Believe in Bermuda's youth and stick together, Progressive Labour Party members were urged yesterday by a father and daughter team of politicians.

Rev. Wendell Foster and his daughter Helen Diane Foster were the keynote speakers at the PLP founder's luncheon at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess.

This lunch also celebrated the PLP's 40th anniversary.

Rev. Foster, who is married to a Bermudian, recalled the struggles he faced when he arrived on the Island in the 1950s. Then, he was appointed to the pastorate of Vernon Temple AME church in Southampton and later became the pastor of St. Paul AME, located in the city of Hamilton.

"When I first arrived here there were only two places where blacks could eat," Rev. Foster said. "And blacks were not allowed to work in certain places."

During his time on the Island, Rev. Foster helped influence the social and political evolution which the Island was undergoing.

"I was caller a rabble rouser when I lived in Bermuda," the father of two said, adding he was subsequently told to leave the Island by the Governor and the Bishop of the AME churches at the time.

Rev. Foster commended the Island for the strides it had made since desegregation.

"Back then people said that hotels and other places would close if Bermuda became desegregated. Well somebody's been lying to me because this hotel is still in existence.

"Desegregation has arrived in Bermuda and you still are thriving," he told the audience. "God did not mean for this place to be a segregated place."

But Rev. Foster stressed that in order for people to achieve to achieve they must stick together.

"There is one weakness I warn you against. That's pulling each other down. Instead of pulling the Premier down, say what a good job she is doing and how you can help her.

"MP's are not perfect because they are representing imperfect people. Talk to them, not about them," he urged.

"As long as you stand together with the purpose of God, you will not fail."

Ms Foster, who is the first African-American woman to be elected to a City Office from the Bronx (New York), encouraged the capacity audience to uplift Bermuda's youth.

"We have to be honest with young people," she said. "We must set high expectations for our youth.

"Young people need to understand that if we fail, they fail."

As she reflected on seeing young people hanging on Court Street, Ms Foster said the elders in the community should not turn their backs on them. Instead, she said, they should be embraced.

"Don't roll your eyes and walk across the street. Pray for them. We need to say, `Let me show you a more excellent way'," she said. "If our young people don't know from whence they come, they won't know where to go."

Of the youth in the community, Ms Foster said: "We have to build our young people up if not there will be no 80eth anniversary (for the PLP).

"We fail to give our young people a vision. Let's give them a vision."