Dear Jason Hayward,

While I’m not in agreement with the entire contents of your February 23 press statement [regarding the reduction in payroll concessions], I wholeheartedly concur with your sentiments expressed in the last two sentences: “Unless all stakeholders are willing to pull together, this gem we call Bermuda will face economic disaster.

“We must overcome the political, racial and economic divide and work together for the betterment of the country.”

That portion sums up my own perspective on the challenge facing Bermuda.

While you voice frustration with current efforts, you do express support for community stakeholders coming together for meaningful dialogue to develop solutions. I believe that most Bermuda residents could support those sentiments given our unprecedented crisis.

The Chinese character for crisis means both “danger” and “opportunity”. There is consensus on the danger we face, but what about the opportunity being offered?

Let me suggest that this crossroads is an opportunity for transformation — for the betterment of the country.

Ghandi suggested that transformation — for the better — comes if those involved are prepared to be the change. When the Bermuda Workers Association was formed in 1944, Dr Gordon volunteered to serve as president.

Prepared to be the change, Mazumbo served those less well-off, at the expense of his own practice. His passion for the betterment of all inspired a paradigm shift in our society.

Edwin Skinner, a white school principal, was prepared to be the change when he retired in 1945. With only two secondary schools for blacks, he took students into his home and later at Old Elliott.

When he died in 1948, he had bettered the lives of numerous students, including Ottie Simmons, John Swan and Roosevelt Brown.

Edward DeJean was prepared to be the change at 29 when he took over Mr Skinner’s mission. With two infant children, putting aside his engineering career, Mr DeJean demonstrated faith in the potential of Bermuda’s youth.

For fifteen years, with paltry resources, often without salaries, Howard Academy provided a transformational example.

A spirit of independence sustained the school family, along with support from the community.

This included Mr Durnley, British principal of the neighbouring Technical Institute, volunteering to tutor chemistry, while Clifford Maxwell, a secret Progressive Group member, helped with maths.

All these exemplars addressed the crises of their time, empowered by their preparedness to be the change.

They all transcended barriers and addressed challenges with a spirit of generosity.

Against the odds, they and many like them were able to facilitate the transformation of Bermuda, benefiting the generations which emerged in the last half of the 20th century.

Those pioneers let their actions speak for them, years before Dr Martin Luther King Jr made his 1967 Christmas Eve sermon when he explained that: “Our loyalties must be ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class. [We need to] live together as brothers or perish as fools.”

Dr Gordon was a servant leader whose loyalty went beyond class. Mr Skinner’s loyalty transcended race, benefiting many. Mr DeJean’s loyalty to family included hundreds of youngsters.

In September 2013, you and I were among volunteers working on a community project at Parsons Road, which offers a hint of insight into this perspective.

That Pride initiative included a variety of expected stakeholders, plus the Red Cross, St John’s Church and others, considered “outside the box” for that locale.

However, the diversity of the team arguably leveraged the promotion of wellbeing in that neighbourhood, also having some implications for the whole Island.

In closing, let me take this opportunity to reiterate support for the idea of a community dialogue to seek solutions in this crisis.

I have offered you some context, drawn from stories of pioneers who found leverage for the Island’s transformation “outside the box”, by being the change.

I hope you might find this meaningful.

Best Regards,

Glenn Fubler