Heroes walk in our midst

We have paused to honour our national heroes’ extraordinary sacrifices and achievements — men and women who fought tirelessly for our rights and freedoms; those who, by projecting a tiny mid-Atlantic island’s possibilities on a global scale, helped shape a Barbadian society that is inspired, exulted, free. From Bussa and Sarah Ann Gill to Samuel Jackman Prescod, Grantley Adams, and Errol Barrow, to Garry and Rihanna, our illustrious eleven deservedly loom large in our collective memory and positive regard.

We pause to note the permanent close juxtaposition of National Heroes Day with Labour Day on May 1. While we revere our celebrated heroes, we must be careful not to confer heroism solely on those historical figures who secured our political freedoms at great personal cost. And even if we remain in the realm of the political, the truth is that defending our rights and upholding our dearly-held values requires everyday heroics from us all.

What of the civil servant who rebukes a superior’s attempt at corruption, even at risk to their career? Or the teacher who inspires a classroom to uphold democratic principles and critical thinking. There is the neighbour who intervenes when they witness injustice — or saves a granny not of their blood from a house’s blazing inferno.

And there is the everyday hero who unites with others to secure fair wages and safe conditions – carrying the torch lit by the Labour Movement heroes of generations past.

We suggest there is heroism by doing all the mundane things and making all the necessary sacrifices for the betterment of the whole, particularly when the path of least resistance to grasping the material, to living only for today, lies temptingly before us.

It could be the parent who attends every PTA meeting who not only holds educators and administrators accountable for providing quality education but rolls up their sleeves and actively helps, tutoring or otherwise volunteering their time. The old hand who mentors a newbie or helps them find and keep a job. The border official who turns down a “gift” and upholds the customs and immigration laws without fear or favour, mendicancy or malice. The nurse who stays beyond their shift to ensure a distressed patient receives both care and compassion. The police officer who consciously chooses every day to treat citizens with respect and reason rather than with ceaseless fear and loathing. The contractor who never shortchanges a client and upholds the highest standards of excellence in their craft.

These diligent citizens and so many more, who get up day after day, honouring their forebears in name and nature, put in an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay, choose by their every thought, word or deed either by themselves or in an organisation to live in a democracy under a Supreme Law and defend the rights of others to love whom they want, worship their Supreme Being or not –  they are the strict guardians of our heritage of good governance, transparency, and the rule of law. They are the glue holding our society together through their small acts of resistance against moral blindness, apathy and injustice. There will be no statues for them but their collective actions are no less monumental.

There is much good to be done, not by doomscrolling through the detritus of social media, judging others and excreting vile thoughts but by getting off the anti-social screen and into life’s stream.

It is right and good that we exalt hard-won freedoms in this season of emancipation. Now it is for us to take the next vital step: the daily renewal of the ideals of honesty, fairness and diligence bequeathed to us by the giants upon whose shoulders we stand, whether a market hawker or fisherman, security guard or farmer – to take one step beyond what is merely required, to act not as the colonial outpost and forced labour camp we once were but the free republic we are now and must be tomorrow.

The lives of the remarkable members of our national pantheon should inspire a renewed devotion to truth, justice and the betterment of society in our own way. Will it be blind patriotism based on partisanship and patronage or a fierce love of our neighbour even despite themselves? Widespread engaged citizenship is how we build on the legacies of our national heroes. In today’s world, so mad, bad and dangerous to know, choosing to be fully present in the rebirth, growth and development of our families, communities, island and region is a worthy act of heroism itself.