It's not every day that a young Bermudian gets their picture in a history book, but Berkeley Institute student Kiaaron Minks had just returned from a photo shoot with English teacher Tonisha Key Holmes before speaking yesterday morning with The Royal Gazette.

It is hoped that Kiaaron's picture will appear in a history book, aimed at Bermuda's schools, documenting the story of Sarah (Sally) Bassett —the slave woman, accused of poisoning, who was burned at the stake in 1730.

On September 14, 17-year-old Kiaaron addressed Cabinet members on the issue of Bermudian history, and the Sally Bassett book in particular. Publisher Max Hull intends to print The Icon Series, written by local author Colwyn Burchall, on Bermuda's history and the leading figures and groups of the Island's civil rights era. Icon Books will cover both local and international history. The infamous story of Sally Bassett will be the first in the local series.

Ms. Key Holmes said, "Colwyn Burchall wasn't able to present to Cabinet, so that's where Kiaaron came in. He read the book and I asked him to write a response. Kiaaron read that response to Cabinet, and they were thoroughly impressed with him."

"I was very nervous," Kiaaron admitted, "but they all welcomed me and they were happy to have me there. Once I saw everybody's faces, it was completely calm after that; I just did my thing. I didn't speak too long, about five minutes. I was saying what I thought about the book, and why it should be bought into the Bermuda school system."

As a Senior 4 student, Kiaaron is in his final year, and for now he hopes to attend college and study either architecture or graphic design.

"Speaking to Cabinet was just to get the idea out there, to bring this book into class and use it as a guide for learning Bermudian history," the Smith's student said. "I liked how it taught us about our own history. When I was younger I never really learned that much about our own history—it was the history of everywhere else. I just wanted everybody coming up to learn about it. There's so much more that we need to know.

"I learned a lot of history from my elders outside of school, like my grandfather Roland Darrell and his friends, my mum and dad Kim and Herschel Minks—that's pretty much who taught me everything about Bermuda history, like how they couldn't go into the movie theatre or into certain places, like this place doesn't allow blacks." Kiaaron added quietly: "It's not too long ago."

Ms. Key Holmes had assigned the draft text of Mr. Burchall's book to Berkeley students, who e-mailed reviews to the author. Mr. Burchall, a literacy specialist, changed the book's format based on student reviews, she said. She describes Kiaaron as a student who always asks questions, and whose interest was gratifyingly piqued by perceiving the parallels between his own story and those of history.

Describing his reaction to the Sally Bassett story, Kiaaron said: "At first I felt irritated about it. It's already been done and there's nothing I can do about it. But overall it's just, I've got to do my part, do as much as I can. Really, it motivates me. I just want more about our own history."

"I gave Kiaaron the second draft this September," Ms. Key Homes said. "He sat down and wrote about it the morning before he went to Cabinet, and then we went in. Colwyn later called me and told me to look at Facebook, where Dr. Brown had put up pictures of it."

Kiaaron's short address to Cabinet members was an appeal for young Bermudians to learn their own history: "The young leaders of tomorrow need to know this information," he wrote. "Not so they can get mad or vengeful, but so they know what their people fought to get them."

When contacted, Premier Dr. Ewart Brown wrote back to The Royal Gazette: "When that young man said what he had to say to me and my Cabinet colleagues, I felt like it was manna from heaven. I have been stressing for years the critical importance of infusing our curriculum with facts and thoughts Bermudian. Now comes a young man, without any prompting from Government, who lays it on the line as powerfully as possible. He was calm but his call was loud and clear: 'Please teach us about our people!' I hope the decision-makers at Education take up his challenge!"