Good morning, everyone.
I like to say thank you to the organisers of this event, I do appreciate being invited and giving this great opportunity to speak at this time.
I also want to say thank you to my fellow panellists. Definitely a high bar to follow.
And definitely amongst the very elite company on this panel.
So I'll try and do my best for the next few minutes when I present some thoughts because it's definitely not a paper they see at 10 minutes, I see it.
That's not a paper man. I'm a teacher and I'm long winded.
And what's happening? I'm to try and make it work through to try and make it work.
In the future, we will call Reconsider in 1959,
and the long struggle for desegregation in Bermuda 1959 was truly an eventful year in the British colony of Bermuda,
as the island's apparent tranquillity was punctuated by a boycott of movie theatres in June that brought a crashing end to segregation.
However, this significant historical moment in June was sandwiched between a series of
events that should cause us to question the completeness of this apparent victory.
How also it should help us reconsider the meanings of June 1959 and cause us to align our
perspectives more closely with those activists who fought these great racial battle.
With these thoughts in mind, I would just like us to reflect on some events which occurred before and after the theatre boycott of 1959,
before concluding with a thought from the progressive group. And if you're wondering, it's up there.
It was May 15th, exactly one month before the start of the year boycott, when the famous African-American poet Langston Hughes arrived in Bermuda,
Langston Hughes had been invited by the Women's Auxiliary of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity,
and he performed poetry readings at Berkeley Institute, made speeches for the Bermuda Union of Teachers and visited a number of schools
around the island while residing at the Östlund villa there in Pembroke.
Hughes penned a letter to a friend of hers in New York City, describing his thoughts on the island.
He commented the following. He said, Bermudian said, and I quote, treated me so nice.
I ought to love their island. But not I may not at all.
In the paragraph which followed, Hughes revealed some of the reasons for his dislike for Bermuda.
He stated that the island was home and I quote almost as segregated as North Carolina and full of British crackers.
A minute long pause, don't take this for my time,
but I'm gonna need some help from some literature scholars because I'm not sure which kind of crackers his talking about,
but this one should put cheese on or do you two legged ones? I was at a difficulty.
I decided I must admit this I have a Ph.D., but I struggled with this crack also.
So somebody helped me out after the conclusion there all. Please thank you.
You could stop my time again.
The fact that a British visit, the fact that a black visitor to Bermuda would come pretty Ireland's racial climate to the southern United States,
a place that engineer Jim Crow segregation,
brief that even for a second is telling in that it reveals the palpable nature of segregation in the 1950s and undermines the
arguments of white Bermudian segregationists who claim that the island's colour line was benign when compared to the United States.
More significantly,
the testimony of Langston Hughes bears witness to the problem of racism that they feared a boycott us would soon fight against steel more than this.
I draw attention to Langston Hughes and and Villar to highlight the significance of black tourists and
the black owned tourism sector in the long struggle for desegregation and civil rights in Bermuda.
You see, in the years leading up to the vote, a boycott.
Black tourists were vocal critics of Bermudian segregation and as consumers of the islands no.
One product of tourism, they made their opinions known in the African-American press.
The Bermuda recorder and the periodicals of other Caribbean islands.
The owners and operators of black hotels, guesthouses and other hospitality services.
They joined with black tourists in challenging the colour line. They spoke out at public events like the Leopards Clubs Dinner.
Some of you might remember Do's the The Lodge formal complaints before the tourism officials,
and they advocated for civil rights causes in the House of Assembly,
as well as before legal and political authorities by networking with black people throughout the Atlantic
world to solve the problem of Bermuda segregation using both formal and informal political processes.
Bermuda struggle to eradicate segregation was truly be understood as a diasporic civil rights struggle.
In other words, a case study in black internationalism,
and I'm so thankful to follow Dr. Swann because he's threaded that outline already and some of the activities of Dr. Roosevelt,
Ron Paul, who camera could figure.
You see, for example, as it relates to desegregation in Bermuda, we can see these examples of of diasporic civil rights.
For example, the island's very first successful theatre protests was organised by Miscount Hugh and Mrs. Jordan Heal
following the Bermudian of theatres club's refusal to sell them tickets on account of their race.
You see, Georgina's husband was Miss Mr. Hilton Jahil, a travel agent and owner of Bermuda Vacations Travel Service.
He suggested that they should pick a divider and after months of activism, the theatre dropped its colour bar in spring 1951.
Another example may include in 1954, the Bermuda Jockey Club.
The horse racing track there desegregated its grandstands after a sustained effort of political pressure by Russell Pyramid,
Ed Richards and Hilton Hill. The campaign to desegregate the Jockey Club was sparked by an incident during the summer of 1951,
when four African-American tourists were denied entry to the grandstands.
And those politicians who I mentioned, Russell Pyramid,
we know that he was involved with the guesthouse industry through what being earned of what you heard Ali gastos?
Yeah. Run by his wife, Doris Ed Richards.
I know he gets more shine for being government leader, but he was a board member and also the president of the Imperial Hotel.
Also Hilton Jahil, as we've already mentioned, very famous travel agent who had eventually expanded his business and moved to the
United States and ended up handling travel for the ACP and even the nation of Islam.
Malcolm in the brothers was travelling by Hilton. You were mutants everywhere.
However, these observations are more than mere historical observations,
rather they form the context of possibility that inform the actual theatre boycott you see.
In other words, the progressive group would not have even bothered to organise without some
knowledge and belief that changing the racial status quo was even possible.
So while the years preceding the boycott, sure, the saliency of diasporic civil rights alongside incremental victories and mind you,
that's incremental, not total incremental victories over segregation in very specific areas.
The period that followed 1959 demonstrated the incompleteness of the boycotts.
Successes with respect to its success is the progressive group organised the
boycott of all segregated movie theatres on the island that began on June 15,
1959, and by June 30th, they had compelled all six movie houses to desegregate these movie.
The houses were earned by Bermuda general theatres, and they ended up desegregating completely,
even though they denied that it was the pressure of the boycott. In addition,
these street protests and motorcades associated with the boycott frightened
the white elite management of seven hotels into relaxing their racial rules,
and I say, relax and Selma, come back today.
The hotels included the Belmont, the Bermuda, Anna Elbow Beach, Embery Princess St. George's Hotel, as well as Castle Harbour.
These hotels began allowing blacks to enter for dinner, drinks, dance and entertainment.
However, their accommodations still remained segregated.
This came back to demonstrate a very critical element of the incompleteness of this victory,
because you see on September 8th, 1960, a Pan American jet left Bermuda en route to New York City.
Unfortunately, the plane experienced engine trouble and was forced to return back to the island because it was late at night.
Pan A.M. gave all 87 delayed passengers a free night at Castle Harbour Hotel since it was located near the airport,
and they would not have to go home and return back early in the morning. I wish I realised you did the naughtiest man that don't Carnegies my time.
I think everybody supports that man in your line to get you not in Munich or snowed here, just kick your claim and add in an acre of land.
Where was I anyway? Yeah, so the so it again delayed there in Bermuda.
Pan Am gives all eighty seven passengers a voucher to go and stay at Castle Harbour Hotel.
However, many passengers were dropped off at the Castle Harbour.
There were 15 Black members of the group and they were refused accommodations because of their race.
Even though the booking had been made by Pan Am and was already paid for,
this situation sent a powerful message because black tourists were denied alongside black Bermudian
because a group of black passengers included a handful of university students returning to school,
as well as an African-American Air Force sergeant as well as his wife.
The black passengers protested loudly in the lobby, but they were forced to wait while the white passengers were taken to their rooms.
However, management would not yield. However, management said, You know something is OK,
though you could use a portion of your room credit to go get some drinks and
something to eat in the dining room because it's been recently desegregated. I don't need that right now.
Please stay. However, it was more folks in that group who are thinking the same way two university students, Hugh Whitstable.
He was studying at Howard University and Vincent Bridgewater.
He was a pre-med student at Lincoln University, summarise the entire group's feelings and he told the manager,
he said, Look, if we're not good enough to sleep here, you can profit by us eating here.
Soon afterwards, black passengers vacated the hotel lobby in disgust and several bellhops,
and other black staff members staged an impromptu walkout in solidarity.
I see, I see. What do we see?
We see the battle against segregation, which followed the theatre boycott containing instances of diasporic civil rights action.
Therefore, the periods before as well as see periods after the theatre boycott were united
by beams of black protest in the face of white resistance to desegregation,
as well as white resistance to complete racial and political equality, given the continuity of the struggle found on both sides of 1959.
How can we realign our perspectives to meet those who fought these historical racial battles?
I believe the parting words of the progressive group offer us some direction.
On July 1st, they published a letter to the editor that was published in the Bermuda Recorder,
a victory letter, so to speak after the conclusion and the successful desegregation of the six theatres.
In part, it reads, I just kept a low quote from it. It says We appreciate that you hotels, restaurants and theatres are desegregated.
The people of Bermuda are to be thanked. Congratulated for the striking display of solidarity shown since June 15th,
the day should become for Bermuda is what Emancipation Day is to the world.
Remember, there are still goals to be achieved. Therefore, in the future, we will call upon Bermuda for a similar display of solidarity.
If it is deemed necessary, you see two progressive groups.
Parting statement serves as a succinct, intellectual summary of the politics of race in the 1950s,
as well as a clarion call for continued anti-racist activism today.
They acknowledge the continuing presence of racism by stating that there would be goals to be achieved.
They acknowledge the success of their strategies by praising the people's solidarity and asked them to stand ready.
OK, my time is done and ask them to stand ready for the next opportunity to deploy these same techniques to desegregate.
In other words, they were telling us we need to stand ready because the struggle continues.
He said, because in the future, in the future, in the future, we will call.
Thank you.