THE GRAND UNVEILING
OF THE BAHAMAS’ 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF
INDEPENDENCE LOGO AND THEME
THURSDAY 19 TH , JANUARY, 2023
RAWSON AND PARLIAMENT SQUARE
H.E. LESLIA MILLER-BRICE, CHAIR, NATIONAL
INDEPENDENCE SECRETARIAT WELCOME REMARKS
To The Most Honourable Sir Cornelius A. Smith Governor
General of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas
The Honourable Prime Minister Philip E. ‘Brave’ Davis and
Mrs. Davis,

To All Cabinet Ministers, fellow Parliamentary Colleagues,
Members of the Diplomatic Core, Permanent Secretaries, all
Dignitaries and Distinguished Guests.
To fellow members of the Independence Commission.
To all of you, our invited guests, our most gracious audience,
ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Bahamians tuned in
across The Bahamas and the world.
Good evening!

This evening, it is my singular honour and privilege on behalf
of the National Independence Commission to advance this
special welcome to you.
As Chair of the Independence Secretariat and most
importantly as a Bahamian I am bubbling over with excitement
because The Bahamas is turning 50!
Prime Minister Davis, I wish to take this opportunity to pause
and say thank you to you and the Cabinet of The Bahamas for
entrusting myself and this vibrant group of young and
seasoned professionals to develop and execute a world class
year of events and activities. It is our prayer to make you and
the Bahamian people proud.

I have taken the liberty to not just welcome you to tonight’s
unveiling but to welcome you to the year of our 50th jubilee. I
can assure you, Bahamas, that we are expected to have a
grand celebration from now until July 2024. A year and a half
of activities that encompasses all that we’ve accomplished
and all we hope to achieve in the next 50 years and beyond.
Tonight’s launch is only the tip of the jubilant iceberg.
Following a year of public engagement, focus groups, keen
discussions, pollings and submissions we’ve curated what I
believe to be one the best celebrations The Bahamas has
ever seen. Our calendar of events promises to include ALL
Bahamians, of ALL interests, ALL ages and representing ALL
islands and ensuring Bahamians all over the world are

connected and joining in the celebrations. This is not a
celebration for some of us, this is a GRAND celebration for all
of us.
I welcome you to stay tuned via social media and the major
media outlets, attend as many events as possible, share your
own independence stories and join in the year of jubilee.
With the Road to 50 Race, we demonstrated what we can
accomplish when we expand our festivities beyond our
capital’s shores. To see Bahamians everywhere walking,
running, jogging and rolling to the sounds of the Junkanoo
beat and rake and scrape. From Bimini in the north to Inagua
in the South, we showed we are ready, we are excited and we
are proud.

Tonight is no different, 20 plus of our family island districts are
watching right now at the various watch parties across the
nation and our Bahamian diaspora is tuned in from the USA
to Canada, across Asia, Europe, throughout the Caribbean
and I want to ensure they feel just as welcomed as you all do
tonight. So if you can join me in waving your flags at the
cameras and saying Hellooooo!
[Helloooo!]
Tonight’s unveiling marks the official launch of our year of
jubilee and celebrations. The creation of our official logo,
theme and pattern represents the undeniable value of our

creatives, the gift of innovation, but also the necessity of
collaboration.
After hundreds of concept submissions, we combined the
works of these talented young Bahamians to create our
official logo, theme and pattern:
Mr. Devante Butler
Mrs. Kerstin Lockhart - Pinder
Mr. Durelle Williams
Mr. Nikolas Barnes
Thank you all for sharing your ideas, your time, your talents
with your country. While it was a competition and you will

enjoy your winnings, what you presented along with your
fellow contestants was truly a gift to us all.
To all of you that participated, sent in ideas and concepts,
thank you for taking the time, contributing to your country and
expressing your Bahamian pride through sketches and high
quality submissions.
Bahamas, I am sure you will be seeing a lot of me this year,
so I shall take my seat very soon. But before I do, I want to
answer two questions that came up a lot during our public
engagement exercises: The first one, what is there to even
celebrate?

Firstly, before we can celebrate, I challenge you to ask
yourself, what is there to learn?
Being under 50 myself, I believe we don’t always appreciate
what it was like before 1973. We don’t fully appreciate the
achievement of the right to vote for all Bahamian men and
women, the fight of our forefathers and foremothers, the
struggle to achieve what we sometimes take for granted
today. The gaps of economic achievement due to
socioeconomic status, race and gender. While we agitate for
more to be done, we must not forget to reflect on how far we
have come.
I urge you all to come out and tune into the masterclass
events, attend our lecture series, watch the documentaries,

attend the exhibits and official productions when launched
and dive deep into our history, our journey, our legacy.
But don’t forget, to tap into your personal resources, sit at
your grandmother and grandfather's feet, hear their stories,
listen to their journeys and how far your own family, and your
community has advanced over the past 50 years. You will be
surprised how much MORE there is to celebrate.
Secondly, in spite of our challenges, the question has been
asked what have we achieved?
In spite of destructive hurricanes, the global pandemic,
economic challenges, social ills we face, we as a people still
find a way to rise like a Phoenix from the ashes. We are

Rhodes Scholars, NBA and WNBA superstars, best-selling
authors, world renowned surgeons, playwrights, Olympians,
international champions in sports and academics, top chefs
and mixologists, CEOs and business executives,
award-winning fashion designers, photographers, film makers,
artists, artisans, brand leaders, creators, inventors, but most
of all defiers of the odds. Do not ever for a second doubt the
FACT that this is the greatest little nation in the world and for
that indomitable spirit, the bounce back like only Bahamians
can do, that resilience, there’s a lot to celebrate.
Finally, I challenge you to celebrate the keen opportunity and
possibility to shape the next 50 years.
11
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We live in a democratic nation where with our x we can
equally choose our leaders.
With our voices we can openly express our demands, agitate
for change, without hesitation or fear share our frustrations
and disappointments.
With our time, we can mentor, teach, empower, uplift our
young people and shape the next generation.
With our patience, care, and respect we can honor our elderly
and pay homage to the past generation.

With our gifts and talents we can expand our industries,
influence diversification and strategically develop solutions to
our modern day problems.
With our power we can connect, collaborate and commune
together, to march forward, upward, onward TOGETHER!
If you can’t find anything to celebrate about the past 50 years,
celebrate the fact that wherever you are, you can shift the
direction of the next 50 years. In your home, your family, your
community, district, cay, or island by your positive
contribution, your positive attitude and a positive perspective
that the best is truly yet to come for these 700 islands and
cays that belong to us.

As we unveil this logo, theme and pattern, it is my prayer that
there’s something in the design that catches your eye, holds
your heart and ignites your Bahamian pride. In the intricacies
of the design, may you feel seen, in the carefully curated
pattern, may you feel included, and in the meticulous
selection of words within our theme you feel heard.
Again, I welcome you all and look forward to celebrating with
you all year long.
Thank you and May God continue to bless the commonwealth
of The Bahamas.