“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr

Fifty years ago this week, events in Bermuda took a turn that would see social discourse and history change forever for a number of people.

In a culmination of events outside of Belco’s main gate on February 2, 1965, an all-out war broke out between Bermudians standing up for their rights and the Bermuda Police.

The lines were clearly drawn between “two Bermudas”.

During the heat of the conflict, events unfolded that would change the lives of a number of individuals. When the smoke was cleared, Police officers and protesters had been severely injured and several Bermudians were arrested.

Among those arrested were two people very dear to me. My neighbour, Mr Kenneth Paul and Mr James Famous.

Fast forward 50 years to January 2015 and a group of individuals determined to see equality for the workers of Bermuda gathered the masses at Union Square to read out a letter sent by the Government of the day, who planned to put in place measures to take a portion of pay from the Civil Service.

Once read aloud to over 5,000 workers, it became clear that there was only one course of action: the path towards Cabinet was to be marched by the masses.

Among those leading the people towards the Cabinet lawns stood two young men I have watched grow. President of the Bermuda Union of Teachers (BUT), Mr Shannon James, and President of the Bermuda Public Services Union (BPSU), Mr Jason Hayward, a young man I am proud to call cousin.

I use these two points in history as reference points for a few reasons.

It is both ironic and sad that 50 years ago Mr James Famous was arrested because he answered the call to stand up for the rights of Bermudians. Ironic that fifty years later his nephew Mr. Jason Hayward was forced into the exact same position of having to stand up and face a government and some elements of society that are once again hostile to the workers of Bermuda.

I shed one tear of joy knowing that at the age of 32 my little cousin was not afraid to stand up and stand out. Sadly, out of the other eye I shed a tear of sorrow knowing that in 50 years we seemingly have made very little progress in the area of social and economic equality.

Yes, sure we all can eat wherever we want. We can drive the most fancy of vehicles and freely join almost any organisation our heart desires.

Heck, we even can pay to send our children to schools that once banned black Bermudians by law.

But the sad reality is that a large proportion of us still have to fight for the right for employment in our own country. Whether you are a trades person or a university graduate, it is abundantly clear something is amiss in our society.

In 1965, the Police raised wooden batons to beat those who dared to stand up to them. In 2015, the weapons of choice were the keyboards and keypads used to inflict words of hate and intolerance by people hiding behind PCs and Smartphones.

For many Bermudians, they were shocked at the venomous remarks made about people standing up for their rights. They had now fully realised that the social divisions were deep and had clearly shown that 50 years later we still live in “two Bermudas”.

At the Cabinet grounds among the thousands, I saw three persons that were not afraid of batons or keyboards: Mr James Famous, Mr Jason Hayward (aka Church) and Mr Shannon James.

If you happen to see them on your travels, please tell them that I said “thanks for being my heroes”.