Virgin Islands heroes celebrated on Monday holiday

H. Lavity Stoutt Community College encouraged residents to interview an elder.

The premier unveiled “official portraits” of the territory’s national heroes and a plan to build a new park in their honour.

And the government launched a week of celebrations honouring Virgin Gorda-born judicial giant Dame Janice Pereira.

All these activities were among the events hosted during the territory’s fourth annual Heroes and Foreparents Day on Monday.

“As we reflect on our history, we celebrate the resilient spirit of the Virgin Islander. We have triumphed over every adversity, from the harsh realities of slavery to forging our freedom,” Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley said in a statement broadcast for the occasion. “Our foreparents, with their hard work and ingenuity, transformed the rocky land on tumultuous seas into a foundation for our livelihoods. They planted, built vessels and established trade routes, proving that through determination we can overcome any challenge.”

For such reasons, the premier said, Virgin Islanders owe their ancestors an “immense debt of gratitude.”

‘National Heroes Park’

The new park to honour the territory’s national heroes is currently being drawn up, the premier announced in his Facebook address.

“To date,” he said, “a recommendation has been made with sketches and enhancements on how a National Heroes Park can be developed.”

Dr. Wheatley added that his ministries had anticipated deciding the way forward for the new park by the Monday holiday, but they were delayed.

“My ministries are actively seeking to finalise the legal aspects to enable the park to be named,” he said. “I therefore hope to be able to make an announcement very soon on our plans for the park and ongoing activities for the year ahead as we continue to honour our national heroes.”

Concluding his statement, the premier urged listeners to reach out to their elders.

“As we commemorate this day, I encourage each of you to take this time today and during this month to connect with the elders in your lives, share a meal, lend a hand, or simply sit and listen to their stories,” he said. “The Virgin Islands Studies Institute at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College has launched an oral history project that invites you to capture and preserve the voices of our elders.”

‘Years in the making’

That project is several years in the making, VISI Director Bernadine Louis told the Beacon on Tuesday.

“We had this project in mind previously,” Ms. Louis said. “But it took some planning with ourselves and the Department of Culture.”

Now that the initiative has officially launched, the VISI is already seeing participation.

“It seems that there are at least three persons that submitted information quite recently,” Ms. Louis said, adding that she and others had previously done work on the project. “So we have something like maybe 12 or so [submissions] in the database so far.”

Currently, there is no physical showcase to visit, but VISI Assistant Director Rochelle Smith said Tuesday that the college aims to eventually create a public historical archive.

“We’re just trying to have a more coordinated effort with our community to get folks connected with their elders and sharing the recordings with us so that we can create some archives and begin to compile data and information from the interviews,” she said.

While the Interview an Elder Initiative is an important part of the programme’s archival work, VISI also appreciates any other historical information preserved by residents, Ms. Smith said.

“Some people may have these recordings on [obsolete] devices. We might be able to assist with that,” she added. “We would be happy to collaborate with persons who would be willing to share what they have done as part of a community effort.”

Education

In addition to announcing the planned park and the elder initiative, Dr. Wheatley said government is also working on education initiatives.

“When Cabinet approved the national heroes, we also approved some means for honouring national heroes, including the development of educational material on the national heroes, which can be taught in schools in the territory,” he explained.

Additionally, he said, “official portraits” of the 10 heroes have been completed, along with biographies to be shared with VI schools and included into the territory’s curriculum.

“We are not only preserving our history, but also inspiring our youth to carry forward the spirit of service and commitment that define these heroes,” Dr. Wheatley said.

Part of preserving the history is recording it in the first place, Ms. Smith said.

“We at the Virgin Islands Studies Institute encourage everyone in the Virgin Islands community, first and foremost, to spend time with elders,” she said. “Spend time with them. A lot of them have a lot to say, but they don’t have the audience or the persons with whom they can converse and share what they know.”

Dame Janice

Alongside other activities, government also kicked off a weeklong celebration of Dame Janice Pereira’s years as chief justice and recent appointment to the Privy Council in London. A video interview with the former chief justice was initially scheduled for 8 p.m. Monday, but it was postponed until Tuesday.

Other activities included a four-day-long morning quiz on ZBVI Radio beginning each day at 6:35 a.m.

Dame Janice also visited various service clubs, and she spent yesterday visiting schools and carrying out a courtesy call on the Cabinet.

Today, a ceremonial procession is scheduled to proceed from the House of Assembly to a special sitting of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court at the Multi-purpose Sports Complex.

A celebratory cocktail party hosted by the BVI Bar Association is scheduled for tonight.

Recognised names

Heroes and Foreparents Day replaced St. Ursula’s Day in 2021, and last year’s observance included the naming of ten national heroes.

On Monday, the premier listed each of the 10 in his Facebook address, giving a short explanation of why they deserve to be honoured.

Perreen Georges, the only female on the list, gave “courageous” testimony against the infamous slave master Arthur Hodge in 1811, leading to his hanging for the murder of an enslaved man named Prosper, Dr. Wheatley said.

Other honourees include freedom fighters like Shelly Martin, who led an attempted rebellion in 1831.

Augustus McCleverty, who bought his freedom from enslavement and was later appointed to the Legislative Council, fought against a levy that taxed the poorest people in the community.

Obadiah Dawson and Henry Garnett both fought back against the exploitative “cattle tax” in the 1850s.

The 10 honourees include people from more recent memory as well: Carlton de Castro, Theodolph Faulkner and Isaac Glanville Fonseca all helped lead the 1949 march that led to the restoration of the Legislative Council. Mr. Fonseca is also one of the longest serving legislators in the territory’s history.

Other honourees included Noel Lloyd, leader of the Positive Action Movement and champion for Virgin Islanders’ land rights, and H. Lavity Stoutt, the VI’s first chief minister and namesake of the territory’s community college.