The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Deputy Prime Minister Cynthia “Mother” Pratt has received an international humanitarian award for her commitment to community building throughout the years.

Mrs Pratt was awarded last year with the Kentucky Colonel Award – the highest title of honour the Commonwealth of Kentucky can bestow upon an individual.

The award is given to notable individuals in recognition of their accomplishments as well as their exceptional service to a community, state, or country.

“I was invited to speak at the convocation at Kentucky State University and in doing so, the NAACP was also in attendance and they had invited me to come on their television show,” said Mrs Pratt, the Bahamas’ first woman deputy prime minister.

“They were asking me about the country, about the community work that I do… and the governor - I guess they were impressed with what I did, what I said, and my work, [so] they decided to honour me,” she continued.

Reading from the congratulatory letter she received from The House of Representatives, Mrs Pratt said: “Kentucky Colonels are Kentucky’s ambassadors of goodwill and fellowship around the world… with your commission as a Kentucky Colonel, the Governor recognizes your service and accomplishments on behalf of others.”

“The certificate, signed by the governor and secretary of state and bearing the great seal of Kentucky has hung on the wall of such distinguished leaders as (former U.S) President Lyndon B. Johnson, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, John Glenn, America’s first person in space… and now Cynthia ‘Mother’ Pratt."

When asked how she felt about receiving the award, Mrs Pratt said: “I go about doing what I feel I need to do to make life better for others, I don’t really give it a thought as such, I’m grateful, mind you, but I just feel like if I can help somebody as I pass along, then I know my living is not in vain.”

She said she was “taken aback” by the honour because she wasn’t aware that anybody was paying attention to her.

Still, she insists she is grateful that God has allowed her to make a difference in the lives of many Bahamians.

Mrs Pratt added that she does consider her award to be an inspiration to the inner city community, because she wants to prove to them that it is possible to be successful.

“If they can see that you are in the inner city, but not of the inner city... you can still build a country, you can contribute to this community, and show them that it’s about us improving ourselves. That’s the message I want to send, it’s not be caught up in the community, you make the community, don’t let the community make you,” she said.

“And in that, the young child who might not have the best of material things, but they have respect. They have values and standards, and they’re trying to make a difference in building the community wherever they are."

She said her takeaway message is not to “move but improve”, and emphasized it is the people who build the communities.

“It’s not about what you have, it’s what you do with what you have. And so I keep saying to the young people whenever they say negative things about you don’t answer… you either prove them right or you prove them wrong,” she said.

Mrs Pratt also recalled instances where she was taken to prisons in the United States and the Turks & Caicos Islands to speak with the young men there. She said these instances prove people are recognizing she “has something to offer.”

“People who have benefited from the little I have to offer tell others, and that’s how the word gets around,” she explained.

Mrs Pratt joins a long list of prominent individuals who are also recipients of the prestigious award. The list includes academy award winning actors George Clooney and Johnny Depp, as well as musical artists Katy Perry and the late Elvis Presley.