Many sides to heroism, says PM

PRIME MINISTER MIA AMOR MOTTLEY has urged Barbadians to be a hero to someone, as she saluted those who have made the country proud in a message to mark National Heroes Day yesterday.

“Be a hero to a child who is watching how you speak, how you work, how you treat others and how you rise after disappointment,” she said.

“Be a hero to a young person who needs to see that decency is still strength, honesty still matters, discipline still pays and kindness is not weakness.

“Be a hero to an elderly neighbour who needs a call, a visit, a meal, a hand or simply the comfort of knowing they have not been forgotten.”

Mottley said heroes were role models whose living, values, virtues and choices “gave others something positive to emulate”.

‘Bajan genius’

While acknowledging all of the 11 National Heroes, she singled out cricketing great Sir Garfield Sobers and businesswoman/ entertainer Robyn Rihanna Fenty, the only two still alive.

“Sir Garfield showed the world that Bajan genius could be graceful, disciplined and unmatched. Rihanna continues to show a new generation that creativity, courage, hard work and love of country can carry a Barbadian voice into every corner of the globe,” the Prime Minister noted.

“Their lives remind us that heroism is not only found in fame, ceremony or applause. Heroism is found in the values by which we live, the example we set, the burdens we carry for others and the hope we leave in people who may never be able to repay us.”

She also pointed out that National Heroes Day, celebrated annually on April 28, was the birthday of the first Premier of Barbados, Sir Grantley Adams, one of the founding members of the Barbados Labour Party.

“This day calls us to remember, to give thanks and to recommit ourselves to the kind of country our heroes helped us build. On April 28, we honour those Barbadians whose courage, sacrifice, discipline and excellence changed the course of our history and proved that this small nation would never be small in spirit.”

(SAT/PR)

PRIME MINISTER Mia Amor Mottley. (FP)