(This tribute was first published in the 28th Anniversary of the Anguilla Revolution Booklet, 1995.)
James Ronald Webster was the greatest of Anguilla’s revolutionary leaders. Of course there were other stalwart leaders – such as Atlin Harrigan, Wallace Rey, Collins O. Hodge, Walter Hodge, Bob Rogers and Jeremiah Gumbs – but few of them were in Webster’s class when it came to sheer guts, determination, courage and the ability to stand up and tell the British “go to hell”. He was a man of steel. He was like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He wouldn’t bend, he wouldn’t bow, neither to Robert Bradshaw nor the British. They bowed to him.
Webster was stubborn. He was no easy horse to take to a stream and make it drink. Neither was he easy to ride. One of his most famous displays of stubbornness was his refusal, in the face of tremendous pressure from the British, to sign the Barbados Agreement (1967) which would have brought Anguilla back under the umbrella of the St Kitts Government. He explained at a political meeting that:
Britain cannot bribe away the spirit of the Anguillian people with a few miles of tarmac road, a few water pipes and an airstrip.
Webster was a charismatic leader who easily attracted followers and won their respect, confidence and love. Most of them trusted his judgment, and had faith in his leadership to the extent that they believed he could do no wrong. It was the late John T who once remarked that “when Webster is wrong he is right, and when he is right he is double right”. Jeremiah Gumbs expressed a similar view when he advised listeners at a political rally (1970) that “when Mr Webster says act do not question him”. The cult of Ronald Webster was a dominant feature of politics in Anguilla for many years.
Webster, as I have written elsewhere, gave courageous leadership at a time when it was badly needed and had instilled in the minds of the people that their goals were achievable whatever the odds. He enkindled hope in their hearts and had come to be regarded as the Father of the Nation. Under his dogged leadership the people refused to succumb to the myriad obstacles which confronted them in their struggle for self-determination.
Webster’s leadership role in the Revolution contributed immeasurably to its success and to the creation of a political environment which eventually allowed the Anguillians to participate in the charting and control of their own destiny and in laying the launch pad for Anguilla’s economic takeoff. Emmanuel Webster referred to this fact in an electioneering speech at Sandy Hill (1994). He said:
When there were no roads in Anguilla, Ronald said ‘let there be roads’ and there was roads. When there were no lights in Anguilla, Ronald said ‘let there be lights’ and there was light.
There is no doubt that Webster contributed immensely to the forward movement of the Anguillian people. He was indeed a genuine revolutionary leader. In his own words (1988):
When I took up this struggle in Anguilla some years ago, I got involved deeply seeking a better way for Anguillians. It was like a hen trying to protect her chickens.
For that reason Webster earned the love, respect and admiration of the Anguillian people. To quote Emmanuel Webster (1994):
I sat down with Mr Webster, and I talked to him, and I found out that the man has wisdom in his very toes.
James Ronald Webster is no longer in the forefront of Anguilla’s politics. Nonetheless, the Anguillian people owe him unlimited gratitude because without him the Revolution would have collapsed. Without him Anguilla would still have been a Caribbean backwater. Webster harnessed the energies of the Anguillian people with whom he laid the foundation on which all of them could now build. He did his part. We must do ours and, as the Lord told Moses the leader of the Israelites, “Go forward!” Webster brought Anguilla through the wilderness and across the Red Sea. The present and future generations must take it to the Promised Land.
