Celebrating our Heroes

By Christopher Tobutt

Over 80 local artists and creatives were honored and celebrated at National Heroes Day on Monday 22 January, with the theme: Celebrating our Cultural Artists and Creatives’ in three main groups: Cherished Classics, Cultural Luminaries and Cultural Heritage Groups

Basing her keynote address on the first verse of Psalm 133, The Premier, Hon. Juliana O’Connor-Connolly said she would talk about unity: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brothers and sisters to dwell together in unity,” she said. While there were many things that could divide Cayman’s community, there was also a strong bond of shared Christian heritage that bound it together, she said, adding, in a paraphrase of St. Paul, that she was, “Not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of salvation.” 

“Who do you see when you look into the mirror?” she asked,  “A proud - not smug, but a proud Caymanian because of the foundation our forefathers and mothers gave us. we are the  beneficiaries of this rich culture and heritage that our ministers can now pick up the torch and carry on.

“This is a government - in the widest sense of the word, including the opposition, that is going to continue to recognise and select and ensure that it is an unadulterated culture of the Cayman Islands; so when you meet a neighbour who says ‘Cayman has no culture,’ then tell them how we used to sit along the walls of the harbour here and tell of the seamen’s stories. Tell them of how we succeeded when we did not have computers or the modern hospitals we are grateful for. But Caymanians,  whenever there has been a need they have always risen to the top of the pedestal and that is why we are also able to be the positive recipient of the remittences that came back from our seamen that traversed the seas and the oceans when they had no formal learning but had good common sense which unfortunately does not seem to be very common anymore.”

There was an enlivening and up-tempo gospel song - all about calling on the name of the Lord Jesus to help us cross the river and find deliverance in time of trouble - from the Red Bay Gospel Band.

Then there was a presentation of the Order of the Cayman Islands, followed by award recipients Music from Mr. Michael Lemay & Miss Kiara Lemay who played the steel pan. Next came dignitaries from government and representatives from the families of national heroes, for the laying of wreaths ceremony.

Leonard Dilbert - Cayman’s honorary Poet Laureate - spoke on behalf of all artists and creatives which, he said, was nearly an impossible job, given that by definition they do not fall into neat norms or averages. But it is poets and artists whose job it is to hold politicians to account, he said, and that it is no coincidence that when Governments of any kind stop following the will of the people, the first thing they do is to try to control creatives such as poets and artists. “Caymanians have never really conformed to being average, due to a significant heritage of independent-mindedness,”  he said.

Minister of Culture, Hon. Dwayne Dwayne said: “Today I wish to shed light on the civic pride that binds us together connecting each citizen to the rich diversity of our coltural heritage....and recognise the individuals who have left an indellible mark on the cultural and artistic landscape of the Cayman Islands”