, Stephanie Bowers, was highly regarded by Bahamians generally.
But it seems as if Ms. Pitts, who is Black, realizes that she has a unique opportunity to forge and even stronger diplomatic relationship between the Black-controlled government of The Bahamas and the United States.
When she first met with current Prime Minister Dr. Hubert A. Minnis at the Cabinet Office in downtown Nassau on February 4, the new Chargé d’Affaires and the Prime Minister discussed the many important areas of cooperation between the United States and The Bahamas, including cooperation on disaster preparedness and COVID-19 response, collaboration on issues of regional importance, and partnership towards combatting climate change under the new administration of President Biden. Earlier in the week, she met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Darren Henfield.
It is certainly worth noting that The Bahamas has been without an U.S. Ambassador since California businesswoman Nicole Avant, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, served in that capacity from October 22, 2009 to November 21, 2011. Since then, the top U.S. diplomats in The Bahamas have been John W. Dinkelman, Chargé d’Affaires, November 2011 to July 2014; Lisa A. Johnson, Chargé d’Affaires, July 9, 2014 to November 9, 2017; and Bowers, who was Chargé d’Affaires from March 1, 2018 to 2020.
Quite possibly, by appointing Ms. Pitts, a highly qualified career diplomat as Chargé d’Affaires to The Bahamas, President Biden may be laying a solid diplomatic foundation for the appointment of an Ambassador to The Bahamas, who will generally be the official spokesperson for the United States.
To be sure, Ms. Pitts is indeed highly qualified. She has served at diplomatic posts in Russia, Cuba, Italy, Austria, Panama, and Brazil. She has also served in Washington, D.C. and New York City.
“As the Diplomat in Residence for New York City, Ms. Pitts traveled a region of 45 million Americans, recruiting aspiring diplomats and promoting public service,” the U.S. Embassy in Nassau noted on its website. “During her most recent tour abroad, Ms. Pitts led the U.S. Consulate General in Recife, a seaside city in Brazil’s growing Northeast region. Ms. Pitts also worked in Rome and Vienna as a U.S. liaison to international organizations dealing with food security and atomic energy.”
The website added, “During her tour in Washington, Ms. Pitts supervised a team in the State Department’s Operations Center, a 24-hour crisis management and communications center. Earlier in her career, Ms. Pitts worked in Havana, where she tracked the Cuban economy. She began her career at U.S. Embassies in Moscow and Panama City.
“Ms. Pitts was born and raised in Massachusetts, the daughter of an interracial marriage. She traveled to India at age 11, an experience that led to a lifetime of travel and an eventual career in the Foreign Service. She speaks Chinese, Russian, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. She holds degrees from the University of Massachusetts, the George Washington University, and the Naval War College. She and her husband are raising two teenagers and looking forward to learning about The Bahamas and other island nations in the English-speaking Caribbean.”
It is also quite possible that President Biden at some point during his first four years in office may schedule an official visit to The Bahamas, given the fact when he was a college student he met his first wife, Neilia Hunter, in Nassau during spring break in 1964.
Additionally, the fact that Vice President Kamala Harris’ father is from Jamaica also bodes well for stronger ties between Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries and the Biden Administration. So, now is certainly a good time for The Bahamas to be more proactive in strengthening The Bahamas’ diplomatic outreach in Washington, D.C.
We have a very capable and affable Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS) in His Excellency Sidney Collie, a former teacher and lawyer, who has been doing a remarkable job as our country’s top diplomat in the United States. However, he is being denied the support services I provided in disseminating information on embassy-related matters for four-plus years as Press, Cultural Affairs and Information Manager before the change of government in The Bahamas in May of 2017.
Admittedly, my motive for referring to this issue, which is extraneous to the core reason for this article, is indeed personal. When my diplomatic tenure at the Embassy ended, I presented a proposal to Prime Minister Minnis to continue doing what I did at the Embassy on a contractual basis in November of 2017 when I was in Nassau promoting my novel WOES OF LIFE. After I did not get a response for several months, I drastically reduced the financial remuneration I was seeking, and Ambassador Collie informed me more than two years ago that my revised proposal had been approved, but it was never implemented.
Given my current dire financial situation, I have repeatedly appealed to the relevant individuals in the government for an update on the status of my proposal, but my emails have been totally ignored. With a general election scheduled to be held in The Bahamas before May of next year, I certainly hope that the powers-that-be in the government recognize and appreciate the importance of “spreading the word” about the diplomatic accomplishments of The Bahamas.
But getting back to U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Pitts and the commendable job she is doing. Since she started at the U.S. Embassy in Nassau, she has effectively used the Embassy’s Facebook page in announcing Embassy-related activities and events of national importance. A case in point is a post today (February 17) about the commemorative stamp the U.S. Postal Service established honouring the late renowned Black American journalist Gwendolyn L. Ifill, who died on November 14, 2016.
As a member of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) when I was News Editor of the Washington Informer for more than 12 years in the 1980s and early 1990s, I am very familiar with Ms. Ifill’s accomplishments as a journalist. Here is the narrative of what was posted on the U.S. Embassy Nassau Facebook page and the link to additional information:
“The United States Postal Service found a creative way to honor Black Americans. They are men and women who have pioneered in fields ranging from journalism to civil rights. Today we honor their legacy as we celebrate Black History Month.” https://share.america.gov/african-americans-honored-in…/
