BARBADOS | David Comissiong Pays Tribute to the Great Robert 'Bobby' Clarke

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, September 28, 2022 - As we bid farewell to the great Robert “Bobby” Clarke, one nagging question keeps disturbing my consciousness, and it is this: “How is it possible that, after more than six decades of almost super-human struggle for and exemplary service to the people of Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean, Bobby is going to his grave without a Barbados national honour, a University of the West Indies (UWI) honour, or a CARICOM regional honour to his name?

Why – I am obliged to ask – have successive Barbados governments failed to confer upon Bobby the Gold Award of Achievement or the Order of Freedom of Barbados? Why isn’t he “the Most Honourable Robert Clarke?” Likewise, why isn’t he “Dr. Robert Clarke” by virtue of an honorary UWI doctorate, or Robert Clarke, OCC by virtue of CARICOM conferring upon him the Order of the Caribbean Community?

It gives me great pride to be able to say that some twenty years ago, our Clement Payne Movement acknowledged Bobby’s tremendous contribution to our nation and conferred upon him the Clement Payne National Hero Award. It is also noteworthy that the Council of State of the Republic of Cuba honoured Bobby with its highest award – the Medal of Friendship.

What then – one may ask – were the Clement Payne Movement and the Cuban Council of State able to recognize about Bobby Clarke and his record of service that others were seemingly unable to perceive or appreciate?

Surely, it should have been easy to perceive that Bobby’s contribution to nation-building in Barbados was massive and historic.

In the political realm, Bobby Clarke’s contribution ranges from his role in the establishment of the People’s Progressive Movement (PPM) in the 1960s and his championing of socialist and anti-imperialist policies; to the impactful political education work of the PPM’s Black Star Newspaper; and to the continuation of that socialist and anti-imperialist strain within the Barbados body politic with the later contributions that he made via the Clement Payne Movement and the People’s Empowerment Party.

In the realm of cultural development, Bobby has to be credited with being a pioneer – along with personalities such as Elombe Mottley and Kofi Akobi – in the fostering of the Black Power and Pan-African movements in Barbados – leading the way with commemorations of African Liberation Day, and making sure that Barbados was represented in important regional and international Pan-African initiatives. Indeed, Bobby was a founder and leader of both the Pan-African Movement of Barbados (PAMOB) and the Caribbean Pan-African Movement, and he represented the Caribbean region at the 7th Pan-African Congress in Uganda in 1994.

In the realm of labour, industrial relations and defence of the working-class, Bobby’s contributions are virtually too numerous to list! But let us note for the record that Bobby established the Barbados Industrial and General Workers’ Union (BIGWU) in the early 1980s and fought many battles in defence of Barbadian workers. And after BIGWU folded, he continued to represent Sanitation Service Authority workers in his role as General Secretary of the Clement Payne Labour Union (CPLU).

Bobby Clarke, the lawyer, also dedicated his entire fifty-year legal career to representing and fighting for poor and powerless people – often at great personal expense. There were many legendary battles over the years, but the one that stands out for me is Bobby’s multi-year representation of the displaced residents of Emmerton – ensuring that they received the compensation that was due them.

Bobby also played a critical role in rushing to the legal defense of victimized and unjustly charged progressive political activists in several Caribbean countries.

And who can forget the striking image of the elderly Bobby Clarke – walking stick in hand – heroically leading several marches through the streets of Bridgetown in protest against the dismantling of free university education and the unconscionable imposition of the Municipal Solid Waste Tax and the National Social Responsibility Levy on the suffering people of Barbados?

Furthermore, Bobby Clarke was virtually a one-man social welfare system – helping countless working-class Barbadians in financial distress; arranging for numerous poor people to go to Cuba for desperately needed medical treatment or for life-sustaining educational scholarships and opportunities.

And, of course, there was Bobby Clarke the “Caribbean Man”!

Bobby’s first immersion into his “Caribbean-ness” came when, as a young employee of Cable and Wireless, he was stationed in Dominica. However, it was Bobby’s 1964 trip to revolutionary Cuba that changed his life forever and instilled in him a deep admiration for Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution, and a life-long commitment to the construction of a Caribbean Civilization.

It is primarily Bobby Clarke who must be credited with having pioneered the development of relations between Cuba and countries of the English-speaking Caribbean! Thus, when we contemplate all of the benefits that the Cuba/CARICOM relationship has delivered – scholarships, medical teams, Operation Milagro, technical cooperation – let us think fondly of Bobby Clarke.

Furthermore, Bobby Clarke the “Caribbean Man” embraced and contributed to the people’s struggle in several Caribbean countries – Dominica, Trinidad, St. Lucia, Guyana and Grenada among others. But, of course, it is Grenada with which Bobby’s name is imperishably linked. Bobby was virtually a mentor to his younger revolutionary colleague – Maurice Bishop – and he played a critical role in the achievement of the Grenada Revolution.

Bobby was also a staunch ally and confidant of such outstanding Caribbean statesmen as Rosie Douglas, George Odlum, Eusi Kwayana, Tim Hector, Alan

Alexander, David Abdullah, Khafra Kambon, Ralph Gonsalves and the list goes on. And Bobby’s home became a central and strategic meeting place for these political giants. Many were the Caribbean development plans and initiatives – political and economic – that were brainstormed and hatched at Bobby’s Bucks, St. Thomas residence.

Needless to say, Bobby was a founder and staunch supporter of the Pan-Caribbean Assembly of Caribbean People (ACP), the Caribbean Chapter of the International Network In Defense of Humanity, the Barbadian-Cuban Friendship Society, the Caribbean Peace Movement and several other similar organizations, and he was continuously involved in undertaking herculean efforts to raise relief supplies and funds whenever one of his beloved Caribbean countries was hit by a natural disaster.

It should also be recorded that Bobby Clarke was a great friend and defender of the people of Haiti and of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. I had the privilege of visiting Haiti with Bobby in the year 2003, and I know first hand the efforts Bobby made to try to forestall the illicit coup against President Aristide. I was also privileged to accompany Bobby on several visits to Venezuela, and I can similarly testify to the many initiatives he took to rally to the defense of Venezuela against imperialistic attacks.

Truly, the people and nations of Barbados and the Caribbean have lost a great and noble son! We will miss our brother and comrade, but we take comfort in the knowledge that our “Most Honourable Bobby Clarke” has made an indelible mark on our civilization and will live on in the folk memory of the masses of our people.

DAVID COMISSIONG
Citizen of Barbados