We March Bahamas protesters on Bay Street.
The live coverage is now over - don't miss Wednesday's Tribune for full coverage from the Majority Rule Day events.
12.55pm: Video of the We March Bahamas protesters on Bay Street:
http://youtu.be/pbkQm1oCmgo12.15pm: The We March Bahamas protesters have turned back from Rawson Square – the square has been cleared and the marchers are now back at Pompey Square. The protesters could be heard chanting “Unseal the deal!” - believed to be a reference to the sale of Baha Mar to the Chinese.
11.55am: The We March Bahamas protesters are now walking towards Rawson Square - despite being refused permission to march there in the build-up to today's events. The mood is described as “angry”.
11.45am: Scenes from the We March Bahamas event (left and right).
10.55am: The Prime Minister is addressing the crowd at the Southern Recreation Grounds. He said “we must remember the men and women we assembled by the thousands in support of those who lead the march for freedom and a life of dignity”.
10.50am:Videos of the We March Bahamas event which is currently underway:
http://youtu.be/bXvibVJnp24 http://youtu.be/jIu5rW5LwNQ
10.35am: We March Bahamas is underway on the Western Esplanade. Early estimate that there could be up to 1,000 taking part so far.
10.30am: Prime Minister Perry Christie has arrived after going with the Governor General, Dame Marguerite Pindling, to the grave of Sir Lynden Pindling to lay a wreath.
10.20am: Father Palacious said Majority Rule needs to be more meaningful for the entire country. He said we live in a country where the rich get richer and the poor get children. He said that black people breed too much and that we need to stop using our bodies to have children we can't take care of.
10.15am: Father Palacious said he is dismayed that the referendum vote did not pass because it means that the majority of people in the country still do not have rights under the Constitution and that fight must go on. He also urged the crowd to stop blaming the government for everything and claim responsibility for their actions.
10am: Father James Palacious is addressing the crowd with people still arriving. He said this is not the PLP's event, this is an event for all because it marks equality for all Bahamians, not just a few. He said the mission was accomplished but the struggle still continues.
9.25am: The marchers are arriving at the Southern Recreation Grounds now.
9.00am: There is a significant turnout for the Majority Rule March, with early estimates saying well over 1,000 are taking part.
8.50am: The march to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Majority Rule is underway this morning. The event began at 7am and will continue until 10am. The route runs from Windsor Park to Bay Street and to the Southern Recreation Grounds.
Prime Minister Perry Christie is expected to speak after the march.
From 10am to noon there will be a gospel concert at the Southern Recreation Grounds featuring Bishop Lawrence Rolle, Shaback, Rahming Brothers, Golden Gates Praise, Rachel Mackey and others.
From 4pm to 8pm there will be a cultural show and concert at Arawak Cay featuring the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Royal Bahamas Defence Force Band, Her Majesty’s Prison Band, National Children’s Choir, National Youth Choir, Stileet, Geno D, Veronica Bishop and DMac.
We March Bahamas plans to march from the Clifford Park/Western Esplanade areas along Bay Street to Pompey Square at 10am. The march is part of a protest against the government and the status quo.
Comments
DillyTree 7 years, 3 months ago
There are reports that people are being bused in and being paid to attend the PLP march. Is this true? (This is not a Majority Rule day march - let's call it what it really is)
And you cannot possibly be serious to lump the WeMarch group in with the Majority Rule day event? These are TWO very DIFFERENT events -- one is for REAL equality and protesting against BAD government and the other is a PLP march -- which is why we have so many problems in our country to begin with!
sheeprunner12 7 years, 3 months ago
Are there any events going on in any other island besides New Providence???? ........ One march on one island with about 1000 people is not very encouraging for a new public holiday
goodbyebahamas 7 years, 3 months ago
1000 that had to be bought and paid on the spot to show up. Old Dinosaurs at the Majority march, and young people at the WE march. The young people are the future of the Bahamas, put those dead fossils with their old ideas to rest.
licks2 7 years, 3 months ago
Don't forget them band peoples. . .the Police, The Prison and Defense Force and perhaps Urban Renewal Band. . .bused in members by Fitzgerald, Smith, Dorsette etc. . .that there could be closed to 1000 peoples dem! Lets say that the PLP had a conservative estimate of 2000. . .the will of attendees is not there. . .therefore, the PLP had the worse community support ever seen in this nation before. . .far far worse than Papa had it right up in the heat of his "everywhere they digging-morning, noon and evening-all the roads dem dig up dig up". . .episodes! The people have divorced themselves from this PLP government! And I hope them see the demographics of their crowds. . .young, old, middle-aged, white, black, well-groomed, jungilass, wheel chair bound, on walkers, blue and white collars, ALL NON-BUSSED OR PAID! Then there was the PLP old, old, Police/prison/RBDF bands and various bussed persons! This government just may as well take they papers and get outta da house!!
athlete12 7 years, 3 months ago
if they paid me to march I would take their money and not show up so they could see what it feels like to be robbed.
Could could imagine what place Bahamians are in if they have to be paid to come out and support this government?
I hope the people bood perry and chase him out of there. There is nothing to celebrate besides getting them out of government.
Yes sheeprunner, "estimated" 1000 people. I highly doubt any other island marches today because banks are taking their homes. Or they are working or trying to find work because the cost of living is higher on family islands.
sheeprunner12 7 years, 3 months ago
It is so sad that this holiday had to be created so long after the actual event (10/01/1967) because now it is seen through the eyes of politics ............after the goodwill of the initial "liberators" had already faded or had been found to be disingenuous
This date would have been better off been used as our Independence Day rather than something with NO real significance like July 10th ............. it is just a shame that maybe this holiday will probably never be accepted by the majority of Bahamians for what it really meant to the 1967 generation ............ it may be in essence a still-birth holiday
TalRussell 7 years, 3 months ago
Comrades! Aren't Bahamalanders done already a free peoples - Or maybe, we still need first undergo a freedom apprenticeship under some WE PROTEST?
The organizers pre- WE PROTEST propaganda estimated 10,000 protestors.... seems likes Fall Shorty, is charge crowd control?
sheeprunner12 7 years, 3 months ago
The Bahamian flag should have been flown at half-mast in front of every Bahamian home today ........... to protest the new LOWS the PLP has sunk this country to since 1967 .......... the flag was raised in 1973 and we have been slipping further down the flag-pole ever since (especially in the last 10-year period of Pindling and under Perry) ............ piss poor leadership
athlete12 7 years, 3 months ago
The question is whether if anything would come of all this marching?
There has been no negotiations or discussions with the government right?
I believe the union heads need to come together and organize a sort of call out. Shut it all down. No one goes into work until there is a live broadcasted discussion for immediate change.
Because all of these marches and cat fighting seems to be going no where, the PLP can still win and we are uncertain if the FNM or DNA or whoever will do better. It is time for the people, the working Bahamians to take control.
sheeprunner12 7 years, 3 months ago
We have to be discerning of WHO come forward as candidates in the General Election ........... We must vote for persons of integrity, vision and genuine national service ...... not for long-standing, seasoned, entrenched political party loyalists, narcissistic opportunists or sweet-mouth popularity seekers
OMG 7 years, 3 months ago
At last my fellow Bahamians have grown some balls and show these career politicians that their political rhetoric is often meaningless.
sheeprunner12 7 years, 3 months ago
Are yall marching in Eleuthera????????? .......... Yall have had lots of PLP promises from BabyG .......... and Perry's sissy boy is coming with more
TalRussell 7 years, 3 months ago
Comrades! 50 years ago the PLP and UBP were the two dominant political parties and even today the relationship models they put in place back then between the two parties and the citizens, remain in place today.... politicians self-interested in a united objective whose primary goal is to win the right govern over the citizens.
Seems be the exact same objective of the soon turn from black to O'RANGE Party? -
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 3 months ago
ONLY THE VERY WEAK AMONG US EVER BOTHERS TO READ WHAT A PAID TROLL LIKE YOU HAS TO SAY, MUCH LESS RESPOND TO YOUR DIATRIBE AND RUBBISH AIMED AT DISRUPTION THROUGH DISSEMINATION OF MISINFORMATION AND FALSEHOODS. I PERSONALLY NEVER READ A THING YOU OR YOUR ALTER EGO "BIRDIE" HAVE TO SAY BUT NEVERTHELESS FEEL COMPELLED TO OCCASIONALLY WARN NEW VISITORS TO THIS WEB SITE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR SIDE KICK "BIRDIE".
TalRussell 7 years, 3 months ago
Comrade! We know in your world which goose gets speak!
How appreciative all readers not of your mindset are of the great sacrifice you have made to subscribe to What's Free Speech for the Goose is not necessarily good for the Gander to express themselves freely on these hereto Tribune blog pages
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 3 months ago
I hate to be the bearer of so much gloom and doom, but most of the sun baked crabs marching today will be supporting either McCartney, LBT, Christie or Minnis when (and if) they vote in the next general election.....and that's truly a most frightening thought for the future of our country as it hangs on the precipice of financial collapse. In other words: What's happening here is much too little, way too late! And Trump is about to make it next to impossible for Bahamians to flee to Florida or Georgia. History has shown time and time again that when you live in a society that values who you know more than what you know and what you have more than who you are, it's only a matter of time before your country becomes the next Venezuela of today.
Cobalt 7 years, 3 months ago
I agree. Its too little, too late for the Bahamas. Decades of failed practices and policies have finally caught up with the us. What we are seeing today is the direct result of corrupt practices, mismanagement, and dishonesty dating all the way back to the 70s, 80s and 90s. The PLP, the FNM, and the Citizens of the Bahamas have all collectivley destroyed their own country. Ah, well.
sheeprunner12 7 years, 3 months ago
Is the political leader CAPABLE of reversing the "rot" of the past 50 years available to offer himself or herself for national public service?????? ......... Like Hubert Ingraham........ who stepped in to arrest the "rot" in 1992????
I await fellow bloggers' input ........ there must be several potential candidates???????
Reality_Check 7 years, 3 months ago
Mudda_sic is unfortunately right. Alexa.com now shows that pornhub.com and islandluck.com are among the top 15 web sites visited by Bahamians on a frequent basis thanks to the corrupt and sick kind of politics practiced by Poodling, Vomit and Hubiggity over the years since Majority Rule. These three very crooked and demented politicians are responsible for having created the vast majority of the dumbed down morally bereft members of our society today through, among other things, a failed public education system and unchecked illegal immigration. And today we celebrate that this is the Majority that Rules the Bahamas. Yes indeed, there's no longer any hope for us, but we can exact revenge on those who have robbed us of the glorious heritage we would have otherwise had.
TalRussell 7 years, 3 months ago
Comrades! Is it not a fact that the two public faces of the WE PROTEST, are trained lawyers who knows lots about our nation's complicated and discriminatory against the poor peoples bail system still in place 50 years after Majority Rule. In fact it's gotten even worse. ...and I don't remember bail being on the list of the 23 points they refused the PM's offer to discuss - was it such a big deal to have added just more more bail point, making the list 24?
The greatest worry of a protestor getting arrested for participating in today's protest is not that they will be jailed for protesting.... But that even if their bail is $1,000 or less, the poorer of defendants will not be able to post bail at arraignment - only to be locked up in the police station's cell while awaiting to be placed onto the prisoners bus for the drive up to Fox Hill.
sheeprunner12 7 years, 3 months ago
Now ..................... who is this great introspector??????????
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 3 months ago
The great introspector is none other than TalRussel.
John 7 years, 3 months ago
In the main time the country has recorded 5 and possibly 6 murders in 10 days.
John 7 years, 3 months ago
So did the PLP plan to hold a parallel march with the WeMarch backfire? While both groups drew large numbers, the WeMarch group definitely did not support the (present) government the Majority Rule had marchers from different sectors of society and from cross sections of the political landscape.
birdiestrachan 7 years, 3 months ago
The Judge who said I did not read the article, But made comments. Was also on the Dressed In BLACK FNM march.
themessenger 7 years, 3 months ago
Didn't see a single red tee shirt in the We the People march, but there was plenty yellow shirts and PLP campaign posters at the Majority Rule aka PLP march,let them wear tee shirts and drink rum 'cause ain no cake left to eat, go figure.
birdiestrachan 7 years, 3 months ago
The Judge who said I did not read the article, But made comments. Was also on the Dressed In BLACK FNM march. The Bahamas is still the best Country in the world not perfect. The good things far outweigh the bad.. I love the Bahamas and My heavenly Father and I plan My ways, I depend on no Government.. But put all of them side by side and the PLP will always be on top.
goodbyebahamas 7 years, 3 months ago
Birdie I said I won't $hit on you any more and I will keep my word. But the comments you make are unbeliveable with the evidence the people have against the PLP. How can you speak so highly of the PLP and believe in God at the same time? Do you drink or do drugs, because its just not logical the comments you make with the things that are happening.
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