Happy Anguilla Day to all Anguillians wherever you may be, either at home or overseas.
This year we celebrate in circumstances none of us could have envisaged this time last year, or just a few months ago. Many families across the land are feeling the hardship of lost jobs, separation from loved one overseas, and uncertainty due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In one way these circumstances – and the way our community has risen to the challenge – epitomise the spirt of Anguilla and the character of Anguillians. And it makes this year’s Anguilla Day theme of history, culture, heritage and identity, particularly appropriate.
Overcoming hardship, with dignity, through hard work, looking out for one another, perseverance and ingenuity – all underpinned by a deep Christian faith – are the things which define Anguilla’s history and which have shaped the culture and identity of its people.
History shows that Anguilla is no stranger to challenge and hardship.
Our land is not blessed with natural resources. But despite this, generations made a living from the land, sea and salt ponds where a lesser people would have failed. The cultural identity with farming and fishing remain powerful. So does the strong sense of family and community, characteristics forged in adversity where those who can help others in need do so and all pull together as one.
Poverty and lack of opportunity forced thousands to seek work on foreign shores, using their talent and sweat to make a better future for themselves and families back home. Out of that need, a diaspora was created. A diaspora that has never lost its sense of identify; its proud sense of heritage; its love of “home” and its commitment to reach back to help in times of need. And of course from that need to venture across the seas comes a rich sailing heritage that lives on strong today.
Anguilla’s history has been punctuated by natural and economic disasters: hurricanes, drought and now Covid-19. But no matter how hard, sudden or unexpected the blow, Anguilla got back on its feet instilling in successive generations a special resilience, and a belief in the ability to overcome adversity – no matter how daunting the odds may have seen.
So today, as we recall the events of 53 years ago and the challenging months and years that followed, we think back to a time when Anguillians rose to another challenge with little regard for the odds. And they succeeded because they were confident in their cause and their ability to achieve what was just and right – no matter the cost, no matter the hardship.
And I can’t help but conclude that the confidence the revolutionaries showed was born from a heritage and identity hard wired in Anguillians to overcome any challenge. It is in your blood and passed on from generation to generation.
So it is with confidence and faith that I know Covid-19 will not beat Anguilla or detract it from the course you have set. The sun will rise each morning and continue to shine on Anguilla until a power far greater than man decides otherwise. We will return to better days, and with God’s good grace, we will be stronger and more resilient than ever.
As ever, on Anguilla Day we recall some of those who have passed on in the preceding year. Dina and myself wish to extend our condolences to the families and friends of – Mrs. Colvette Coley; Mr Alan Barnette; Father Richard Fahie; Olive Cynthia Gumbs; Joseph Haralda Harrigan; Taitu Kai Goodwin; Lady Josephine Gumbs MBE; Irene Victoria Lake; George “Jiggy” Brooks; John Elliot Brooks; Hope Webster; Wycliffe Richardson; James Leroy Vanterpool; David Hodge; Teacher Omah Richardson; Calvert Carty; Marjorie Vanterpool and Ijanya Christian, and to all who have lost a loved one in the year that has passed.
We also wish to extend our congratulations to this year’s Anguilla award winners and their families – Leander Bryan; Mrs Rosena Brooks; Mrs Ursil Webster-Brooks and the posthumous award to Mr Wycliffe Richardson.
Anguilla Day is an opportunity to thank those who work on our behalf and keep us safe, particularly in these most difficult days. The members of our police, prisons and fire services who put themselves at risk to protect us. The outstanding team at the Health Authority and the Ministry of Health whose management of Covid-19 deserves our genuine respect and admiration. To our teachers responsible for bringing the new generations forward into an increasingly complex and challenging world.
Few will forget Anguilla Day 2020. Inevitably, we will recall how traditional celebrations were muted, but I hope we will reflect on it as a time when Anguilla again faced the mountain and conquered it to reach the fertile valley on the other side. And Dina and I certainly won’t forget this Anguilla Day, the last for us in Anguilla.
Once again a happy Anguilla Day. God bless you all and God bless Anguilla.
