Impressive commitment

November 24, 2008

Dear Sir,

An amazing event happened the weekend of November 14-16; fourteen women participated in Bermuda's first doula training. This three day workshop prepared these compassionate women to provide emotional, physical and informational support to women through labour, birth and immediately postpartum. The doula's role enhances the care that women receive from the midwives and physicians. The doula understands her client's wishes and the mother's needs from meeting the couple and family several times before labour begins. The doula does not give medical or clinical advice, she does not replace the father, her support is in completely serving the mother emotionally and physically.

As the doula trainer, I was very impressed with the commitment of the training participants – Bermuda will be served well. Among the array of doula trainees was Christine Virgil from KEMH maternity services. Additionally, I had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Cann and Dr. Peet-Ball where we shared a mutual understanding of the importance of the doula's role. Thank you doula trainees and organiser Sophia Cannonier for your passion and commitment to women and families.

RAE DAVIS

DONA International Approved

Doula Trainer

www.dona.org

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Doing what comes naturally

November 18, 2008

Dear Sir,

I have been following Barack Obama's campaign every day for over a year. Simply stated, I love Barack Obama. I think he has the leadership potential to bring the globe into a new era of co-operation. I agree with almost all of his policies, including those on health care, climate change, energy, human rights, the importance of family, and America's two wars. His victory gave me hope that things will change in a world where so much is going wrong.

However after reading your article, "White Bermudians wouldn't have voted for Obama, claims Premier", I realised that apparently I am doing something that should seem alien to me; I am white, yet I am supporting someone who isn't. You see, I was supporting him based on his policies, beliefs and opinions, not on his race. What was I thinking? He is black, how can I support him? This just goes to truly show how much our Premier views race in politics. To him it is the only issue that matters. He assumes that as a white person, I will automatically vote for a white person, for that reason alone. It doesn't matter whether Obama were to run in the US, Bermuda or Zimbabwe, or more importantly if he ran as a black man, white man or Asian man, I would still proudly support him. The Premier should view Obama's victory as a sign that we have gotten past "old racist policies", especially since Bermuda is much more racially integrated than the US. I'd like to assume that since the US has gotten past "old racist policies", Bermuda is well past them, however the Premier's statement on Friday proves otherwise.

CG

Ontario, Canada

Where would Obama fit here?

November 23, 2008

Dear Sir,

Rolfe Commissiong's defence of the Premier's presumption of how white Bermudians would have voted in the last USA presidential election using Bermuda as an example may have been a bit short sighted.

The voting habits of both races in Bermuda is indelibly pegged to our history. Our current political structure began when the culture and scent of segregation was still very present. The need among the established white community to maintain their economic might and the indignation and moral need for empowerment and equality among the blacks welded two separate activism within our political community. Anyone who stepped outside of the main thrust of either camp faced ostracism.

It was a split within the PLP which severed the merchants from the labour. The UBP benefited from that split and the 1960s ostracising and scorn poured upon this black merchant class by the PLP assured the UBP a perception of plurality.

Sadly unlike the broad base democratic model of the USA, our crony style has outlived the real development of our people keeping in place a voting style which statistically points clearly to racially polarised electorate.

The USA has an entirely different political culture. In order to give a true test of how Bermudians, black or white, would have participated and voted in the last USA presidential election, they would have had to be a part of that social/economic experience. In other words, if we were absorbed somehow into the American system where the white of Bermuda were divided nearly 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans. It would be in that context that we could truly determine how Bermudians would have voted.

By the same token Barack Obama never put himself forward as a black liberator, while I'm quite sure that he would have got the black Bermuda presidential vote, it's an equal question to be put to those among our black population who wear our race on their sleeves, on whether Barak Obama would have even got ascent to the political scene. In other words who among us would have voted for this so called colourless man in his kinder years? who would have assisted him to make the cut? Where would American whites fit in a Bermuda model? (probably same 95 percent UBP) Or even where would Obama fit? No one knows, so no-one should presume.

Yes I agree that our politics is a sad commentary bemoaning the reality of a political system that has barely evolved from its desegregation mode. This will not end until we find a way to put an end to our current partisan rut. We need to begin a new conversation on how to evolve our politics.

RAYMOND DAVIS

Southampton