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Welcome to The Bahamian. A News Magazine which will explore and research relevant topics for your further debate and edification. Our team is committed to bringing our audience the highest quality of journalism. 

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With all of the talk on Women and other associated issues in the nation this month, I want to focus on the Black Madonna and her child. Let’s take a walk down the history lane.

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Women were center stage for the historical and landmark legislation Protection against Violence Bill. The national debate revealed many intricacies, flaws, agenda and concerns. When you talk about Women in my zone you are taking about family and community. This is what my parents Oscar and Sylva Johnson wanted the nation to reap from the Black Madonna and her precious infant.

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Let me tell the story:-

August 11th 2023 marked the 49th anniversary of the unveiling and presentation of   the “Bahamian Black Madonna and her child” to the nation. It was a testament to the indomitable spirit, strength and majesty of the Bahamian woman; as mother and provider and moved the needle closer to fuller equality across the board for Bahamian Women.

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The statue was dedicated on that date by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Dion Hanna and mounted in Rawson Square.

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I don’t want to speculate on why the statue was moved from its original posting sometime thereafter and taken to Jumbey Village. The Village, was once a premiere cultural site for the masses and the over the hill center for Black cultural expression; the brain child of the late Edmund Spencer Moxey, a political grassroots pioneer and cultural icon. The Black Madonna and her child would be moved again before finally being returned to Rawson Square and the precincts of the Prince George Harbor Cruise Ship port.

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My dad, Oscar; former PLP Member of Parliament and my mom Sylvia, former matron of the Children’s Emergency Hostel were instrumental in soliciting the  funding and commissioning the renowned sculptor Robert  W. Johnston to capture the anthropologic expression and history of the Black Bahamian Woman and her child.

The bronze statue, was made in Abaco, by a Canadian, Professor Randolph Johnston. Johnston was a white college Professor teaching art in New England. Randolph was a sculptor and an artist, who decided to leave teaching and he and his wife and their three sons found their new home in Little Harbour on the island of Abaco, Bahamas.

Mr.  Ed Carey of the Bahamas Oil Refinery Company in Freeport Grand Bahama was the company’s liaison for monies donated to create the statue.

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Dad moved the motion on the floor of the House of Assembly on the 12th March 1968 to commission the statue. He was serving as the PLP Member of the House of Assembly (MHA) - as elected Parliamentarians was then called - and Chairman of the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) which is now (BPL). My Dad, a voracious reader; was a Writer and a businessman. 

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Dad operated the Craftsmen Press and Publishing Company from Oakes Field and published the quarterly “The Bahama Life Magazine” which again celebrated Black lives and the culture and history of the Bahamian people. In our home; dad kept a library of the European and American Classics, the Greek and Roman philosophers and the African writers like Achebe and the music of Miriam Makeba and Nina Simone and we, his children all knew what were the “Strange Fruit” dangling from the ends of rope in the trees of the American Confederate South.

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Back to the statue.

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The plaque thereon reads:

“In grateful tribute  to the Bahamian Woman whose steadfast love and devotion sustained our nation through countless years of adversity.”

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When Jumbey Village met its political Waterloo, which is a story I will tell in another episode, the Bahamian Woman and her Child remained intact, undisturbed and unsung.

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A decision was made to move the statue from Jumbey Village, which by 2002 was in ruins; left untouched and ignored despite the energy, folklore and culture and salute to our African past and roots it once so proudly and unashamedly promoted. The Black Madonna returned to the arena of Bay Street or the capitol of the City of Nassau where it remains today.

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Colonialism; every second of the more than 300 years of it exacted a heavy toll on Black people. Our self-worth, our self-examination, our purpose was for the most part thwarted and confused and largely factored by the question of race. Colonialism thrived on division and it put a wedge between Bahamian Whites and persons of mixed heritage whom Colonialism had feed its vicious caste system based on color and ethnicity.

The Birth Certificate given to “British Subjects in the Colony of the Bahama Islands” defined several races or class of persons. 1. White Caucasian. 2. Mixed Mulatto.  Coloured 3.Negro African 4. Asian. 5 Other. The social order of over three centuries cannot be washed away easily. 

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Emancipation in 1838 brought a legislative freedom but the mental slavery of which Bob Marley would sing about over two hundred years later remained unfettered and yoked to the backs and minds and aspirations of the Majority in the colony. Emancipation did not come about because our slave masters had a reawakening of spirit, compassion and respect for Human Rights. It was largely an economic decision. Freed slaves were still chained for a few more years; to their plantations around the region in what was called the Apprenticeship system.

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It is important to note that this Statue was approved by Parliamentary motion in 1969; two years after the achievement of Majority Rule on 10th January 1967 and several months after the 1968 general election which gave the new Black ruling political class Progressive Liberal Party; a firm grasp on governing and political power.

It was a time of great unrest. In the United States of America. The two Kennedys; John and Bobby, Dr. King, Evers, Malcolm are dead. The Victims of assassins’ bullets.  And the early signs of a seeping intolerance for Civil Rights and equality in our Northern neighbor were fermenting again nearly 100 years after their Civil War. We are witnessing the continued and prolonged battle for racial equality and respect for Human Rights and the protection of the marginalized not just overseas but we have to remain vigilant  at home.

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To this end it is fitting to see why this statue of the Black Bahamian Madonna and her child is at the very core and fiber of our identity and has the awesome power to remind us of our single genesis and roots. Every mother who has borne a child and every woman who has cared for, loved and raised a child has to appreciate the African dictum, “it takes a village to raise a child”.

Yes; a mother will pour her love into her child but she will also respect and value and honour the children of other women around her because she is always acutely aware of the fact that no child should be left behind and the success of every child is insurance for the success of her child. We know all too well how serious we take the ritual and concept of “Godparents” in the Bahamas.

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Yes here in our own little Bahamas our hearts were wrenched on the tragedies of little Marco and Bella. Every Bahamian wanted to be the parent- the mom, the dad, the godparents; who could have saved these children from harms’ way.

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This is how the Black Madonna and her child is supposed to infuse us all with the compassion and love of the nation’s children.

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When the Black Madonna and her child was unveiled there were several other statues or monuments from our colonial past in the capitol. 

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1.   Queen Victoria in Parliament Square.

2.    Sands Fountain in Rawson Square. 

3.   The 66 Steps or Queen’s Staircase at Fort Fincastle.

4.   Sir Harry Oakes Monument Oakes Field.

5.   Woods Rodgers on the Wharf. 

6.   Christopher Columbus at Mount Fitzwilliam at Government House.

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Nothing to celebrate or capture the African diaspora.

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Nothing to speak to the identity of the Black Bahamian.

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The only other place where there was a private statue was in The Tribune Office where a bronze piece was mounted of the newspaper’s founder Leon Dupuch. 

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Skilled Craftsmen in the Straw Market were churning out prized wooden heads and full bodies of African Kings and Queens but we as a people were not ready to see ourselves celebrated and cherished in a life size sculpture to present or take to the world.

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On the Identity front, the new nation had been struggling for centuries with the British caste system of race and economic status. Here at home the offspring of the British Loyalists, intent in their refusal to bend or break were erecting their own Park of statues to their “mulatto and white Bahamian roots” in the park at Green Turtle Cay Abaco. 

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Black or Negro people had nothing.

And we should not get offended by the use of the word “Negro”. In King’s famous speech on the March on Washington he uses the term “Negro” quite liberally to reference our people.

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My family and I are rightly proud of the work our parents assisted with to make this statute an iconic part of the Bahamian odyssey.

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The Journalist Felicity Major; writing about International Women’s Day was very kind in her highly respected column:-

“Often overlooked statue sits at the eastern end of Prince George Wharf and is seen by the majority of tourists entering Nassau by cruise ship, but not often seen by Bahamians.

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“ It depicts a black Bahamian woman with two braids crowning her forehead and hanging down her face. She wears a blouse and knee-length skirt and has a money pouch slung over her shoulder.

 

“ Her greatest accessory is the naked brown baby clutching her dearly with his head on her chest. Each nappy tendril delicately carved, and eyes looking out to a world where he seems to know that his greatest source of comfort from it will come from her. Her gentle eyes seem to look down and away, deep in thought.

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“ It was unveiled in Rawson Square on August 11, 1974. It was commissioned by MP Johnson (Cat Island representative in the House of Assembly from 1968 - 1976) and sponsored by a Syntec Petroleum Company executive. During the time of Independence, Bahamians would have traversed the area for business regularly. The statue was sculpted by Canadian Randolph Johnston. He, his wife and three sons sailed off on a schooner from the North American continent and settled in Abaco, living first in a cave, in a place they named Little Harbour in Abaco.

 

“ On International Women’s Day 2014, the children of Oscar Johnson got together to celebrate a statue that their father, as a Parliamentarian, wanted Bahamians to respect and admire.

 

“ The barefoot woman holding the boy child is indicative of the life many Bahamians of the time could relate to, whether born in the Family Islands or even over-the-hill in New Providence. These women, even without the opportunities for education and advancement that present themselves today, were often the bedrock of their families 

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” They helped nurture their children in such a way that we have seen many a great Bahamian rise up from seemingly unfortunate circumstances to become people of influence all around the world.

 

“ Former Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr Daniel Johnson brought together several Bahamian women to commemorate the statue including Minister of Social Services and Community Development Melanie Griffin; his sisters, former Speaker of the House of Assembly Italia Johnson, former Senator and Consul General Gladys Johnson-Sands, educator Cora Johnson-Cooper, and attorney Kathleen Johnson-Hassan; former Minister of State for Social Development Loretta Butler-Turner; Senator Hope Strachan; national archivist and historian Dr Gail Saunders; cultural icon Arlene Nash-Ferguson; Deputy Permanent Secretary Phedra Rahming, Bahamian hero Ruth Dobouze, and his daughter, Danielle Pindling-Johnson among others.

 

“ This is a day when the world honours women and I wanted to demonstrate to the Bahamas that we have national heroines, we have community heroines, we have unsung heroines,” Johnson said.

 

“ We are honouring the past and preserving their story. We must preserve this story of the Black Madonna and Child. It was erected by my father to honour the Bahamian woman and today was a good day to recognise how far we have come. I brought my daughter to expose her to the story of the Black Madonna and Child and how we crossed over on dry land but for the grace of God.”

 

“ Italia Johnson shared: “I am particularly honoured to be here as a Bahamian woman to recognise the commissioning of this statue in the 1970s. It came as a result of some struggle, but it is here. It is a worthy tribute to the Afro-Bahamian woman. Bahamian women have been the bedrock of our society, not only Afro-Bahamian women, but also women in general have made contributions to families and the development of our nation. I would admonish women to have a look at this statue and commemorate it with their families.”

 

“ Dr Gail Saunders said she considers the statue a “very fine tribute to Bahamian women”.

 

“ It is a very beautifully carved statue, it shows a strong woman and also a child and that is symbolic itself. We must honour our women and empower them, and the child signifies that it will go on and to me that is very important.” (Excerpted from Ms. Ingraham’s column)

 

The Black Madonna came to challenge the status quo and remind us of the debt we owe to the women of the country. But all of this was just a gentle metaphor of Mother Africa. 

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Our calling card to our childhood often under difficult/challenging times and transformative circumstances.  The urge and ambition to succeed off mother’s love; we were so generously fed.

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 A triumphant declaration that the Bahamian woman knows her role and it is not contingent on religion or creed; but on her relationship with her God and the pure; natural ability to be resourceful for her offspring, which Spirit has placed in her.

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Look carefully on the hand holding the child and you will not see any nuptial band. Motherhood is not matrimonial.

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The Black Madonna came to end the cycle of the misnomer and prejudice given to what the caste system called “bastard children” and cement dignity for Women and the children across the board.

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Two of our Prime Ministers, since the Black Madonna was unveiled, are children of single women. 

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There are some who have grown ashamed of their Blackness.

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There are some to who don’t wish to identify with struggle and forbearance of our painful past.

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There are some who use cosmetics or as they say, bleaching which was very popular at the time this statue was erected; not to enhance their outer and inner beauty- but because they are not comfortable in the psyche of their own skin.

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There are some who are ashamed because the Black Madonna does not wear a college graduating cap on her head nor hold a diploma or degree scroll in her hand. Her delights and focus and interest are reflected on how she clings to her picaninnie.

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There are some who will frown on her natural hair and feel some way about their lace cap or their Brazilian weave. There is no need to do so. The Black Madonna gives our Women the authority and the power and the right to their individual freedoms and choices. To be as beautiful as you want to be in the comfort of the pursuit of your happiness.

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The statue challenges each of us to appreciate each other and to respect the next woman’s child. The next man’s child. The child of the Bahamian. The Child of the resident. The Child of the migrant.

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Look around you today at the carnage in our streets.

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The unstoppable violence of unresolved conflicts.

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People shooting at the Police.

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Police shooting at people.

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Mothers, daughters, wives, girlfriends being assaulted. Killed. Ravaged.

Sons mowed down heartlessly and callously by guns we do not make and we do not lawfully sell.

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Haters sowing the seeds of  dysfunctional xenophobia.

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Fools fanning the flames of Gender violence and zealots preaching intolerance and prejudice and conveniently choosing to ignore the rights given to others in our existing laws.

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Visit the statue?

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If you dare.

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Gaze upon her and see your own dear mother; your own dear Grammy; and picture yourself in her arms. During the cruel time of slavery. Praying for the safe return of a husband, brother, son on The Contract in the wretched Southern USA. Running for her life in the Burma Road Riot. The harsh economic times of World War 2. The struggle to get Majority Rule. Black Tuesday. The General Strike. The road to Independence. The famous Teachers strike of 1980. The BaTelco strike. The Hotel Union industrial actions for its workers. Civil Servants with their placards. The Covid Pandemic. Death, dying and destruction in Dorian. Women holding their head and crying; as Marley sang; over the death of their boys shot down in the streets. These are just a few of the instances where the Black Madonna has sustained the nation through so many years of adversity.

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And when you gaze on the statue; think about your great, great, grandmother, chained to whomever on that gut wrenching Slave Ship; on that perilous journey from Africa to the Bahamas; and how she survived and because of her survival you and I are here today. 

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Think about the woman or man chained next to your great, great grandmother on that ship; and how they bonded to get through their terrible ordeal.

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And in that other person see your neighbor and your fellow man and commit yourself to the power and faith and legacy of “steadfast love and devotion to sustain our nation through countless years of adversity.”