PUTTING A SHAFT back on to our Broken Trident makes it whole once more.
After 50 years of Independence, can someone explain why our beloved Trident is still broken?
We all understand the symbolism and the reasoning behind the “breaking of our colonial ties” with Great Britain in 1966, but starting today and going into our next 50 years of Independence, now is the time for the Trident to be affixed to something new, something grand, something inspiring, something that will resonate with every Barbadian (both home and abroad) and awaken that pride, that fire, that selfless love of these 166 square miles that makes us Bajan patriots.
The Broken Trident can only serve as a reminder that we have severed our link with many of the injustices and atrocities that happened between 1627 and that proud night of November 30, 1966, when it was raised for the very first time.
Other than that, what good is a broken trident. It’s useless. However, attach a new shaft, a shaft that is firmly rooted in ideals, principles and values, along with progressive and inclusive thinking, and we become focused on making our home the best place any man, woman or child could pray to live on Earth.
A fully functional trident can once again become a powerful tool, a weapon, a bastion of hope and expectations which, in the right hands and used correctly, can once again move Barbados forward for the next 100 years and beyond.
The possibilities are countless for what this new shaft can be as Barbadians are renowned globally for being in the forefront of education, infrastructure, social development, mortality rates and the other major indexes through which the United Nations and other global organisations rank countries throughout the world.
The beauty is that this shaft is a metaphor and can be symbolic of anything found buried deep in anyone of us.
It can be a bartender in a hotel or bar striving to create a new mix to blow customers’ minds. It can be a sanitation worker ensuring that the garbage cans are neatly stacked after emptying them. It can be a teacher taking time to ensure that every student understands before moving on to the next topic. Or it can be us just loving our neighbour and being our brother’s keeper.
As we look back on 50 years and ahead to the next, the time is ripe for every Bajan to stand up and forever be counted.
– HAYDEN COPPIN
