Remembering men of influence

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - TODAY WE REFLECT on the life and times of the Right Excellent Errol Walton Barrow, one of this island’s most important and influential leaders of the last century. Now a National Hero, Barrow will be remembered for many things – as Premier and Prime Minister and the man who led much of the social engineering that transformed this island-state. It is fortuitous that today, in the United States, the life and times of another great man of the 20th century, Dr Martin Luther King Jr, is also being celebrated. These two men stood for justice and equality. They may have used different methods to achieve their objectives, but they shared a common vision. It was their view that all men are equal, whether they are from the sugar or cotton plantations, whether black or white, and they ought to be given the opportunity to develop their talents. King’s journey was against an entrenched, divisive social and political order over which he had little control. His was a courageous example of tolerance. He was a man whose stirring words and non-violent action pricked the conscience of not only the individual but the entire United States.