By Anesta Henry
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley headed a group of dignitaries, specially-invited guests, students and teachers, who gathered on Tuesday to witness the historic renaming of Vauxhall Primary School.
The institution, which was officially opened on July 8, 1976, is now known as the Shirley Chisholm Primary School. Chisholm was born in the United States of America, but was proud of her Barbadian heritage and had her early upbringing and education at the Vauxhall, Christ Church school.
The outstanding educator, politician and author, was the first Black woman to be elected to the United States Congress in 1968. In 1972, she went after the Democratic nomination for the presidency.
Along with Chisholm’s relatives, Minister of Education Kay McConney, Parliamentary Representative Adrian Forde, United States Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Linda Taglialatela and Senior Advisor to the Director General of the International Labour Organisation Chad Blackman, attended the ceremony.
Delivering the featured address, Prime Minister Mottley said as a country, Barbados has a duty in the great humanising tradition of Chisholm to bring equality of opportunity, equity and empathy “to all that we do”.
She said, politics is not about the sustenance of power for a few, but rather about being able to make people sleep easier, and to create great citizens with Bajan roots because the world is entirely interdependent.
“And there shall be no boundaries or limits to who we are and what we can achieve,’ Mottley said. “I believe that in every one of us there is potential, it is for each of us to determine what is it that we do best and it is for each of us to believe in ourselves to know that we can chart new territory and new ground even when the electricity goes off,” Mottley said.
Mottley said that just as she has been tremendously inspired by Chisholm’s memory, she hoped that the example of the renaming of the school and “the example of her life, equally inspires” students.
“I make the point all the time that the energy and confidence that our children show in the playground must be shown in the classroom, in the church, in the places of employment, in any environment that they enter because they must not be intimidated by any space whatsoever and they must believe that no one is better than them, but they are equally, not better than anyone,” she said.
The Vauxhall Primary School is no more. At a special ceremony on Tuesday, the school took on the name of one of its own. It’s now called the Shirley Chisholm Primary School. Chisholm, the first black woman elected to the United States Congress was remembered for her life of excellence today at a ceremony attended by high-level officials. The Christ Church School now has the Shirley Chisholm Memorial Garden, a bust of Chisholm and this colourful mural that showcases her achievements.
The Prime Minister added: “When the Congressional Black Caucus was here last year, we indicated that we wanted to celebrate the life of Shirley Chisholm in an appropriate way. It is not an accident, I believe, that our Independence Day, our Republic Day, is the birthday of Shirley Chisholm. It’s an amazing coincidence.
“And her 100th birthday will in fact be next year, 2024. We want to launch, from November 30th this year, one year of celebration here and in the United States of America to celebrate the life as we celebrate the centennial anniversary of this great Barbadian woman, Barbadian and Guyanese if we are to be fair.”
Minister of Education McConney told those gathered that in renaming the school after Chisholm the ministry is seeking to commemorate the indelible contribution that the school played in the formative years of the outstanding woman.
“We seek to evolve a unique identity for this institution of learning and to leave an historical mark that will inspire past, present and future students, to walk in her footsteps and in their case to create their own footsteps that take them even higher,” McConney said.
Chief Executive Officer of The Shirley Chisholm Education Foundation, Simone Walker, said Chisholm’s commitment and perseverance created change and impacted the world forever.
“In fact, we are here today, renaming this school because this school is the place where Shirley first pulled up her chair. She took that chair from Vauxhall and unfolded it in the most powerful rooms in the world where she fought for women’s rights, civil rights, and expanded access to food, education and healthcare. And you see this is why I am so proud to be a Bajan and a member of this village.
“We know our worth, we are not afraid to add our voices to important conversations, we know that there are no lanes here. This little village gave Shirley the privilege to reach across the aisle to work with Republicans to expand the food stamp programme in 1977 which I benefited from,” Walker said.
Meanwhile, Senior Advisor to the Director General of the ILO Chad Blackman, a former student of the primary school thanked Prime Minister Mottley for considering his proposal to rename the institution after the woman whose legacy has been well documented and must be translated into a way of life for the students who pass through the institution.
“Therefore, to the principal and staff of the school, I encourage you to ensure that great emphasis is placed on allowing the students to become masters of the art of public speaking, but of course by the commitment of your parent ministry. It is also to this end that I want to commit publicly to undertaking a national Shirley Chisholm debating competition where the primary schools of this country will on an annual basis debate critical issues of the day with great emphasis placed on, not only delivery, but also relative to the content of the debate itself,” Blackman said.
During the ceremony, a mural, bust and signage were unveiled all featuring aspects of Chisholm’s life.
