A Speech by The King at The Future Youth Rally, Bahamas

The Bahamas is known and admired the world over, not just for its astounding natural beauty, but for the depth of talent these islands produce – no country in the world has won more gold medals per capita, and I’m sure few can claim as many athletes, sailors, climate scientists, or performing artists as The Bahamas does.

Prime Minster, Honourable leader of the Opposition, Ladies and Gentlemen, and young people of The Bahamas. 

I reach, Amen!  

I am delighted to be back here at Clifford Park, in which I have such happy memories of representing my mother, Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, at the Independence celebrations in 1973. 

I can hardly believe that it has been fifty-three years since I stood here and watched the Bahamian flag raised for the very first time, before – to my amazement, all these years later – attending no less than three Independence balls in one night and dancing with Dame Marguerite. In those days, believe it or not, we would have been listening to The Beginning of the End or Ronnie Butler and the Ramblers, not K.B.! 

But I can only say how much I wish it had not taken quite so long to return and to be with you on this occasion – the Commonwealth, however, is a very big and extensive Association! 

Now, The Bahamas is known and admired the world over, not just for its astounding natural beauty, but for the depth of talent these islands produce – no country in the world has won more gold medals per capita, and I’m sure few can claim as many athletes, sailors, climate scientists, or performing artists as The Bahamas does.

It has been a great joy to witness Bahamians of all ages present this marvellous celebration of culture. Of course, there is no better example of Bahamian culture that has been passed down from one generation to the next than junkanoo. 

Now, I have a feeling it is at this point that the Prime Minister will want me to declare an allegiance for The Valley… 

…or maybe the Saxons… 

...or perhaps even One Family… 

… just how does one choose?! 

Each one of these groups is a living witness to the way Bahamian culture has been passed down from one generation to the next, each generation not only incorporating, but magnifying – sometimes even transforming – that which has come before. 

I say ‘transforming’ because we know that some of what is best in Bahamian culture today – the most joyful, the most hopeful, the most bright – was born out of darkness. 

It is only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering and injustices of the past, in these islands and beyond, even as we rejoice in the successes of the present and build new opportunities for the future. 

I know that leaders of the governments of affected Commonwealth countries will be discussing these matters in Antigua and Barbuda next week. 

This evening, though, it gives me enormous hope to see the way generations of Bahamians have carried the history, the legacy and the promise bequeathed to you by your ancestors, with pride in your hearts and purpose in your steps. 

Indeed, you have not only carried their legacy; you have nurtured and enhanced it, creatively and courageously, and we have seen here what a wonderful gift that is, to The Bahamas and to the world. 

The challenges young people face today are very different, and in some ways, far greater than the ones faced by the young people sitting in these stands in 1973. Indeed, we cannot escape the fact that the journey ahead contains some “treacherous shoals”.  

In particular, in an island nation where ninety percent of the land sits below two metres, there is perhaps nowhere better than The Bahamas to understand the reality of climate change that threatens so many communities across the Commonwealth. 

And so I do not need to remind you, the people of these islands, that God has not blessed us with this world simply for our enjoyment or our prosperity. 

Our world cries out for healing – the islands and cays, the beaches and mangroves, the conk and marlin. Throughout a large part of my life I have tried to address these critical issues in a variety of practical ways and to warn of the increasingly dangerous risks we run. In doing so, I have constantly sought to remind people of the need to take into account the inheritance we will bequeath to the younger generations as it will inevitably fall to you, as young people of The Bahamas and of the Commonwealth, to find ways, both old and new, to restore life to this planet we call home. 

For my own part, for more than fifty years I have tried, through various initiatives and organizations, to assist young people across the Commonwealth, including here in The Bahamas, to innovate, to prosper and to thrive, and to do so in Harmony with Nature, on which each one of us depends. 

Today, I can only invite you to take up the sacred task to play your part. In the way that you build for yourselves and your own descendants truly sustainable futures, in the way you hold “steady sunward”, you have the chance to show the world how it truly is “Better in The Bahamas”. 

In the years to come, this will surely be the measure of every person – how they answered the call to care for Planet Earth – the source of our life, our prosperity and our security. 

I cannot tell you, Ladies and Gentleman, just how delighted I am to be here again in this country of great beauty, of great pride, of great promise. I pray God’s blessing on you all as you march on, March On, Bahamaland.