Minister Burch on Dr Ball: “Fearless Icon”
Calling her a “fearless icon,” Minister of National Security Lt. Col. David Burch paid tribute the late Dr. Barbara Ball in the Senate today [Mar.16], saying the “the unlikely trail blazed by this graduate of the Bermuda High School for Girls is a colour-blind example of a career dedicated to uplifting the unfortunate and championing the rights of the voiceless.”
Dr. Ball, who was the first female doctor to practice medicine in Bermuda and was integral in the trade union and civil rights movements in the 1950/60s, passed away on March 13th at age 86.
Colonel Burch’s full statement follows below:
Madame President again with your indulgence it is my duty to mark the passing of a fearless icon of this country’s labour movement. Madame President, Dr. Barbara Ball’s life can best be summarized as a study in sacrifice and a triumph of right over might.
Madame President, the unlikely trail blazed by this graduate of the Bermuda High School for Girls is a colour-blind example of a career dedicated to uplifting the unfortunate and championing the rights of the voiceless.
Thankfully, her story is preserved in the recent publication by her former running mate and Union comrade, Mr. Ottiwell Simmons. Madame President, the stories of the dark days of the 1960s and the unrest that gave birth to many of the freedoms we enjoy today cannot be told without reference to this white woman, shunned by her own people, viewed suspiciously by people of colour and eventually branded a traitor for espousing the basic ideals of union representation and universal adult suffrage.
In an era of online petitions and how we as parliamentarians should view them, it is worth noting that the end of Dr. Ball’s suspension from privileges at the hospital came after 6,000 people signed a petition on her behalf; and not at the click of a mouse.
Madame President, the test of heroism and of the profound is the lasting nature of an individual’s thoughts.
50 years ago, Dr. Ball spoke words that might be equally applicable today: “Don’t you people be fooled by the success of the economy. The money in this economy belongs to a precious few people. Remember it is a false economy, because the average worker does not have any part or say in it.”
One might easily frame an economic debate today in these terms.
Madame President, like the late Dame Lois M. Browne-Evans, Dr. Ball had to be persuaded to accept an honour from Her Majesty the Queen. She did so and was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2000.
She attended at Government House to receive the award and in a breach of the protocol of the event, declared proudly as the Governor pinned the medal on her: “I accept this award in the name of the workers of Bermuda; it is for their labour…”
Madame President, this Government ensured that while she was alive Dr. Ball came to know the high esteem in which she was held and will continue to promote her story to our young people who often need the context in support of what we refer to as the struggle. As the Island mourns her loss it is no understatement that each of us, as we protest, march, voice our views vocally and in writing, do so in an atmosphere of freedom and strong democracy achieved through the efforts of a humble, fearless “Lady of Labour”.
On behalf of the Government and people of Bermuda, I invite Senate to join with me in expressing condolences to the wider Bermuda Industrial Union family on the passing of Dr. Barbara Ball OBE, JP.
Thank you Madame President.
