Today In History: December 27

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – On 27 December 2011, Sir Clifford Darling passed away at the age of 89.

A state funeral was held for him at Zion Baptist Church in Nassau where he was a member.

Darling was born in Acklins on February 6th, 1922. During his life he was a taxi driver who eventually became president of the Bahamas Taxi Cab Union and one of the leading labour rights activists in the country.

He helped to organize the Bahamas general strike of 1958 that led to fairer treatment for all taxi drivers after negotiations with hotels, tour companies and the Taxi Cab Union.

As his life went on he moved into Politics and became a senator from January 1964 to January 1967. 

In the 1967 general election he was elected a member of the House of Assembly for the Englerston Constituency. 

As a Cabinet Minister, he oversaw the implementation of national insurance.

He served as speaker of the house from 1977 to 1992, when he was appointed Governor-general, a position he held from 2nd January 1992 to 2 January 1995.

Then in 2013, a mass shooting in Fox Hill left four dead and six others wounded. 

In 2023, a Supreme Court Jury acquitted three men accused of the crime. 

The jury deliberated for three hours before clearing Peter Rolle, Jermaine Curryand Justin Williams of four counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder. 

The victims were on freedom park in Fox Hill awaiting Junkanoo results when the occupants of a Honda accord opened fire on the crowd. 

Shaquille Demeritte, Claudzeno Davis, Shenique Sands and Eric Morrison lost their lives in the shooting. 

Samuel Ferguson, Leroy Taylor, Janet Davis, Chino Davis, Jermaine Pratt, and John Davis were injured in the incident.

Fast forward to 2017, then Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis met with Junkanoo leaders to express frustration over the postponement of that year’s Boxing Day parade.

Then youth, sports and culture Minister Michael Pintard arranged the sit down.

At the time he described the meeting as “serious” and said the PM emphasized that unless something catastrophic happens, dates for the parade should not be changed.

The change of the Boxing Day parade from monday night to tuesday evening attracted widespread criticism as many blamed forecasts from the department of meteorology for the postponement of the festival by a day.

Officials said Junkanoo leaders agreed to postpone the festival even after it was determined bad weather would not interrupt the parade.