To all my Junkanoo Colleagues,
The Junkanoo Corporation of New Providence is an incorporated body formed to receive the grace of the Government’s statutory body, the National Junkanno Committee, to manage the Annual Junkanoo Parades in New Providence, noting that these particular parades are the most popular in the Bahamas, but they were not national.
The recent reformation of order, a government bill called the National Junkanoo Authority, seeks to address the many concerns of the junkanoo world, including fairness, integrity, and honesty as it appears that the JCNP has lost its way and has become something else other than what was intended. Instead of working with the NJC and government, the JCNP has become its adversary both manipulatively and politically. The JCNP, through its many reformations, had become combative, seeking full autonomy and control of the Parades, determining who can participate and who could not, which is discriminatory. Junkanoo belongs to the people and not the JCNP alone.
Sometime around 2012, it was thought that there should be a private incorporated body whom the government could rely on for the management of the parades, thinking it was best to have experienced junkanoos run the parades and also deter the objectives of a few junkanoo icons who thought Junkanoo belonged to them as junkanoo envisioned an expanding economic and cultural market. From inception, the JCNP was on the right track but later took the thought that they ran everything in junkannoo when, in fact, they were only contracted in an unsigned agreement to manage the parades and were able to manipulate a then lazy statutory NJC over the years and constant changes to the legislative authoritiy until recently. We thank Former Prime Minister Perry Christie and later on the Works of the present leader of the Opposition Michael Pintard for their efforts in the past and now the fortitude of Minister Mario Bowleg to bring this bill forward and eliminate the tyranny of the JCNP.
In fact, it could be said that the recent dispute in one of the country’s major junkanoo groups has exposed the JCNPs monocrastic posture, often threatening the variuos Governments of shut downs and boycotts.
Interestingly enough, based on the Government’s National Junkanoo Authority Bill, there had been a plea for the creation of a Commission or Authority to run Junkanoo for the betterment. But whoa, it is now viewed by a few that it is not a good thing because it threatens their personal imagined authority as its owners portry themselves to represent the membership groups whose opinions are doctored for public opinion. The recent involvement of the JCNP in the private affairs of the Valley Boys has not only exposed them as biased and not objective but conniving with ever-changing rules and the appearance of corruption. What the junkanoo group membership have come to realize that today it’s me and yesterday it was you and tomorrow it’s another.
The present JCNP chairman has been a ball confusion and prolific dishonesty with a record of inconsistencies, vacillating, and with three faces who associated himself with a narcisist former chairman of the Valley Boys who purports that the great leader Gus Cooper named him chairman for life who the courts have determined otherwise.
I support the National Junkanoo Authority Bill and the formation of a Quasi Goverment Corporation that represents all Junkannoo Groups fairly and equally with fixed standards. I support an agency with a board of publicly appointed persons with integrity, an office of Directors with its constituent of legally registered junkanoo groups.
I support increased and equally distributed funding authorized by a budget that is best afforded by a government that finally has the fortitude to recognize the worth of our great national culture that we own. I support setting aside tyranny, competitive tribalism, and self indulged Ceasars.
I support the Bill and encourage the maligned junkanoo groups with their dedicated members who slave for the craft to support finally a long-awaited initiative.
And to my good friend Silbert, the father of my god children, my football coach, this is not as you described going back to the plantation. We are in the plantation now, and emancipation has been declared.
I am Mike Foster and ask all to approve this message.
