The second annual Trail Blazers Awards Banquet of the Bermuda Race Relations Initiative (BRRI) at the Fairmount Southampton Princess Hotel proved to be an elegant and stimulating event.

It was highlighted by the recognition and honouring of three of the leading fighters for social justice in the Island.

Honorees were the late Julian Hall, LL.B., a former Member of the House of Assembly; author and ardent anti-racism advocate Dr. Eva Hodgson; and former Senator Calvin Smith, who had the distinction of serving as Bermuda's first Chief Statistician and a pace setter for other blacks in leading Civil Service positions.

Eloquent speeches by and on behalf of the honorees were punctuated by applause and standing ovations and followed by video presentations.

Assistant Cabinet Secretary, Mrs. Judith Hall Bean, OBE, sister of Julian Hall, in an emotionally charged voice spoke on behalf of the Hall family.

Works and Engineering Minister Hon. Derrick Burgess described Mr. Hall as a dynamic and outspoken figure who will long be remembered as one of Bermuda's best legal minds, whose pursuit of justice was exceed only by his unmatched individual brilliance.

Other speakers included Cabinet Ministers Neletha Butterfield and Paula Cox; Rolfe Commissiong, Director of BRRI and Consultant to the Premier; and closing remarks by the Premier himself, Dr. Ewart Brown, in a speech described as profound and prophetic with his hopes and expressions for sovereign independence for Bermuda.