ROADTOWN Tortola BVI, June 11th 2012 -- My fellow British Virgin Islanders and all those who make their home amongst us, this is a great day. This, ladies and gentlemen, will be a day long-remembered in the annals of the Territory, as the story will be told for generations that we came together as a people to ensure that our cultural identity was maintained.
This is the day when who we are as a people gains momentum as we showcase the final two designs in the Territorial dress competition and listen to the final three songs in the Territorial song competition. Today, we are one step closer to putting in place the requisite emblems that will define, shape and provide texture to who we are as a people, in the context of a symbolic song and dress.
Soon we will adopt a Territorial Song and Territorial Dress which reflects our proud past, our aspirations for the future and our will as a people. Threaded through our Territorial Dress like strands of fine silk, woven into the Territorial Song like the sweetest of notes, are our dreams and hopes and our recognition of our great, though sometimes painful history.
Our ancestors’ backbreaking work on this land and in our seas laid the foundation for our prosperity. They never ceased to dream of a better, brighter future despite the shackles on their ankles. Their legacy to us has been one of hard work, a determination to make a way where there was none.
We have trod a long and arduous path to get from then to now and today we take a look back, salute our ancestors and say to them, this is who we are because of you. Whenever we wear the Territorial dress and sing the Territorial song we will remember and honour our people - the brave and the good, the wise
and the strong.
We will remember and honour men and women like Sally Keys, Prosper, Daniel Bruce, Samuel Hodge, Cambric Dracot, Frederick Pickering, Ellis Rabsatt, Gladys Simon, Carlos Downing, Edwe Flax, Mario Connor,
Angelina Varlack, Esmie Dawson, Rosanna Helena Smith, Alpheous Osorio Norman and so many others whose talents, skills, labour and, most of all, whose love for these islands, built this Territory.
I trust that once Cabinet makes the final decision with the top choices, When we look at or wear the Territorial dress or sing the Territorial song, these cultural icons would be lift up in our memories and we would
remember to forever hold them close in our hearts. Let our memories of our past carry us forward into the future with confidence in ourselves and in this Territory.
May what we share today inspire us to come together as one people under God, determined to reach higher heights while taking our memories of our past into a future our ancestors could never have imagined. I want to congratulate everyone who worked to bring the realisation of this to fruition - from my hardworking Minister of Education and Culture, to the hardworking staff of his Ministry and of the Department of Culture, to the committee chaired by Ms. Eileene Parsons and to each and every one who submitted an entry for the competition.
Today could not have happened without you and the territory owes you a debt of gratitude for all the work you’ve done! Thank you as we move forward to that historic day.
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