hey folkz... this is the first time i'm starting a thread... i'm kinda nervous but here goes....

so i'm at a bar speaking with this lady of jamaican rootz... she moved to canada when she around 12 or so but visitz there regularly... i told her that my sister attendz york university where she workz and asked her to clarify for me why it is that the studentz there from other west indian countriez outcast bahamianz and bermudanz from their rankz... she told me plain and simple, 'bahamianz have no history and no culture so they are disregarded'...

she went on to say that there was no struggle between slavez and whitez in the bahamas but cut herself short to ask me if there were ever even any slavez in the bahamas... i went on to explain to her about the fact that our soil did not support the use of slavez on a large scale for labour purposes in agriculture in the way that it was in other partz of the diaspora but that yes, slavery is definitely a part of our history... she also said that we have no indigenous music... cut herself short once more and asked if we had any indigenous music... so i told her about rake n scrape and junkanoo and goombay...

well this was a most agonizing conversation because she basically was telling me that in the wider west indian community, as a people, we are nothing more than a joke...

i realize that this is not something new but how long are we really going to allow ourselvez to be a joke?

we don't support, and in many casez don't see the merit, in our music... so why should otherz??
more and more the line between junkanoo and carnival is blurred... and most young bahamianz couldnt tell you who joseph spence was... but white north americanz can...

what is our history and why arent we taught it in school? who are we?

what do you think the bahamas should stand for? what kind of stepz would you take to acheiving our goalz?

pleez try to stay away from the plp vs fnm drama.... nuff threadz of that already....

...and fred mitchell wants to sell us down the river to his carribean brother s and sisters who dont appreciate all the glory and stability we will continue to bring to their CSME concoction...that yardbird was and is a joke...she wrongly assumed and then asked if indeed we have th ehistory and culture...see people like that, I dont meet, I would have chewed her up, just like the haitian chick in high school ( I still dont know if they eat cat)...this is why I dont care to correct Bahamians when we speak unkindly about "those southerners" their ignorance is baffling...let them keep sleeping. When I wen to school, the Caribbean Club was full of Jamaicans they were overbearing and I didnt like any of um so I didnt join because I had my own crew, but later on I met other Bahamian students(who had a Junkanoo group) and they were cool people. All this to say, let them keep sleeping...Rex Nettleford knows the deal.
Im full aware of Mr. Spence by the way.
FYI (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/103-3957682-4387060?%5Fencoding=UTF8&dym=0&search-type=ss&index=music&field-keywords=bahamas&page=1)

I could care less about what anyone in the Carribbean thinks about The Bahamas and our culture or lack thereof. The whole place is just a den of haters, hating other haters....hating other haters. I think we have overstayed our presence in Caricom anyways.....

What's funny is that we are not in the carribean technically. But they want us in their little contraptions, even though many fail to even recocnize us in their groups. And then when we get there they dare to try and point out our deficiencies when theirs are banging on the door rioting outside, kidnapping each other.....LOL

I think that it should be a source of concern to all of us that other Caribeans know so little about us and our culture. I have watched that Tempo station a few times and have yet to hear a single Bahamian group or artist even mentioned let alone perform, I don't watch the s#!t anymore. I think that a part of the probllem is that most Caribbeans are far more bombastic than the average Bahamian and so are more easily noticed and therefore become recognized. Another reason could be that Bahamians speak a weaker dialect than other West Indians, and when we travel abroad we adopt the speech characteristics of the locations we travel to, so we don't stand out.

We need to stand up more and refuse to let ourselves be ignored. We should listen to and appreciate Bahamian music more. If a station doesn't see the benefit of playing Bahamian music then we should not watch it. Bahamians need to stand up and have some backbone.

I could care less about what anyone in the Carribbean thinks about The Bahamas and our culture or lack thereof. The whole place is just a den of haters, hating other haters....hating other haters. I think we have overstayed our presence in Caricom anyways.....
What's funny is that we are not in the carribean technically. But they want us in their little contraptions, even though many fail to even recocnize us in their groups. And then when we get there they dare to try and point out our deficiencies when theirs are banging on the door rioting outside, kidnapping each other.....LOL
True. Caricom needs the Bahamas for it's financial stability.
The first thing that comes to mind in an American city when Jamacians are mentioned is violence,then drugs.

True. Caricom needs the Bahamas for it's financial stability.
The first thing that comes to mind in an American city when Jamacians are mentioned is violence,then drugs.

you can say the same thing about two american cities when it come to the Russians and Italians...drugs and violence...

you can say the same thing about two american cities when it come to the Russians and Italians...drugs and violence...

Oh you're not kidding,that's part of the great melting pot,we see it all.It is all part of what contributes to making us a step quicker than some.Tough crowd ya know!

We need to stand up more and refuse to let ourselves be ignored. We should listen to and appreciate Bahamian music more. If a station doesn't see the benefit of playing Bahamian music then we should not watch it. Bahamians need to stand up and have some backbone.


That can only happen if Bahamians were actually offended by the lack of calypso and the like.

That can only happen if Bahamians were actually offended by the lack of calypso and the like.

i dont understand...

I once asked, on separate occasions, two Dominican friends of mine, why is it that West Indians don't like Bahamians? Showing genuine surprise, one answered that she was not aware that this was true and followed by saying that as far as Dominicans are concerned, they have no problems with The Bahamas. In fact, they seldom think of The Bahamas in the Caribbean context because geographically we are so far away, that they tend to forget that culturally, politically etc, we are.
The second, who is aspiring to political office, answered somewhat as above, but added that she actually admires The Bahamas, stating that we have been able to achieve great economic success and sought to learn from us, so as to accomplish the same for her country.
Not all Caribbean nationals think less of Bahamians and it's mostly the people from larger countries like Jamaica who are jealous of us and thus seek to marginalise us through pettiness and ignorance.

I once asked, on separate occasions, two Dominican friends of mine, why is it that West Indians don't like Bahamians? Showing genuine surprise, one answered that she was not aware that this was true and followed by saying that as far as Dominicans are concerned, they have no problems with The Bahamas. In fact, they seldom think of The Bahamas in the Caribbean context because geographically we are so far away, that they tend to forget that culturally, politically etc, we are.
The second, who is aspiring to political office, answered somewhat as above, but added that she actually admires The Bahamas, stating that we have been able to achieve great economic success and sought to learn from us, so as to accomplish the same for her country.
Not all Caribbean nationals think less of Bahamians and it's mostly the people larger countries like Jamaica who are jealous of us and thus seek to marginalise us through pettiness and ignorance.

couldnt have said it any better.

I once asked, on separate occasions, two Dominican friends of mine, why is it that West Indians don't like Bahamians? Showing genuine surprise, one answered that she was not aware that this was true and followed by saying that as far as Dominicans are concerned, they have no problems with The Bahamas. In fact, they seldom think of The Bahamas in the Caribbean context because geographically we are so far away, that they tend to forget that culturally, politically etc, we are.
The second, who is aspiring to political office, answered somewhat as above, but added that she actually admires The Bahamas, stating that we have been able to achieve great economic success and sought to learn from us, so as to accomplish the same for her country.
Not all Caribbean nationals think less of Bahamians and it's mostly the people from larger countries like Jamaica who are jealous of us and thus seek to marginalise us through pettiness and ignorance.

I have asked my Jamaican and friends from other Caribbean countries about this. I recall comments about our country being financially stable and healthy as an issue which causes jealousy.

I think that it should be a source of concern to all of us that other Caribeans know so little about us and our culture. I have watched that Tempo station a few times and have yet to hear a single Bahamian group or artist even mentioned let alone perform, I don't watch the s#!t anymore. I think that a part of the probllem is that most Caribbeans are far more bombastic than the average Bahamian and so are more easily noticed and therefore become recognized. Another reason could be that Bahamians speak a weaker dialect than other West Indians, and when we travel abroad we adopt the speech characteristics of the locations we travel to, so we don't stand out.
We need to stand up more and refuse to let ourselves be ignored. We should listen to and appreciate Bahamian music more. If a station doesn't see the benefit of playing Bahamian music then we should not watch it. Bahamians need to stand up and have some backbone.

We do have a weaker dialect. Some ppl at work has asked me why dont I sound jamiacan LOL.....

We do have a weaker dialect. Some ppl at work has asked me why dont I sound jamiacan LOL.....

"weaker" "weak" can yinna use a better word please;) ...there's nothing wek about our people (Only the PLP)

We do have a weaker dialect. Some ppl at work has asked me why dont I sound jamiacan LOL.....
Hmmmm. Could that be because Bahamians are better educated and have better diction? Get serious,why compare yourselves with real 3rd world countries?