#BTColumn – No more National Heroes now

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados TODAY Inc.

by Michael Ray

The subject of National Heroes is another topic I wish to join with Historian Trevor Marshall and agree that at this time there is no need for anymore of them.

Marshall asserted, and I wholeheartedly agree that the rare status of “demigod” be put to the test of the three esses service, sacrifice and selflessness.

However, I kindly ask permission to apply my “litmus test” in which a single factor is the supreme determinant.

This supreme determinant of which I speak is the ability and capacity to change the lives of the majority of a country’s citizenry for the better.

While it is true that service, sacrifice and selflessness can achieve much, the impact must be felt across the widest expanse of the society rather than selected nooks and crannies.

It is not about a village or community hero.

It is about  persons who have impacted an entire nation and sometimes beyond – people like Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr., Toussaint L’Ouverture and Simon Bolivar.