May: Celebrating Bermudian Accomplishments
Every May Bermuda celebrates Heritage Month with a host of events, the most well known being the Bermuda Day celebrations on May 24th.
Bernews will also be celebrating Heritage Month, bringing you a special article every day highlighting Bermuda’s accomplishments, history, culture, heritage and more.
For a nation that is literally a mere dot on the map, Bermudians have made our mark on the world. We celebrate Bermudian accomplishments every day with our profile section showcasing dozens of accomplished Bermudians through history.
Our profiles go back centuries with figures such as Sally Bassett who is an historic figure in the dark past of Bermuda’s slavery, as well as Jemmy Darrell, a freed slave who became the first black person to own property in Bermuda. Still in the 18th century, we profile notables such as Dr. Thomas Tudor Tucker, who went on to become a United States Senator as well as the private physician to an American President.
We have almost thirty profiles on Bermudian sporting greats, from the legendary Clyde Best who shattered racial barriers in the English pro football leagues in the 60′s and 70′s, to Clarence Hill, the man who placed Bermuda in the history books as the smallest nation to ever win an Olympic medal.
The contribution of females in Bermuda sporting is well noted, from Katura Horton-Perenchief, the first black woman to ever compete in Olympic diving from any nation, to MJ Tumbridge, an accomplished equestrian who brought home Bermuda’s first ever Pan Am Gold Medal.
Our collective success in the music field has stretched well past our shores thanks to dozens of Bermudians including; Lance Hayward, a blind man born into segregation who went on to become a famed jazz musician and Hubert Smith, a man whose song ‘Bermuda is Another World’ went on to become the unofficial national anthem.
Our success in the arts doesn’t stop with music, Gina Swainson’s win at the 1979 Miss World made us one of the smallest nations to have the title, and Desmond Fountain’s sculptures are literally seen around the world.
The rights we all enjoy now, regardless of race and gender, weren’t always so and many Bermudians helped to blaze the path to equality for all, amongst them Dame Lois Browne-Evans and Dr. Pauulu Kamarakafego.
Our tiny island has produced world class experts in varying fields including veteran ocean explorer Teddy Tucker, noted conservationist Dr. David Wingate, and renowned cancer researcher Dr Malcolm Brock.
It’s May, it’s Bermuda, and it’s Heritage Month – stop by our profile section and read about  Bermudians who made a difference. The section is, as always, a work in progress and many more Bermudians will be profiled over the coming months.
Excellent article and I look forward to more.