Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves was among regional leaders and intellectuals who came together at Golden Square Freedom Park in Bridgetown, Barbados on Sunday, October 9, 2022, to celebrate the amazing life and career of the late great Robert “Bobby” Clarke – one of the Caribbean’s greatest sons.
Though born and bred in Barbados, Bobby Clarke’s lifelong career of political and social activism impacted several Caribbean countries, inclusive of Dominica, Trinidad, and Tobago, St. Lucia, Guyana, Cuba, Venezuela, and Grenada.
Indeed, this British-trained Barbadian lawyer was a confidant and political collaborator of such Caribbean statesmen as Maurice Bishop, Unison Whiteman, Makandal Daaga, Rosie Douglas, Walter Rodney, Khafra Kambon, Tim Hector, George Odlum, Ralph Gonsalves, David Abdullah, Eusi Kwayana and the list goes on.
Over a prolonged period of some 60 years, Bobby Clarke made critical and indelible contributions to the advancement of the Caribbean in a multiplicity of capacities – political activist, human rights lawyer, trade unionist, Pan-Africanist, humanitarian and revolutionary.
The event, titled “An Evening of Tributes to Bobby”, featured tributes from the likes of Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Khafra Kambon, and David Abdullah of Trinidad and Tobago; Ms Peggy Nesfield of Grenada; Ambassador Sergio Pastrana of Cuba; Her Excellency Martha Ortega of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley of Barbados.
