Lady Pindling, I thank you and your family for all the years that you shared your husband and father with us. I congratulate you for establishing this foundation. We and our children must know where we came from to know where we are going. We must examine his open and accessible style of leadership. We must examine the fact that he could walk with kings and eat in any home anywhere in The Bahamas.

Tonight we are here to honor our foremothers and their invaluable contributions to The Bahamas. Their passion and energy changed the nation we call home. They worked tirelessly to build a brighter future.

There are so many women who deserve to be honored at an occasion such as this one: women like Mrs. Mary Ingraham, Mrs. Georgiana K. Symonette, Mrs. Eugenia Lockhart and Dame Doris Johnson, who fought hard to ensure that every voice in The Bahamas would be heard and counted. Women like Mrs. Meta Davis Cumberbatch, whose unflagging support for the arts deeply enriched our cultural traditions. Women like Mrs. Mary Moseley, Mrs. Lillian Coakley, Mrs. Rowena Eldon and Nurse Alice Hill Jones, who fought for stronger, healthier families and a better nation by changing lives, one by one. Women like Mrs. Clarice Granger, Mrs. Eulalie Mary Kelly, and Mrs. Veronica Higgs who profoundly strengthened our nation’s civic institutions. Women like Sr. Naedene Russell, Sr. Patricia Russell and Rev. Lavinia Stewart, whose great faith and good works continue to serve as an inspiration. Women like Dr. Keva Bethel, Mrs. Anatol Rodgers, Mrs. Margaret McDonald, Mrs. Cassie Kinnear and Mrs. Molly Albury who recognized the importance of education as a tool of empowerment and enlightenment.

It is impossible in this short speech to list them all, let alone describe their extraordinary achievements. We are truly blessed by a rich and abundant heritage.

Lady Pindling, thank you for reminding us of the importance of taking the time to honor these women and celebrate their contributions. But it is not enough to simply tell their stories – to truly honor them, we have to continue their work -- by upholding the principles they fought for and by working to improve life for all of our families.

Let me give you an example of what I mean:

In September 1929, The Bahamas was hit by a hurricane. A week later, Mrs. Frances Butler founded what came to be known as The Mother’s Club. The Mother’s Club was a no-nonsense organization that saw problems and set out to fix them. Furniture and clothing were collected and distributed to the poorest of the poor. Nursery schools were created to help mothers who needed to work to help support their families. At Christmas time, special packages of treats were delivered to the elderly and others. A scholarship fund was set up to help young Bahamians attend Bethune Cookman College in Florida. A youth group called Silver Belles was started -- with the express purpose of keeping young girls off the streets.

In addition to founding The Mother’s Club, Mother Butler -- as she came to be known – helped form the Young Men’s Christian Association and the Young Women’s Christian Association.

This extraordinary woman also raised 11 children (!), among them the late Governor General Sir Milo Butler and Mrs. Jane Bethel, herself a successful businesswoman and mother of seven outstanding Bahamians.

Clearly, Mother Butler was a special person. She had love in her heart for everyone, and she had the courage and tenacity to turn that love into action – she brought real changes to people’s lives. She knew that to "love one another" was the path to strengthening our families and thus the path to our freedom.

As a black woman in the early part of this century, she must have faced steep hurdles along the way. But she wasn’t about to let anything nor anybody stand in the way of doing the right thing. We can only wonder at her strength and determination.

Today her contributions live on – in The Mother’s Club, which continues its worthwhile charitable work, and in the Y, both so important to our community.

These are organizations that have made a difference to successive generations of Bahamians.

I firmly believe that we – each and every one of us -- have an obligation to make sure that the spirit in which these organizations were founded is also passed down through the generations.

The lessons learned from Mother Butler’s generosity should be taught in our homes and in our churches.

She taught us not to close our hearts to those in need.

She taught us that warmth and compassion can make a difference.

She taught us that everyone deserves dignity and care – no matter how young or old, no matter how impoverished – each one of us counts.

Tonight, as we honor Mother Butler and others, we are obligated to ask if we have done all we can to uphold the principles to which our foremothers were so faithful.

For it is increasingly clear that our nation now faces a moral and spiritual crisis – that we are suffering from a breakdown in values that is threatening the safety and sanctity of our families.

I have spent the last several weeks traveling around The Bahamas, listening to people who were willing to share their hopes and fears with me. In every community I visited, people expressed concern about the future of our country.

They pointed out how few children are being raised in a stable, loving environment.

They told me about children whose mothers are still children themselves. They told me about elderly persons neglected by their own families.

And, tragically, nearly every family in The Bahamas has been touched by crime. I heard story after story about homes and hearts damaged by vicious criminal acts.

Mothers tell me it is no longer safe for their children to play in their neighborhood. Some mothers said that their children fear being attacked for the lunch money they take to school.

When I visited West End, young men described to me the tragedy of seeing so many of their peers succumb to the culture of drugs and guns.

Dysfunctional and abusive families are leaving many teens vulnerable to the lure of gangs.

South Eleuthera, a once-thriving community is plagued by the lack of economic opportunities. Families there are struggling to stay together, as many Eleutherans feel forced to leave their families behind to seek jobs elsewhere.

In Freeport, citizens complained about a rapidly deteriorating sense of community.

In Abaco, people spoke about how a breakdown in values is evident everywhere – visible in the way children neglect to respect their elders, visible in our increasingly materialistic culture.

In New Providence, many young men feel that if justice exists, it is not for the poor black man.

I think of the stories shared with me throughout this nation, and my heart is heavy. What happened to the dream of our foremothers, the dream for a Bahamas comprised of strong families? Their dream has been turned upside down.

Together, we have to fight to turn their dream – our world – rightside up again.

I think of Mother Butler, and I know we can summon our strength to face these challenges. She taught us that we each have a personal obligation to build a better nation.

But that isn’t the whole story – not by a long shot.

The importance of charitable giving is only one of the lessons taught to us by our foremothers.

Another is the importance of each and every voice.

Women like Dame Doris Johnson, and others, who fought for suffrage, understood that a nation cannot be strong when only some voices have the opportunity to be heard.

The strength of a democracy is measured by how truly responsive public officials are to the people who elected them.

Yet one thing is clear today: our politicians have stopped listening to the people.

On my trips around this island and others, I hear from people who feel left behind, people who feel their voice no longer counts.

Here we are, facing serious problems, and where are our nation’s leaders? Why aren’t they fighting harder for us?

The truth is, our political leaders have forgotten the people who put them in power in the first place. They are so busy taking care of their own priorities; they have forgotten the people’s priorities.

And let me be clear: I disagree passionately with those who say family values are not a matter for the government.

Respect for Christian values and respect for the rule of law are the foundation of this nation, and it is increasingly obvious that we can’t afford leaders who fail to recognize this fundamental truth.

When parents are forced to raise their children in a culture in which drug addiction and juvenile violence are flourishing, we know that this government has failed to support family values.

When an elderly Bahamian is forced to resort to a fish-fry to pay for medical expenses, we know this government has failed to support family values.

When many Bahamian children still go to an unsanitary corner pump for water in the morning and evening, we know this government has failed to support family values.

When a young man is forced to leave his wife and children behind to look for work on an island away from home, we know this government has failed to support family values.

When Bahamians are not offered the investment and business opportunities offered so eagerly to foreigners, we know this government has failed to support family values.

When children have no after-school programs that provide a safe haven for learning and growing and playing, we know this government has failed to support family values.

The government should be working to create dedicated, innovative strategies to address our problems. Politicians need to spend less time worrying about how to satisfy wealthy foreign businessmen, and more time helping Bahamians struggling to lead honorable lives.

We need politicians who stay in touch with our needs all the time, not just election time. Family Islanders will tell you they wish elections were held every two years – that way, they could always get the nation’s leaders to pay attention.

We can’t afford this out-of-touch, careless, inattentive approach to governing; too much is at stake.

I call on our elected officials to take a look around them – I ask them to see what the rest of us see: a nation in spiritual crisis, a nation that needs family-friendly policies.

Politicians today could sure use a good dose of the energy, pragmatism and compassion that Mother Butler brought to her work.

In closing, let me say that if today’s leaders are in need of further inspiration, perhaps they should spend some time with Mrs. Lillian Coakley.

This petite woman is a giant in her time. At the Southern Public Library she taught countless Bahamians the value of love, learning, industry, and commitment to family. Those of us who spent time in her library remember and are grateful for her gentle guidance, her belief in academic excellence, her faith in courtesy and kindness.

Tonight, we pray that each one of us will take the time to learn from women like Mother Butler and Mrs. Coakley.

We pray that we will find the resolve to do what we can to strengthen our families and thus strengthen our nation.

And we pray that our elected officials, to whom the future of our nation is entrusted, will remember the lessons of our foremothers and our forefathers. The spirit of emancipation, majority rule and independence emanates from a human yearning for respect, equality and justice. Those yearnings have not changed – it is up to our leaders to open their hearts and minds and listen to the people.

May God bless The Bahamas.