COMMENTARY: By OSWALD T. BROWN
NASSAU, Bahamas, December 23, 2019 — I had to share this wonderful “tribute” to my “Little Sister” Arlene Nash Ferguson and her husband Silbert Ferguson by Valerie Solanas on her recent visit to Nassau. Mrs. Solanas posted a photo with the following caption: “Jim got the real story of Junkanoo and I got a real dose of nostalgia hanging out with Arlene and Sil at Educulture. What a gift their friendship is.”
Commenting on her trip, Mrs. Solanas added: “It was good to be back in the Bahamas — the home of my heart — but also a weekend of deep sadness knowing less than 100 miles away is a home of my memory that will never be again. I am grateful to the artists who shared the terror and loss of Dorian in their exhibit at the National Art Gallery. I finally cried and cried and cried — something I haven’t been able to do. That incredible release of sorrow was paired with the incomparable joy of seeing old friends and reuniting with our Abaco family who are safe in Nassau. As I said to a very dear friend this weekend — our burdens are real and so are our blessings. This was a weekend of healing that I will take with me into the new year.”
I have known Arlene from her pre-teenage years, and it does not surprise me that she is held in such high esteem as a human being and cultural icon. Her older brother, Garth H.O. Nash, has been one of my very best friends from I was a teenager. We were members of a club called THE FRATERNITY that engaged in positive activities during our late teens and early twenties.
In addition to H.O. and myself, other members of the FRATERNITY included Ed Bethel, who was the club’s president, the late Charles “Chuck” Virgill, the late Hervis Bain, the late Billy “Kippy” Pinder, the late Wesley “Wes” Poitier, Jimmy Edwards and Kelsey Jennings. We had a Water Ski Club and regularly sponsored debates on topical issues – political and otherwise – and glamourous social events, during which our girl friends were treated like princesses.
One such event was a five-course dinner organized by the late Vernice Moultrie, one of The Bahamas’ leading social mavens of that era, who instructed us on how to “treat a lady” and literally how to properly use our knives and forks. That dinner was held at the newly opened CHANTEL LOUNGE, owned by the late Edward “Teddy” Foster and Andrew Conliffe, who were both employed at the Bahamas Telecommunications Department at the time. The Chantel’s name was later changed to the BAHAMA BOAT, which became one of the leading nightclubs in New Providence for young people, under the ownership of Frank Minaya.
FRATERNITY meetings were usually held at Chuck’s house on West Hill Street every Sunday, and during our meetings we engaged in some very enlightening debates on a broad array of issues. H.O. Nash’s family lived “next door” to Chuck’s family homestead.
Even when I was not attending FRATERNITY meetings, I spent so much time at the Virgill homestead that Chuck’s late mother Winifred, whom I used to call Aunt Winnie, was like my surrogate mother, and I still refer to all of his sisters – Marcia, Michaela, Margot and Michelle – as my sisters; likewise, Arlene Nash was like my “little sister.”
I initially started to write this as a feature on Arlene, after seeing the photo and comments posted on Facebook by Mrs. Solanas, but as often is the case these days – as my thought process wanders easily into the past while I am working on my memoirs – I got carried away.
However, while searching the Internet for some background information on EDUCULTURE, I found a great feature on Arlene and EDUCULTURE written by Hadassah Deleveaux, one of the young reporters who worked with me when she was Hadassah Hall and I was Editor of the Nassau Guardian (1998 – 2002). Hadassah is an excellent writer, so rather than plagiarize her excellent piece, which I almost certainly would have done had I attempted to replicate her story, I decided to reproduce it in its entirety. Here’s what Hadassah wrote:
ARLENE NASH-FERGUSON: THE LITTLE GIRL WHO BECAME A CULTURAL ENTHUSIAST
By HADASSAH DELEVEAUX
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.
Also in the museum is an area dedicated to a few of Arlene’s prized costumes, in addition to the evolution of Junkanoo costumes made for our national street festival that connects us as a people to our African heritage. From sponge, straw and leaves to costumes created from rags, newspapers, tissue and eventually crepe paper, the place is a tapestry of the festival. You can also find a table with artifacts such as a slop bucket, flat and goose irons, a hurricane lamp and wooden scrubbing board – reminders of old Nassau.
When Arlene speaks of Bahamian history and culture, her passion is evident. You hear it in her voice. You see it in her eyes. Whenever the cultural enthusiast and veteran educator is introduced to speak anywhere, it’s the shortest, sweetest intro ever: “I am a Bahamian by birth. I am a teacher by profession. I am a junkanooer by passion. I am a child of God by inheritance.” Done. Nothing long and drawn out; it speaks succinctly to who she is.
The vision of Educulture was born when Arlene worked along with cultural great, the late Jackson Burnside on the book, I Come to Get Me: An Inside Look at the Junkanoo Festival.
“In that very fertile environment, he opened my eyes. He inspired out of that conversation my twin passion of education and culture. Educulture became my dream job where I work with and share my knowledge of Bahamian culture. I can’t think of anything else I would prefer to be doing than this,” said the former Principal of St. John’s College. “To branch out and start a business was something foreign, but my husband Silbert was the driving force. Every obstacle I threw at him, he had an answer.”
Additionally, since the age of four, Arlene – who was born to Harold Otis Nash (H. O. Nash, whom the junior school is named in honour of) and Olga Bosfield-Nash – has been rushing in Junkanoo. The avid junkanooer took a hiatus from rushing during her high school years as her mother did not think it was lady-like. However, Arlene loved Junkanoo so much that once she began returning home from university on Christmas breaks, she took to Bay Street again.
Since then, she has immersed herself in this art form, helping to chart it into a preeminent national cultural expression. In 1983 Arlene began rushing with the Saxons and in 1993 she became a part of the steering team for the One Family Junkanoo and Community Organization, rushing with the group until 2014. Arlene also served on the National Junkanoo Committee for 24 years. Today, she rushes with B category group, Conquerors for Christ, taking her granddaughter for the experience, having introduced her at the age four as was done for her as a child.
“There is more that unites us as junkanooers than what separates us. These superficial boundaries and people not speaking to each other, these divisions have stopped us from charting the way forward. I aine gat no time fa dat,” she boldly declared.
“I joined Conquerors for Christ for what they stand for and I wanted to be in a less competitive group. At the heart of it all though, I am still passionate about junkanoo. I am just concerned that junkanoo has been reduced to a parade and competition. It was started as a resistance to slavery. It reflects the true spirit and strength of Bahamians,” she said.
