{"id":24617,"date":"2012-08-13T09:49:17","date_gmt":"2012-08-13T13:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/?p=24617"},"modified":"2012-08-13T09:49:17","modified_gmt":"2012-08-13T13:49:17","slug":"the-bahamas-at-a-dangerous-turning-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2012\/08\/the-bahamas-at-a-dangerous-turning-point","title":{"rendered":"The Bahamas At A Dangerous Turning Point"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Naive Agenda by Patrick Rahming<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Patrick Rahming can be credited with writing some of the first songs examining social discord in post-Independence Bahamian paradise as well as for penning a significant collection of thought-provoking poetry \u2013 yet for years he\u2019s also shared his views in speeches and open letters.<\/p>\n

In 1992, he published these pieces in \u201cThe Naive Agenda\u201d as an attempt to jump start a national conversation about the then dismal state of society and how to begin taking steps to work towards a better future.<\/p>\n

Flipping through the book that examines the reasons and solutions for the alarming rate of criminality in the 1980s, you may think \u2013 if not for the discussion of cassettes dating the collection \u2013 that Rahming\u2019s discourse concerns the present day, giving the phrase \u201cthe more things change, the more things stay the same\u201d a particularly sad ring.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s pertinent, therefore, that Rahming should take this crucial time of change \u2013 coming into 40 years of Independence next year \u2013 to republish the book. Decades of distance have only made his points more clear \u2013 The Bahamas is facing a dangerous turning point with crisis on all levels of society, politics, and culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t yet asked \u2018what is the point?\u2019\u201d says Rahming. \u201cThe reason for publishing it now is to see if I could again beg the community to ask that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed at this time where Urban Renewal 2.0 \u2013 and now the bizarre early planning for 40th anniversary celebrations \u2013 seems to be the order of the day for government, Rahming questions just how much this will do for the long term in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way the conversations about urban renewal have been framed \u2013 cleaning up streets, police action, community centers \u2013 isn\u2019t even about honoring communities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going to deal with trying to regenerate community and neighborliness, the least you have to do is put some energy into how neighborhoods work \u2013 you can\u2019t make them work because you passed legislation saying this street to this street is Bamboo Town, this street to this street is Bain town.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThose artificial political boundaries are not communities,\u201d he added. \u201cYou can\u2019t create neighborhoods by ignoring how neighborhoods exist. So you can\u2019t bring in community centers or else the center will be an expression of community life as opposed to a fixture of community life.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the four sections of \u201cThe Naive Agenda\u201d \u2013 Cultural Development, Anti-Social Behavior, Education, and Political Responsibility \u2013 Rahming proposes that the solution to the problem of criminality truly lies in improving self-image, for an understanding of the self in context provides value and morality to a person\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t influence violence from the outside. It\u2019s an inside job,\u201d says Rahming. \u201cWhat we do is a manifestation of who we are inside. Poverty and crime have nothing to do with each other. But we reinforce it, even in parliament. We say if we don\u2019t get people more income, they\u2019re going to turn to crime. Well, that\u2019s foolishness. If we don\u2019t give people a vision of themselves that is worthwhile, they will turn to crime. That makes more sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this idea we have that there is something we can do on the outside to affect how people behave has been proven wrong so many times that we have to look in the mirror and say that really ain\u2019t it.\u201d<\/p>\n

To improve self-image, Rahming\u2019s essays constantly refer to three major components to develop confident, self-aware and motivated individuals who, rather than turn to crime, can function within and contribute to society in positive ways.<\/p>\n

The three necessary components are a sense of history (where education plays a role especially in the teaching of African history and contemporary Bahamian history, as well as in the teaching of local literature); a relationship with the supernatural (in which the individual develops self-esteem in their understanding of Universal forces); and a sense of uniqueness by association (in which cultural activity secures in the individual a sense of being unique within his national identity).<\/p>\n

Cultural activity and history, therefore, play major parts in stable social life and contributing to this strong self-image. In essays examining the destruction of Jumbey Village, pride in music and also a look at the future of Junkanoo, Rahming identifies the serious need to preserve and develop culture alongside history in order to improve society \u2013 something that Bahamians have largely failed to appreciate due to a combination of miscommunication and apathy from the communities who can bring art, culture and history to the forefront.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to continue to experience the separation between the people who make policy and the people who understand the policies that are being made,\u201d said Rahming. \u201cThe artists in the community have a responsibility to help the rest of the society understand and develop wisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a society we keep expecting politicians to help us develop vision, but they can\u2019t. Politics is the institution if the past \u2013 its role is to maintain the status quo,\u201d he continued. \u201cJournalism is the institution of the present \u2013 its role is to help us understand what is going on now. Art is the institution of the future \u2013 its role is to help us develop vision, and artists need to take that seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rahming certainly undertook a huge task with the development of his theories throughout the essays contained in \u201cThe Na\u00efve Agenda\u201d. Even though the words ring true \u2013 perhaps true enough to hurt \u2013 it\u2019s gone relatively unnoticed, and we\u2019ve suffered the consequences through the twenty years since its first publication.<\/p>\n

This book should be mandatory reading for all individuals, especially those charged with making policy and outlining a vision for the future of this country. Here now is a second chance to begin this national conversation so badly needed, and if we ignore our problems again, we are not serious about improving our future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere we are at in the world is that our self image is badly in need of support and we are not addressing it,\u201d said Rahming. \u201cIt may seem in a sense that I have blame issues. I really don\u2019t blame anybody for any of this except myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything that has happened to us is natural \u2013 what is becoming unnatural is having gotten here and having recognized that this is where I am and choosing not to do anything about it because our self-image is so weak that we\u2019re refusing to take the risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Na\u00efve Agenda\u201d by Patrick Rahming can be found at Buy the Book on West Bay Street and Books & Things at Festival Place.<\/p>\n

By: Sonia Farmer
\nThe Nassau Guardian<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Patrick Rahming’s book “The Naive Agenda” examines the dismal state of society as the Bahamas faces a dangerous turning point with crisis on all levels of society, politics, and culture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[26,133,163],"class_list":["post-24617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-arts","tag-community","tag-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24617\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}