(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an update of an article that I published in BAHAMAS CHRONICLE on March 22, 2020.)
By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D. C., March 22, 2022 — Today would have been the 92nd birthday of the late Sir Lynden Pindling, the first Prime Minister of The Bahamas, whose name as leader of the Progressive Libera Party (PLP) during the struggle for majority rule in The Bahamas is enshrined in the history of The Bahamas as a Modern Day Moses. Those who were around in the 1960s tend to forget what life was like in The Bahamas when racism was viciously enforced on the same disgraceful level as in the Southern United States, where it was implemented by law, and the younger generation in The Bahamas simply do not want to be reminded that as late at 1962, Black Bahamians were refused admission to the “whites only” Savoy Theatre of Bay Street and the only Blacks working in banks on Bay Street were as janitors or similar low-level jobs.
At some point in the future, I sincerely hope that the government of The Bahamas would consider adding the birthday of Sir Lynden to the list of public holidays annually observed in The Bahamas. To be sure, the historic election victory by the Progressive Liberal Party – led by Sir Lynden and a Band of Brothers with a similar commitment to bringing about positive political change in the country – on January 10, 1967 is as important a day in the history of The Bahamas as the United States’ Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
Following the historic January 10, 1967 election victory, Lynden Pindling became the first black Premier of The Bahamas and subsequently became the first Prime Minister after The Bahamas, a former British colony, became an independent nation on July 10, 1973.
The following New York Times obituary — published on August 27, 2000, on the occasion of Sir Lynden’s death at the age of 70 – provides an insight into the life of this Bahamian political icon. It was published under the headline: SIR LYNDEN PINDLING, 70, PRIME MINISTER WHO LED BAHAMAS TO INDEPPENDENCE.
“Sir Lynden O. Pindling, the prime minister of the Bahamas for 25 years whose reputation and relationship with the United States were marred by unresolved accusations of protecting drug traffickers, died yesterday at his home in Nassau. He was 70.
The cause was prostate cancer, aides said in a statement…”
Here is a link to the article published I BAHAMAS CHRONICLE ON March 22, 2020. https://bahamaschronicle.com/remembering-sir-lynden-on-what-would-have-been-his-90th-birthday/
