Harris unveils Independence book to much praise
By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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Hon. Timothy Harris
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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts-THE Hon. Dr. Timothy Harris, St. Kitts’ Minister of Finance, Consumer Affairs, Industry and Commerce, officially launched his book, St. Kitts and Nevis: Portrait of a Nation, Celebrating 25 Years of Independence, yesterday (Sept. 17) to a standing room only crowd at the St. Kitts University Centre.
Compiled over the past year, the book outlines St. Kitts’ transition from a British slave colony to an independent nation, with particular attention paid to the nation’s increasing presence on the international stage.
Deputy Prime Minister Sam Condor, who introduced Harris at the special ceremony, had high praise for his colleague and said that the book had a “special significance in this our 25th year of Independence”.
“This for me is a very humbling, special moment,” Condor said as he held back tears. “This is our people telling our story, people from the bowels of the working class who are fulfilling the vision of our great leaders.”
He added that the publication of a book on St. Kitts’ Independence provided an apt opportunity to “reflect on the journey of our people—the struggles, sufferings and hardships, but also the achievements”.
After being praised for his rise from a working class youth to the heights of academic and political excellence, Harris took the
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Hon. Sam Condor
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podium and gave insight into his personal reasons for writing the book.
“This is a commemorative publication intended to contribute only in part to the body of literature on our Independence.
I was inspired to write this book because we are still a young nation and, with 45 percent of our population under twenty-five, many of our people could take the fruits from past struggles for granted if they did not know the story of our Independence.”
The bulk of Harris’ book is a compilation of St. Kitts-Nevis’ speeches before the United Nations following Independence, including Sir Hon. Dr. Kennedy Simmonds’ inaugural speech to the U.N. as St. Kitts-Nevis’ first elected prime minister.
Despite the expansive nature of the book, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs said that he hardly considers it an “exhaustive” text on the Federation’s Independence.
“Certainly I can accept that after 25 years we can all have different perspectives and conclusions on Independence. Mine is a perspective zeroing in on some aspects of the constitutional and geo-political developments involved in St. Kitts and Nevis on its road to Independence and thereafter. ~~Adz:Left~~
“I would hope that this book presents…an opportunity for others to contribute to the broad smorgasbord of literature about St. Kitts-Nevis”, the minister said.
In accordance with Harris’ desire to educate the youth of the nation, numerous corporate citizens in St. Kitts-Nevis purchased copies of the book and donated them to primary, secondary and tertiary schools on both islands.
Copies of the paperback will be available for public purchase at Mini Walls, Laws Book Store, Rams Supermarket and Sensational Duty Free for EC $80.
