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New campaign asks: ‘What makes us Bermudian?’

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The 3rd and final day of shooting the Proud to be Bermudian campaign took place yesterday afternoon inside the Cathedral Hall, as Princess Battersbee age 7 told camera woman Kalilah Robinson what being Bermudian means to her. (Photo by Akil Simmons) August 17,2012

What does it mean to be Bermudian?While the answer might seem simple, the Proud to be Bermudian campaign is seeking to discover the true Bermudian identity in an effort to unify the Island.Campaign co-creator Kalilah Robinson said: “I hope just by asking the question that we can get a debate going about what Bermudian means.“Obviously there’s the meaning related to one’s status, but I think it’s a much more complex issue. The idea was to get these questions asked.“Rather than define ourselves as non-British, non-American, non-Canadian, we want to have Bermudian be something positive, and hopefully getting people to ask these questions about our identity.”She said that she was approached about the project by Kim Dismont Robinson as the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs was looking to start an online campaign about Bermudian Culture.“Adrian Kawaley-Lathan and I had a campaign that we had come up with a few years ago called the ‘I’m Bermudian’ campaign,” Ms Robinson said. “We shot a video back in 2007 asking people around Hamilton about what being Bermudian meant. We found that a lot of people didn’t seem to have an answer.“So we decided we wanted to do a campaign about the Bermudian identity, about what being Bermudian means to Bermudians.”Starting earlier this month, Ms Robinson and Mr Kawaley-Lathan have organised multiple on camera interviews, asking three seemingly simple questions:What does in mean to be Bermudian, why are you proud to be Bermudian and what hopes do you have for Bermuda’s future.Ms Robinson said that a broad section of the Bermuda community have been given their thoughts on what it is to be Bermudian.“We have had around 50 people or so who have come in. We have had a lot of support on Facebook with a lot of people writing in saying that they would come,” she said.“It’s a little different when you have to come in, though, and a lot of people are a little uncomfortable about the camera.“It’s been really interesting. The three questions seem simple, but we have had some very profound and varied responses.”Of the three questions, she said the first was proving to be the most difficult to answer.“A lot of people get stuck on what it means to be Bermudian. We are getting very different answers, all very interesting to hear and they all have merit.”While she said the responses have varied from the obvious to the profound, the idea of resilience as an aspect of the Bermudian identity continued to pop up.“People are saying that unlike people in some other locations around the world, in the face of challenges like hurricanes, we tend to rally together and we help each other rather than run away.“Unlike other places in the world, we sit and deal with challenges rather than get up and leave for a while, largely because this is a small Island.”One participant, Preston James Ephraim II, said he took part in the campaign because he wanted to express his view of equality.“Bermudian is not a colour, it’s not an ethnicity,” he said. “Bermudian is about coming together at a central point.”* Answer these questions and send them to news@royalgazette.bm1. What does in mean to be Bermudian.2. Why are you proud to be Bermudian3. What hopes do you have for Bermuda’s future.

The 3rd and final day of shooting the Proud to be Bermudian campaign took place yesterday afternoon inside the Cathedral Hall, as Princess Battersbee age 7 told camera woman Kalilah Robinson what being Bermudian means to her. (Photo by Akil Simmons) August 17,2012