Kamau Georges is well known for playing saxophone. But on Sunday evening, he started with a bright flute solo when he performed the song he wrote in commemoration of the Great March of 1949.
Then the band kicked in, and he called out to a swaying crowd of about 200 people gathered around the stage at the Cyril B. Romney Tortola Pier Park.
“In 1949, we were the poorest ones you could find, but we were not blind,” he sang. “We saw a bright future in our mind.”
The song grew from there, steadily rising to a booming crescendo as attendees cheered and sang along.
“How did we build a great country in a real short time?” Mr. Georges sang to an audience that included Speaker of the House Corine George-Massicote, acting Premier Julian Fraser and several other House of Assembly members. “Blame it on 1949!”
Mr. Georges was among more than two dozen performers who took the stage at the Sunday evening concert, which was hosted by the HOA as part of a month of activities celebrating the 75th anniversary of the restoration of the territory’s legislature in 1950.
The 1949 protest
Like Mr. Georges, emcee Angelle Cameron and several other performers made a point to celebrate the protest that preceded the 1950 restoration.
It came on Nov. 24, 1949, when a reported 1,500 people led by Theodolph Faulkner, Isaac Fonseca and Carlton de Castro marched to the Main Street office of colonial commissioner J.A.C. “Ian” Cruikshank to demand representative government.
“We refuse any longer to be virtual slaves of a government in which a few officials call the tune while we, the taxpayers, pay the piper,” they proclaimed in a statement read out at the 1949 protest, adding, “We are imbued with a desire to decide our local affairs our own selves.”
The following February, a committee was assembled to write a constitution. Later that year, the territory formed an elected Legislative Council modelled on the British ministerial system of government.
Rapid growth
This week, Mr. Georges said he arranged his song “1949” to mirror the territory’s rapid growth since then.
“It starts out very bare, so that kind of connotates how we were in 1949: like very meagre. We were poor; there wasn’t much going on,” he told the Beacon on Tuesday. “Then the voice comes in and a few instruments come in, and then very quickly the instruments build, and then by the end of the song it’s very strong and powerful.”
The song, he said, was inspired by watching his cousin Ricardo Wheatley deliver a Zoom presentation about the territory’s history.
“Because of the hard work of our legislators and the choices that they made for our economy and different things, I was able to grow up in a very different Virgin Islands than just 50 years before,” he said, adding, “And when that dawned on me, I felt a sense of pride.”
Elmore Stoutt
Another performer on Sunday was Elmore Stoutt, a former legislator who kicked off his contribution with a song comparing the VI to a garden.
“This is natural beauty,” Mr. Stoutt sang. “You can’t find this thing in no big city. People from America, England and France, they coming in style just to taste the Virgin Isle.”
After his first song, he addressed the crowd, crediting past legislators for the territory’s present-day popularity with tourists. Their work, he suggested, also had roots in the 1949 protest.
“I want to take my hat off to those forefamilies — traditional pioneers — who ensured that there was the restoration of the BVI Legislative Council in 1950,” he said. “Those men had guts. Those men were genuine. They saw the deficiency … of one man having a sway and no local government.”
Several current HOA members also attended the concert, and one of them took the stage as a performer: Health and Social Development Minister Vincent Wheatley performed as part of a trio of saxophonists from Virgin Gorda.
Mr. Wheatley’s Ninth-District predecessor, Shereen Flax-Charles, also performed. In a calypso anthem she said was more than two decades old, she promoted VI pride and proclaimed, “I born here.”
Other performers included Arliene Penn, who performed a steel pan solo; soca artist Eustace “Boss” Freeman; and the Razor Blades fungi band.
The evening ended with a fireworks display over the water.
The speaker
Ms. George-Massicote, the HOA speaker, sat on the front row of the audience with her family.
Afterwards, she described the concert as a fitting climax to the HOA’s month of anniversary activities, which she said her office had been planning since February.
“Obviously, we’re looking for more autonomy in terms of being independent as a territory — hopefully a country — one day,” Ms. George-Massicote told the Beacon on Tuesday. “And a lot of what we were doing was just to somewhat reflect on where we were and where we are now.”
The month of celebrations also included an evening honouring former HOA members and others; a student debate on Friday; a tea party on Peter Island; and other activities.
The celebrations, the speaker said, also boosted ongoing efforts to attract public interest in HOA proceedings.
“I think what we need to do in terms of our presence is we need to be a little more open and responsive to our people,” she said. “That transparent aspect is, I think, what many are seeking, and one of the ways that we wish to do so is the development of our website as well.”
She added that attendees also applauded the fireworks display that ended the Sunday evening showcase.
“That was a must,” she said. “You can’t celebrate 75 years without doing it big.”
More to come
The anniversary celebrations continue on Sunday with an 8:30 a.m. service at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Road Town.
Also in the works are a commemorative licence plate and a 75th anniversary publication set to be released early next year, Ms. George-Massicote said.
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