(AFP) \u2013 Fireworks filled the sky over Barbados on Tuesday as the Caribbean island nation declared itself the world\u2019s newest republic, lowering Queen Elizabeth\u2019s flag as it severed colonial-era ties to the British throne to the sound of jubilant gun salutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cRepublic Barbados has set sail on her maiden voyage,\u201d Dame Sandra Mason said in her inauguration speech as the first president of the country, recognizing the \u201ccomplex, fractured and turbulent world\u201d it would need to navigate.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur country must dream big dreams and fight to realize them,\u201d the former governor-general told those gathered for the ceremony, including Britain\u2019s Prince Charles.<\/p>\n
The new era for the nation of 285,000 ends Britain\u2019s centuries of influence, including more than 200 years of slavery until 1834.<\/p>\n
Addressing the matter during the handover, Charles acknowledged the mark slavery had left on the two countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the darkest days of our past, and the appalling atrocity of slavery, which forever stains our history, the people of this island forged their path with extraordinary fortitude,\u201d he told the crowd.<\/p>\n
A long-running pandemic curfew was suspended to allow Barbadians to enjoy festivities, which included projections at various points across the country and large fireworks displays timed to mark the historic transition.<\/p>\n
The \u201cPride of Nationhood\u201d ceremony itself was closed to the wider public but Barbados\u2019 most famous citizen, the singer Rihanna, took place alongside top officials for the event, complete with military parades, a mounted guard of honor and gun salutes.<\/p>\n
One of the first acts of the prime minister of the new republic was to declare Rhianna a National Hero of Barbados: \u201cMay you continue to shine like a diamond and bring honor to your nation,\u201d Prime Minister Mia Mottley told the international celebrity.<\/p>\n
Barbados, famous for its idyllic beaches and love of cricket, won independence from Britain in 1966.<\/p>\n
In October, it elected Mason its first president, one year after Mottley declared the country would \u201cfully\u201d leave behind its colonial past.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Relying on tourism \u2013<\/p>\n
Some Barbadians argue there are more pressing national issues than replacing the queen, including economic turmoil caused by the Covid-19 pandemic that has exposed overreliance on tourism \u2014 which, ironically, is dependent on British visitors.<\/p>\n
Unemployment is at nearly 16 percent, up from nine percent in recent years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it is something that we were going towards for a very long time, but I think it came at a time which is not necessarily the best time considering our economic situation and the Covid situation,\u201d said 27-year-old office manager Nikita Stuart.<\/p>\n
For young activists such as Firhaana Bulbulia, founder of the Barbados Muslim Association, British colonialism and slavery lie behind the island\u2019s modern inequalities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe wealth gap, the ability to own land, and even access to loans from banks all have a lot to do with structures built out of being ruled by Britain,\u201d Bulbulia, 26, said.<\/p>\n
For many Barbadians, replacing the queen is just catching up with how the nation has felt for many years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember in the old days we would be really excited about the queen and Prince Charles and Princess Diana and royal weddings,\u201d Anastasia Smith, a 61-year-old nurse, told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I don\u2019t know if we ever quite saw them as our royal family. Now, everybody is talking about a republic. I\u2019m not sure that anything about my life is going to change. But I think we\u2019re doing the right thing and it\u2019s a proud moment for Barbados.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buoyed by Black Lives Matter movements across the world, local activists last year successfully advocated for the removal of a statue of the British Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson that stood in National Heroes Square for two centuries.<\/p>\n
And the end of the queen\u2019s reign is seen by some as a necessary step towards financial reparations to address the historic consequences of the use of slaves brought from Africa to work on sugar plantations.<\/p>\n
Charles\u2019 visit to Barbados was clouded at the last minute by another race row over alleged comments about his grandson.<\/p>\n
His youngest son Prince Harry and his wife Meghan \u2014 who has a black mother and a white father \u2014 have said an unnamed royal asked how dark their unborn first child\u2019s skin would be.<\/p>\n
A new book reportedly claimed Charles was responsible, which his spokesman dismissed as \u201cfiction and not worth further comment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(AFP) \u2013 Fireworks filled the sky over Barbados on Tuesday as the Caribbean island nation declared itself the world\u2019s newest republic, lowering Queen Elizabeth\u2019s flag as it severed colonial-era ties to the British throne to […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9725","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-regional-news"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/975795-barbados-becomes-worlds-newest-republic-removes-queen-elizabeth-ii.jpg?fit=650%2C350&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/975795-barbados-becomes-worlds-newest-republic-removes-queen-elizabeth-ii.jpg?fit=650%2C350&ssl=1",650,350,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/975795-barbados-becomes-worlds-newest-republic-removes-queen-elizabeth-ii.jpg",650,350,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/975795-barbados-becomes-worlds-newest-republic-removes-queen-elizabeth-ii.jpg",650,350,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/975795-barbados-becomes-worlds-newest-republic-removes-queen-elizabeth-ii.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/975795-barbados-becomes-worlds-newest-republic-removes-queen-elizabeth-ii.jpg?fit=300%2C162&ssl=1",300,162,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/975795-barbados-becomes-worlds-newest-republic-removes-queen-elizabeth-ii.jpg?fit=650%2C350&ssl=1",650,350,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/975795-barbados-becomes-worlds-newest-republic-removes-queen-elizabeth-ii.jpg?fit=650%2C350&ssl=1",650,350,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/975795-barbados-becomes-worlds-newest-republic-removes-queen-elizabeth-ii.jpg?fit=650%2C350&ssl=1",650,350,true],"mh-magazine-slider":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/975795-barbados-becomes-worlds-newest-republic-removes-queen-elizabeth-ii.jpg?resize=650%2C350&ssl=1",650,350,true],"mh-magazine-content":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/975795-barbados-becomes-worlds-newest-republic-removes-queen-elizabeth-ii.jpg?resize=650%2C350&ssl=1",650,350,true],"mh-magazine-large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/975795-barbados-becomes-worlds-newest-republic-removes-queen-elizabeth-ii.jpg?resize=650%2C350&ssl=1",650,350,true],"mh-magazine-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/975795-barbados-becomes-worlds-newest-republic-removes-queen-elizabeth-ii.jpg?resize=326%2C245&ssl=1",326,245,true],"mh-magazine-small":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/drealfmgrenada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/975795-barbados-becomes-worlds-newest-republic-removes-queen-elizabeth-ii.jpg?resize=80%2C60&ssl=1",80,60,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"adminrfm","author_link":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/author\/adminrfm\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Regional News<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"(AFP) \u2013 Fireworks filled the sky over Barbados on Tuesday as the Caribbean island nation declared itself the world\u2019s newest republic, lowering Queen Elizabeth\u2019s flag as it severed colonial-era ties to the British throne to [...]","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9725"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9728,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9725\/revisions\/9728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drealfmgrenada.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}