Barbados: Sugar, Rihanna and Poison?

MJ Malleck//

This postcard was sent to Owen Sound from Barbados in February, perhaps in 1968.

We are enjoying the beautiful weather, hot with a glorious breeze all the time. Have “done” the island pretty well by car, the shops on foot and persuaded the men to take “the ladies” night clubbing occasionally. Pleasant fellow resorters. Went to a service in a little old Methodist Church on Sunday. Have seen the two O.S. nurses who have come down for a year to hospital here. A Bien tot. Grace and Al

 

The front is “Ruins of an old sugar mill with blooming frangipani tree in foreground” from the beautiful pictorial book “Barbados” by Hans W. Hannau.  The book was published in 1966 and had captions in English, French, German and Spanish.

 

Grace and Al were at the start of a trend, because in the 1970s Canada was the largest source of tourists to the island. In 1979 for example, about 97,000 Canadians visited. I have not been able to find out about what kind of an exchange program was available for nurses at that time. (Might O.S. be Orthopedic Surgical nurses?) In the past, citizens of commonwealth countries often were able to go and work in other commonwealth countries.

 

The British first occupied the island in 1627 and it remained a colony until internal autonomy was granted in 1961 and full independence in 1966. Like Canada, Barbados had an elected Prime Minister and then a Governor General, who represents Queen Elizabeth. However, in September 2020 the PM Mia Mottley said it was time to leave the colonial past behind, and in November 2021 the island abandoned the queen as head of state and became a republic. They did decide, voluntarily, to maintain membership in the political group of 56 commonwealth countries.

 

I’m not sure where these sugar mill “ruins” are, but today the island’s sugar industry is much smaller than it used to be, with just two sugar mills currently operating. It was distressing to learn about the history of slavery, when British ships carried enslaved people from Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Cameroon. Many people didn’t survive the journey, but thousands were forced into labour in the sugar field and in the mills.

 

A series of natural disasters in the late 1600s ruined some plantations—a locust plague in 1663, a major hurricane in 1667 and excessive rain in 1669. Honestly, doesn’t this sound like the wrath of God on those slave-owners?

 

After slavery was abolished in 1834 there was a four-year apprenticeship period until full freedom was celebrated in 1838. More than 70,000 Barbadians of African descent took to the streets to celebrate. Emancipation Day is celebrated on August 1^st.

 

Grace and Al would not have seen the Emancipation Statue which didn’t go up until 1985. Many call it Bussa, after a slave who inspired a revolt in 1816. Bussa is one of Barbados’ National Heroes.

 

The newest National Hero in Barbados is Rihanna. Barbadians had already celebrated Rihanna Day on February 22^nd (since 2008). At the Independence Day ceremony the fabulous singer, actress and business entrepreneur was named a National Hero. Rihanna has always been a global ambassador for Barbados, her birthplace, and has been lauded for proudly speaking with her Bajan accent. Since 2008, As a National Hero, Rihanna can now use the title Right Honorable before her name. Better than Her Majesty I’d say!

 

The theme of poison runs through this postcard. First, the flowers on the front are called frangipani or plumeria. The sap of this tree is milky white, and mildly poisonous, as are the flowers. The sap will blister your skin or burn your eyes. Most insects leave the tree alone, but the Hawk Moth doesn’t mind – when it eats from this tree birds leave it alone because it too becomes toxic.

 

The stamp features the Queen, and the Porcupine Fish, commonly called blowfish or pufferfish. Online I found a stock photo of Pufferfish on sale at an outdoor market in St. Lawrence Bay, Barbados. I could not find a seafood restaurant with this on the menu. I hope tourists are not buying them and trying to eat them. Chefs are specially trained to cut the meat carefully to avoid one of the most toxic poisons found in nature.

In 2018 the big question was, Will Rihanna play Poison Ivy in the Batman movie. My question is: When is Rihanna going to be on a Barbadian stamp?