Few people are lucky enough in their lives to meet someone that really influences their whole perspective on life.
I consider myself to be one of those few. I mean, sure, 99.9% of the population of this planet has encountered that girl (or boy) that they love or maybe a parent or teacher that says something that helps to carve you into the person that you think that you want to be at that given point in time. But, I, can actually say that I have been one of the fortunate few that have actually had the benefit of meeting someone that possesses sufficient influence to to propel an ordinary man straight into the halls of greatness.
I make no claim as to what my future holds in store for me, all I am saying is that I give credit where it is due, and I have never experienced sitting an listening to an individual that possesses so much subtle energy that I come away, literally on edge from a lecture.
This man was not a minister, not a professor, not a doctor or any of the professional disciplines that society holds in high regard. This man worked his way up from the common class (such as where I, myself am) only to the realms of upper management in a mid-sized firm.
I was invited to a presentation tonight, now I'm normally not prone to attending such presentations when the matter under discussion is something I generally have no knowledge about. I had planned to spend only a few minutes to hear what was generally being said and then make my great escape. That changed. Primarily due to the fact that this man strayed from the focus of the lecture and delved into avenues of little known Barbadian history.
In Barbadian primary schools we are taught social studies, this acts as a kind of precursor to history insomuch as we learn about indigenous peoples, what they were called, what they did and maybe if you were lucky, a synopsis of colonisation. In secondary school we are taught history, this expands further into the original indigenous tribes and their journeys, there is also more focus placed on the colonisation of the Caribbean territories and the journey of the slaves across the middle passage. Those who are so inclined to pursue it to the tertiary level where students upon students write theses upon theses on these what I like to call, colon studies. E.g. 'John Hearne's life and fiction: A critical biographical study' or 'Runaway slaves in Jamaica 1740-1807: a study based on newspaper advertisements published during that period for runaways'
Caveat: I'm not trying to knock anybody's paper, I'm merely using them as examples to try to put across a point. That point being, there seems to be a void in the educational system in barbados (And across the wider caribbean) in respect to more modern historical figures/events who have yet to be documented and have, in my opinion, had a far greater (?) impact on the globe.
This man's ability to stitch together the relationship between events that are pivotal in barbadian history are what has left me amazed. He is an elderly gentleman, but, his memories are so vivid that in listening to him speak I was transported back to his heyday and I saw events unfold in my head as he saw and experienced them.
After all of that has been said, I have not only discovered new material which I believe gives me a sense of pride in my nation, but also rediscovered my drive to complete 3 blog entries on Bajan involvement in pivotal events and conclude a major theme that these things all share, those events are:
- The cubana/flight 455 incident
- The H.A.R.P project
- The Grenada intervention
and the theme being the external government involvement in all of the above.
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