The Tribune

By NICOLE BURROWS

I haven’t heard the “vile” song that has led to two Bahamian men being taken into custody for questioning.

I’m not particularly interested in hearing it. It’s not that I’m opposed to curse words… on rare occasions I find them to be most effective. But I don’t need to listen to the song to understand the argument about free speech.

And I can hear the select group now: “Oh, you think this America?”

Or, “You think this a democracy?”

No, I don’t. On both counts. Believe me, I only need look for two minutes to see it is not.

But since when do you get called in for questioning because you express yourself? And how is it libel if it’s spoken? Isn’t that slander? Or have we done away with the distinction? Were the words written in public?

Unless a specific threat was levied against someone in the song, what crime has been committed? Have they committed a crime simply because you don’t like what they say? Will all of us who dare to be change agents and want for a better life in The Bahamas be hauled off to court because you don’t like what we say?

In any event, I suppose what they’ll call it in this case is character defamation, something damaging to the reputation. But I hate to tell you, the reputation is already damaged. Been so for quite some time, in the case of one Mr Christie. And it wasn’t done by two young men and a song. Can you measure the “before” and “after’, to decide if Mr Christie’s reputation is more damaged now, because of the song, than it was before the song?

If you find something to charge these men with, what damages will they pay? It certainly won’t be monetary. These brothers don’t have money for you, probably none for them either. And I’m going to step out on a limb and say that could actually be your fault… you, the leaders in the current (and past) government(s).

What I’d be more interested in is the whereabouts of the law that states if a leader promises to take care of his people and doesn’t he can face criminal charges.

You know how many stupid, ignorant, offensive, mean-spirited, downright hateful and nasty people have put things in writing about me because they don’t like what I say?

If I could lock them up for being stupid, ignorant, and nasty I would. But I can’t. Because being stupid, ignorant and nasty is not a crime.

So you get to the point where either you make examples of them (waste your time) or you ignore them.

Bahamian political folklore speaks of the days of a Pindling regime when you dared not open your mouth in opposition to him or his government without suffering a lifetime of loss tied to their retribution.

Have we regressed to that?

Just so that I’m clear, if I keep telling Mr Christie and members of his government to stick it where the sun don’t shine, which I do almost every week it seems, because he and they are worthless leaders, and that gets printed in thousands of newspapers and online before tens of thousands more readers, what exactly am I guilty of?

Which led me to jokingly ask my colleagues: Do you think I could find work in Nassau after now?

Is every private firm afraid to attach itself to me? What about government? Surely my Bahamas government would hire me. Could I get work with any government agency in The Bahamas?

The first response to my crude and informal poll was sidesplitting laughter. Because even though it is not said outright, we know what happens when political machinery is activated.

I’m fairly certain I couldn’t get a job in The Bahamas public service after now. Out of curiosity, I checked the Public Service Commission (PSC) job application form to see what would be required of me… whether there are any politically incriminating questions there. And so it seems there are.

For example, to begin with, why does it matter who my parents are and what they do for a living, if I am a lawful Bahamian citizen my whole life, with a valid (not fake) passport and no criminal record?

Aren’t these types of questions prejudicial?

Why do you need to know my religion…. Or is that question really asking, “Do you have any religion?”

You want to know “who my people is” so you can mark me, and deny me opportunity by reason of family lineage? Figure out how much slack I can have, how much I can milk the system before I’m reprimanded? How much you can reasonably cover me in my ineptness or wrongdoing?

Who my parents are has no impact on my ability to do the work if I am indeed qualified to do it. So who is this type of question and its answer really for? I am left to assume, the terribly unqualified, which totals a hefty load in the public service who can get government posts based on their level of political connectedness.

But I’m sure if I challenge the validity of these questions on the PSC application, they’ll tell me to just “fill out the form.” Maybe they should put that as an instruction on the top of the form, under the title ‘The Bahamas Public Service Commission, Application for Employment’: “Just Fill Out the Form.”

And that is the kind of society that dictatorial and corrupt leaders count on and aim to create and maintain, the kind comprised of people who don’t ask questions but only follow orders. Don’t question it, just do it.

We’ll have - which we do now - a country of people who won’t challenge or oppose much of anything and who will always fear making their voices and opposition heard. I suppose, if the Official Opposition doesn’t have the preparation to make themselves heard, who are the rest of us to think we have a shot at it?

For the record, I wouldn’t encourage lewd, hateful expressions of disagreement, but I would encourage reasoned disagreement.

However, I understand perfectly that when you’ve been surrounded by ignorance and injustice for too long it either makes your blood boil and you act out, or it seeps into your psyche and it becomes you unless you challenge it. Being surrounded by ignorance or injustice all day, every day, makes you conform eventually to one or the other. There is a high risk that you will slowly become more ignorant and unjust, too.

It’s no secret now that I’ve left The Bahamas to do what I can for The Bahamas outside of The Bahamas.

And upon returning to a society that embraces and embodies real innovation and qualification, I now understand even better why my mentors once told me to be careful not to go back home too soon or for too long.

Fifteen years was clearly too long.

After 15 years, I feel like I need a whole new education, a new degree… several of them in fact, just to be competitive.

As painful as it is to say and accept, the reality is that what is considered overqualified today and has been for years in The Bahamas is drastically under-qualified in America.

I spent 15 years in Nassau losing the best of my educated self by reverse osmosis of intellect in an environment that has little respect for it.

If you’re not careful, you forget what you know. You forget that you care about something greater than yourself. You forget that you can actually achieve something magnanimous because every sociopolitical construct exists to oppress you.

Having spent 15 years post-university in The Bahamas, I now feel uneducated and unqualified and I have to begin again. Thank goodness they believe in innovation here, because at least there’s that to rely on… my ever-creative mind and avenues along which to direct it.

And this is entirely ironic when the purpose of being in The Bahamas was to help make it, me, us… Bahamians... better, that is, until it started to become clearer to me that the best way to do that now is to be the eyes and ears and voice on the outside.

Send email to nburrows@tribunemedia.net