By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

AFTER concerns were raised by several Bahamian performers about this year’s Independence Day celebration, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Iram Lewis said he plans to meet with local artists to address their issues.

Mr Lewis spoke after a number of Bahamian performers wrote to the chairman of the Independence Secretariat, Mark Humes, voicing their concerns with this year’s celebration.

The group is upset that event organisers allegedly left out a mixture of top local secular acts in favour of a more Christian theme, among other things.

The artists noted while they support the overall theme, they also feel the event could be inclusive of secular artists as well.

“As you are aware, due to the pandemic, this past year has been challenging for entertainers, and employment has dropped to an all time low,” the letter said. “We look forward to the festivals and the independence celebrations for regular employment and an opportunity for us to showcase our talent.

“Hence, it has come as a surprise and extremely disconcerting to discover that this year’s celebration will not be using the top secular and gospel performers. Adding insult to injury, we are told that the songs being used are not locally written or produced material. Is this saying that our material is not good enough to celebrate our own independence?

“While we support the idea in giving thanks to God for His blessings over the past year, we believe that this could have been accomplished with songs and performances by the top local gospel and secular artists in a very artistic fashion and to the satisfaction of the general Bahamian public,” the letter also stated.

Yesterday, Mr Lewis told reporters he has been made aware of some of the artists’ concerns and plans to meet with the relevant parties to rectify the problems where possible.

He told reporters yesterday: “I’ve seen the reports on social media and I’ve also gotten some calls so as an administration and as a government as we’ve been doing to ensure the welfare and the wellbeing of Bahamians are protected and whatever corrections needs to be had if any, we’ll seek to inquire and how we can ensure that those who feel that they have been disenfranchised will be embraced.

“There is one entertainer in particular who called me and he asked to have a meeting and I told him to bring all, to bring everybody. I’ve made it a point to listen to all stakeholders and every aspect of my ministry — Youth, Sports and Culture — and I’ve not met with all the federations and various entities yet, but it is my goal to meet with all to hear their concerns and to address them as necessary because again, we want to facilitate, we want to open doors and ensure that we maximise our potential in all areas.”

In a recent interview with The Tribune, Mr Humes admitted this year’s celebration will be more Christian oriented.

Explaining the rationale behind the decision, he said officials wanted to do something different this year from previous years, where, he said, a heavy focus was placed on “secular” acts.

“One aspect of who we are is rooted in our religious belief — we’re a Christian nation. So, this is the aspect, we’re paying homage to that aspect of who we are as Bahamians this year in the celebration,” Mr Humes said when contacted last week.

“We’ve done secular. Had secular – highlighted it for the last four years. I think at least one year we can pay reverence to who we are as a people, Christian people – a Christian nation… I really hope people don’t take offence to the fact that you know we want to be able to do that at a time like this and pay reverence to God.”

Asked if the music will be locally written or produced material, he explained the songs being used are “universal” religious songs with a message.

“What we’re doing this year is nothing new (or) unusual. So I hope people don’t try to frame it as something against Bahamian culture…When we look at the songs we sang before when we go to our churches, these aren’t Bahamian songs either. When you go to the Methodist church, there aren’t many Bahamian songs that we sing, but they’re all songs that we embrace.”